Belmont's industrial history followed the water of the Brosna and the connections of canal and railway. Surviving machinery and family papers preserve different views of that world.
Illustration, Rampards Weir on the River Brosna, Belmont
⊕Recorded locationBelmont53.25668° N · 7.89189° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
An Lios Dearg· Irish · main form · validated name
Belmont· English · main form
Place & story
Water power on the Brosna
The earliest securely dated mill at Belmont was built in 1769 by John Clifford for Gilbert Holmes and Thomas L'Estrange. Industrial archaeologist Fred Hamond identifies several later uses of the site, including grain milling, oilseed processing and the fulling of woollen cloth. Water diverted from the Brosna supplied the works through channels and returned downstream. The surviving oat-mill complex retains machinery for removing husks, grinding and grading, making it a record of a production process as well as a group of old buildings.[2]
People & connections
The Perrys take over
Henry Robert Perry bought Belmont Mills from Captain John Collins in 1859. The firm had earlier operated in Clara, but Belmont became its enduring home. Thomas Perry managed the works during the 1860s and acquired full ownership in 1878. A serious fire followed in 1879; rebuilding introduced roller milling alongside traditional stones. The Grand Canal and the Clara–Banagher railway helped distribute production, connecting a riverside enterprise with markets beyond its immediate farming district.[3]
Electricity for the village
The business continued to adapt in the early twentieth century. A maize mill was added for animal feed, and a turbine installed in 1908 supplied electricity to both the works and Belmont village. These changes show an industrial site performing several roles: processing grain, employing a workforce and providing power. Later fires and changing production altered the complex again, so its history is one of repeated investment and rebuilding rather than uninterrupted survival in an original form.[3]
Life beyond the account books
The Perry papers held by Maynooth University preserve family correspondence as well as business records. Letters concern education, travel, household management, celebrations and farming, alongside the administration of Robert Perry & Sons. Read with the industrial archive at Offaly County Library, they allow Belmont's history to extend beyond machinery and output. The mill was also a workplace and family setting, connected through personal and commercial relationships with people elsewhere in Ireland and overseas.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Belmont — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Belmont, Offaly — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Belmont, Offaly — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Belmont, Offaly — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Belmont, Offaly
Published census settlement populations
200people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames