Hi Jean   many thanks for all this info - the main family I am looking for in Clara is BROWN. David Hastings BROWN married Frances FENWICK in 1866. He was described as a miller - living at Clara Mills. His father was also decsibed as a miller on the marriage certificate.   The family later moved abroad - not sure when. Presumably Clara Mills and Belmonts Mills were two different mills - were they connected in any way? Were they nearby each other?   thanks again   ray   --- On Thu, 6/11/09, Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> wrote: From: Jean R. <jeanrice@cet.com> Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Clara Mills (flour mill) - King's County/Offaly To: irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com Date: Thursday, June 11, 2009, 7:54 AM Hi Ray - What surnames are you researching? For help in genealogical research in Cos. Laois (Queen's) and Offaly (King's).  A fee for record search is involved, but there is a free query contact e-mail for them to assess whether they can be of help in your particular case.. http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/index.html The National Library of Ireland (Dublin city) apparently has the following: Clara Mills and Belmonts Mills, Co Offaly: account books 1843-88. Also http://homepage.eircom.net/~kilcormacgns/famine.htm This website has much about the famine in Co. Offaly and mentions Clara Mills.  In part: Offaly society in 1845; Offaly had a number of small industries that had prospered in the pre-famine period. The Clara mills, distilleries in Tullamore and Birr and the grain trade from the south of the county generated prosperity for some and employment for others. It was the structure of rural society which created the impression of comfort. Five landowners had over 100,000 acres in the county while some of it might not be of great value, these were big estates with healthy rent-rolls. The big five were Lords Digby, Charleville, Rosse, Downshire and Colonel Bernard, Lord Rosse and Bernard were generally resident and took a keen interest in their lands. The others were infrequent visitors, Charleville' having built his extravagant castle outside Tullamore, was reputedly bankrupt, travelling abroad to avoid his creditors. The principal tenants were men of property. The poor generally were found on the peripheral land. This explains the distribution of class four houses, or one roomed cabins associated with poverty in the county. Only 19% of families in Geashill, owned completely by Lord Digby, lived in class four houses. In contrast in Ballyboy where the land was broken into smaller estates, the percentage of families in class four houses was 38% the highest in the county. In Ballyboy, the O' Connor Morris's later lost land to the court because of old debts, gamble of Killooly survived by remortagaging in 1847 and Molloy of Greatwood lost this estate. William O' Connor Morris was a barrister and later a county court judge in Roscommon.His brother later became the last postmaster-general of Jamica. It was mainly those with less than 10 acres who were in difficulty, during the crisis. Their struggle for survival involved emigration and resistance to high rents. Unlike the small holders in Donegal they were unaccustomed to leaving their holdings for seasonal labour and it was for that reason Lord Ross could write in 1847 that the farmers were unsuited to labour. The real poor and the famine casualties were the cottiers particularly those relying on potatoes sown on conacre plots. The poor cottier having no land of his own was forced to take land at rents varying from £6 to £9 per acre for a crop. The acreage of potatoes was down to a quarter of its 1844 level in 1847 but a poor yield in 1848 spelled ruin for not just the poor with conacre but the small farmers as well. The West of the county fared worst because of the high concentration of labourers and the poor land quality... Ray - If you conduct a Google search for "Clara Mills" as a phrase and with additional keywords Offaly and King's County. A detailed website: http://www.belmontmill.com/BelmontMill.pdf. There are some old images of Clara at this website: http://www.oldirishimages.com/towns%20and%20villages/co%20offaly/clara/clara.htmlYou might also want to check out the Offaly Historical Society websites.The older website (2003) lists many publications.  At the 2009 website,there is a "contact me" e-mail address and you could inquire aboutpublications related to Clara.  I think it is a subscription-type website,but you can check and see.You might try and find a copy, for background reading,  of J. FEEHAN's "TheLandscape of Slieve Bloom:  a study of the natural and human heritage,"(pub. 1979), a copy of which is in the National Library in Dublin.  Anotherreference in the library is M. BYRNE's "Sources For Offaly History (1977).Directories with material regarding Co. Offaly include:1824 Pigot and Co., "City of Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory."1846 Slater's "National Commercial Directory of Ireland."1856 Slater's "Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland.1870 Slater's "Directory of Ireland."1881  Slater's "Roya! l National Commercial Directory of Ireland."1890 John Wright, "The King's Co. Directory" (reprinted as "Offaly 100 yearsAgo," Tullamore, 1989).1894 Slater's "Royal Commercial Directory of Ireland.Jean----- Original Message -----From: "ray" <rayfenwick@yahoo.com>To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com>Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 3:15 AMSubject: [Irish Genealogy] Clara Mills (flour mill) - King's County/OffalyDoes anyone have any information about the mills and millers at Clara inKing's County (Offaly) - any period?Directory entries for Clara or anything else. I haven't been able to findout anything but they are mentioned on relevant marriage in 1866 and I a mtrying to piece things together.many thanks for any helpray Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at:  http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ Great place to get help with your family research. Help wanted: County Coordinators ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message