Laragh

Laragh near Broomfield, in County Monaghan is a former mill village of which little remains. In the 19th century there was a lot of activity in the flax industry in the area. Sited in a valley between hills, a small fast flowing river which used to power the mill runs through the village.

The village originally had five terraces of small stone built houses on one side and several more substantial 19th century houes on the other. Of these, one of the terraces remains and is lived in while another terrace and a half survive roofless. Also surviving is an interesting cast iron church. Recent bungalows continue the line of the original terraces and fills the gap between the ruined buildings.

Although relatively small, these house were well finished and rendered and had ornate windows frames to the front. The remains of these frames can be seem in the ruined terraces. Like a similar but larger village at Mullan in the north of the county, the river runs behind the terraces, presumably to allow refuse to be taken away by it.

Sites across the road is a larger victorian house and several gate lodges which presumably led to the mill owners residence. Unlike Mullan which operated well into this century, Laragh ceased operations early in this century and little remains of the industrial nature of its past.