Editing Slane (section)

===Slane Mill===
[[File:Slane Mill, Co. Meath - geograph.org.uk - 455609.jpg|thumb|left| The "Old mill" resides next to 20th-century adjacent factory buildings that were built before the rate of the textile industry at the site, outgrew the capacity of the area. It is referred to as the "old mill" to distinguish it from the "new mill" or "factory" that was built slightly uphill from this site, due to the area's land constraints. The main mill building "displays a level of carved detail that is unusual for an industrial building and more typically found in country houses of the period".<ref>[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/455609|Andrew Billinger. geograph website]</ref>]]
In the 1760s [[Boyne Navigation]] opened between Slane and [[Oldbridge]], approximately {{convert|10|km}} down river. This is a series of [[canals]] which made the River Boyne navigable to small boats from Slane to the port in Drogheda. A canal which is part of the navigation runs parallel to the river on the south bank near Slane. [[David Jebb]] was the engineer in charge of the construction. Once the navigation was opened as far as Slane, Jebb himself built a [[flour mill]] at Slane.<ref name="IWAI">{{Cite journal | last = Wheeler | first = Ed | year = 2005 | title = Restoring the Boyne | journal = Inland Waterways News | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | pages = 20–25 | publisher = Inland Waterways Association of Ireland | location = Ireland | issn = 1649-1696 | url = http://iwn.iwai.ie/v32i2/index.shtml#features | access-date = 8 October 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071119123436/http://iwn.iwai.ie/v32i2/index.shtml#features | archive-date = 19 November 2007 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Slane Mill stands on the north bank of the River Boyne beside the N2 bridge. The mill is a five-storey cut-stone building. When the mill was completed in 1766, it was the largest flour mill in Ireland.

By channelling the water of the Boyne through the [[weir]] that passes under the five-storey building, the [[watermill|water-powered mill]] in the building ground flour until the 1870s, at which point [[roller mill]]s replaced [[grindstone]]s. The mill building was later converted to processing Irish [[wikt:scutch|scutch]] [[flax]] for clothing.<ref name="Fitzpatrick">{{cite book |author1=Fitzpatrick, David  |author2=Fitzpatrick, Maureen  |name-list-style=amp | title=The Old Frequented Ways | publisher=Slane Historical and Archaeological Society | chapter=The Old Mill}}</ref>

With competition in the textile industry, the mill began to transition from [[primary sector]] to more [[secondary sector of the economy|secondary finished goods]], and to that end, the workforce largely moved to the "new mill" in the early-mid-20th century, which could house the longer lines of [[Rapier loom|power loom]]s. A concrete walkway cutting through the forest that separates the two mills was similarly built to allow a quicker exchange of personnel. The now increasingly idle water-powered mill in what became the "old mill", was converted into a dedicated [[low head hydro power]] [[run-of-the-river hydroelectricity]] generating station. Its operators received a cheque from the [[Electricity Supply Board|ESB]] for a number of decades until it fell into disrepair.

By the late 20th century, both mills shared the fate of most others in the [[Textile industry|textile industry of western Europe]]; repeated downsizing brought about by a failure to innovate a desirable and unique [[Brand|design signature]], competition from businesses with greater supply-chain [[vertical integration]], the need to upgrade to more modern [[air-jet loom]]s and cheaper labour in the far East have all conspired to ensure the "new mill" likewise has all but left the textile industry that was once the primary employer in Slane.