In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a thriving flax mill was situated on the Longford site. The site and buildings were acquired in 1913 by two brothers, William and James Glennon, who set up a sawmill after returning from the United States. Although James returned to America soon afterwards, William continued to run the business until 1943, when he was succeeded by his son Patrick (Paddy).
Motive power over the years ranged from water to steam to oil and finally to electricity in 1947. Over time, the business evolved from sawing hardwoods for a range of indigenous uses to today’s highly sophisticated softwood operation. To give you an idea of how things have changed over the years, the volume of timber used to run the mill for a day in 1945 would now be processed in the Fermoy saw mill in less than five minutes.