User:KDDA/Killyfole

The name Killyfole is derived from Gaelic which we believe means "wood of the deep hollow"

There are some local varations in the spelling of the same townland name including Killyfoyle.

The earliest evidence of settlement in this area may have been the crannog which is located in the centre of the lough/lake. When the water level falls it becomes visible and was examined by experts when the lake was drained prior to becoming a reservoir. They believe this crannog was inhabited during medieval times.

About 1800, there was one of the first man-made alterations to the landscape when the stream which came down Strananerriagh Glen was diverted into the western end of the lake. An embankment was built which is still known as The Rampart to provide more water power for the corn mill which was then built on the stream from the eastern end of the lough. This stream played an important part in the economic life of the area, powering first this mill, then the mills at Gortindarragh and the corn mill at Tonitybog which later became a spade mill. After joining with other streams to form Lacky River, it powered the spade mill there and the mill at Mullynavanogue and probably others before joining the Finn river near the Annie’s Bridge and entering an arm of Lough Erne near Wattlebridge. The outflow from the western end of the lough took a shorter route through all the loughs along the way to Moorlough and then on to Lough Erne near Derryadd, some seven miles nearer the sea than the other stream.

The Killyfole mill ceased working in the 1930s and was used as a farm building until it was demolished around 1965 when the District Council developed the Lough as a reservoir. This opened in 1968 and was the end of the lough as a beach and local beauty spot.

The house at the crossroads was the original miller’s house occupied by Joseph Johnston in the Griffiths Valuation 1862. There were three different families of Johnstons who lived here and ran the mill. It has since been enlarged and modernised. Being on the side of the road, this was a well-known landmark and many a message or parcel was ‘left at the mill.’ In the farmyard wall was a red mail box.