Grainstore, Durrus

Built in the late 18th Century during the Napoleonic Wars to store locally produced grain. A story is told...

The people were told that up to half the corn grown had to be given to the landlord and delivered to the grain store. One wet year the grain was wet and swelled in the warehouse. The Landlord called out the tenants who had to shovel the sprouting grain into the Bay where it turned the water white. More HERE

Later, during 'The Hunger' it was used as a workhouse. One can barely imagine the terrible hardships and grief the walls have seen.

Today in the eerie light, the dark eyes of the ruined grainstore windows were sharply reflected in the muddy waters of the bay. Once deep enough for a vessel of 60 tons, its quay now silted up, a feeding ground for herons, egrets, and waders. A curlew was calling, a sad, plaintiff cry echoing from the walls as if from the ghostly voices of orphaned children, hungry and cold in the mist.