As part of routine work in our Special Collections and Archives Department last year, I revisited one of our lesser known collections at Maynooth University Library, the Belmont Mills Archive (IE/MU/PP17). Donated back in 2015, this fascinating collection relates to the lives and business interests of the Perry family at Belmont, Lisderg, County Offaly, their family, friends, and community, over the course of a century. Belmont Mills was built on the site of an earlier mill structure and is located in the village of Belmont. A handsome, two-storey, castellated country house, Belmont House was built around 1810 and is situated on a prominent site overlooking the mills. The house and mills formed part of the Belmont (or Bellmount) Estate, purchased by the Perry family in 1859 from Captain John Collins for the sum of £3275. The Perrys were a Quaker family originating in Shanderry near Mountmellick, County Laois, with strong connections in both business and transportation. Under the ownership of the family, Belmont Mills was to become one of the largest flour and oatmeal mills in the midlands.