What they needed

Long-time collaborators Dublin City Council Culture Company approached us with a project they had been developing around Killmainham Mill, a now-abandoned woollen mill concealed within a residential area of Dublin City. As part of their work, they had gathered a series of oral history testimonies from people who had worked in, or been closely connected to, the mill during its operation.

Initially, the brief was to document the interior of the building and its current condition. From early conversations, however, it became clear that the material, the space itself and the stories connected to it, had the potential to form the basis of a longer documentary project.

What we did

From the moment we first entered the mill, we were captivated. A large part of our practice is driven by curiosity — the opportunity to step into spaces rarely seen and to uncover stories that might otherwise remain hidden. Killmainham Mill embodied this entirely: a substantial industrial site, quietly tucked away in the middle of a well-known part of the city.

While the history of the mill was rich, the challenge was to shape the material into a film that was both informative and engaging. Historical subjects can easily become overly fact-driven, so our focus was on finding the human story within the broader context.

Across many hours of interviews, a recurring theme of family and community emerged. These personal connections became the central thread of the film, allowing us to weave warmth and emotional resonance through the history of the building. The resulting 25-minute documentary brings together memory, place, and lived experience, offering an intimate portrait of a site that once played a significant role in the life of the city.