A recorded windmill site at Carrowreagh in County Galway is one such survival, a place where the mechanics of wind-powered milling once formed part of the working fabric of a rural community.

Ireland's windmills generally date from the post-medieval period, with most examples concentrated in coastal or elevated areas where a reliable wind source could be counted upon. They were typically used for grinding grain, and their towers, where they survive, are usually cylindrical stone structures, sometimes mistaken at a glance for minor fortifications or watchtowers. The name Carrowreagh derives from the Irish Ceathrú Riabhach, meaning the grey or brindled quarter, a placename of the kind attached to land divisions under the old Gaelic system of townland organisation. That a windmill was established here suggests the area was sufficiently productive and populated at some point to warrant a dedicated milling structure, though the precise date of construction and the history of its use are not currently documented in accessible records.