When the Flannel hall was built in 1793, it was computed that there were no less than one thousand looms and spinning wheels busily engaged in the manufacture of woollen goods in the hills and glens of the Co Wicklow. The new hall became the recognised market centre for these wares and merchants attended from Dublin, Belfast & England to purchase their stocks. It had its counterpart in the Great Linen Hall at Lisburn St Dublin, where purchasers eagerly appreciated the excellence of the Wicklow products. The passing of the Act of Union in 1800 deprived the Irish woollen trade of the fostering care of a native parliament & the industry steadily declined.
In the course of time silence reigned in its once busy stall and stately courtyard but to close on a century afterwards the building stood as an imposing land mark on the fairgreen Rathdrum. On the night of 16th November 1890 it was accidentally burned to the ground. This passed the chief link with the former industrial prosperity of Co. Wicklow.