Mullan village is located close to the Armagh border, a few miles to the west of Emyvale Co. Monaghan in the town land of Mullan. It consists of a mill which has housed James Boylan Footwear since 1944 and about 24 houses, only three of which are currently occupied. Mullan is typical of many mill villages built in Ulster during the 18th and 19th centuries. Mc Cutheon in The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland (1984) describes these settlements: 'In country areas the mill village was a compact cluster of regular terraced housing. The character of these industrial settlements reflected the nature and outlook of the proprietors, who had usually built or financed both the houses themselves and an associated range of public buildings- school, church, recreation hall, welfare and community centre, library, shop- which together made up the physical fabric of the village'. Favourable conditions such as the construction of roads and canals enabled goods to be transported from remote locations like Mullan, (the Great Northern Railway , Ulster Canal and the main Enniskillen to Belfast road passed very close to Mullan).