Irish lace

The lace making skill soon spread beyond Dublin to the poorest parts of the country, and proved a popular means for young women to help support their families. Lace-making required little equipment beyond bobbins and fine cotton or linen thread, and a great deal of patience, so was suitable for remote parts of the country that had little industry and few employment options.[2]

The lace, worn by the wealthiest women across Europe was made by some of the poorest women in Ireland. Lace was a luxury commodity, used to decorate elaborate wedding dresses, christening robes, and church vestments, but it also played a vital part in saving many families from starvation and destitution. Irish lace reflects the social and political changes that took place between 1700 and the present.

Several lace-making schools were established throughout Ireland, with some regions acquiring reputations for high-quality products. Different parts of the country produced distinctive types of lace, and discerning customers would soon learn to ask for Carrickmacross lace (County Monaghan) or Kenmare lace (County Kerry), Youghal lace (County Cork) among others, depending upon their favoured style. Limerick lace (also known as Tambour lace, because of its manner of manufacture) became well known from the 1830s onwards.

When times were hard, women had to find ways of supporting their family. This was particularly true during and after the great potato famine of the 1840s.[3] During that time period, most women could do needlework, so it was only a short step to lace-making. Irish Crochet and Tatting travelled particularly well as equipment needed was simple, a ball of cotton and a shuttle for Tatting and simple crochet hook and cotton for Irish Crochet lace.[4]

Kenmare lace is a needlepoint Irish lace based on the detached buttonhole stitch. (It is sometimes called needle-lace to distinguish it from canvas needlepoint.) Linen thread was used by nuns to make needlepoint lace. Suitable linen thread is no longer available, so today cotton thread is used.

Kenmare needlepoint lace[5] begins with two pieces of cloth. Over this is layered a pattern and a matt contact. Thread is laid over the top in the outline of the design and secured with a fine detached buttonhole stitch in a process called "couching". The pattern is filled in by working in from the outline. The tension makes the pattern. How tightly the stitches are pulled determines whether the pattern's stitches are open or tight. When the work is finished, the thread holding down the outline is cut, thus releasing the lace from the cloth backing.

Carrickmacross lace was introduced into Ireland in about 1820 by Mrs Grey Porter of Donaghmoyne, who taught it to local women so that they could earn some extra money. The scheme was initially of limited success, and it was only after the 1846 potato famine, when a lace school was set up by the managers of the Bath and Shirley estates at Carrickmacross as a means of helping their starving tenants, that the lace became known and found sales.[6]

Youghal lace was a top quality commercial product that ended with the First World War. Lace Making was taught in Youghal from 1845 by the Presentation Sisters. Mother Mary Ann Smith reverse-engineered some Italian lace to understand how it was made. She then taught the technique to local women and thus the school of lace began.[7]

Limerick lace (also known as Tambour lace, because of its manner of manufacture) became well known from the 1830s onwards. following the establishment of a lace-making factory in the city by an English businessman, Charles Walker, a native of Oxfordshire. In 1829, he brought over 24 girls to teach lacemaking in Limerick, drawn to the area by the availability of cheap, skilled female labour, and his business thrived: within a few short years his lace factories employed almost 2,000 women and girls.[8]

Irish crochet lace was developed in mid-nineteenth century Ireland as a method of imitating expensive Venetian point laces.[9] It was initially taught in convents throughout the country and used as part of Famine Relief Schemes. Charity groups sought to revive the economy by teaching crochet lace technique at no charge to anyone willing to learn.[10] This type of lace is characterized by separately crocheted motifs, which were later assembled into a mesh background.

• Decorative Arts and History Museum, Dublin[11]
• Sheelin Lace Museum, Co. Fermanagh[12]
• Mountmellick Museum, Co Laois[13]
• Carrickmacross Lace Gallery, Co Monaghan[14]
• Kenmare Lace Museum, Co. Kerry[15]
• Limerick Museum, Co Limerick[16]
• Clones , Co Monaghan .Canal Stores. Cassandra Hand Center, the former lacemaking school.

• Media related to Irish lace at Wikimedia Commons