Irish
lace is world famous for the intricate designs that developed
from very
simple patterns. While lace making today is a big business,
with large factories rolling off yards of fabric in minutes,
the earliest Irish lace was a basic cottage industry. In
1800's Ireland, the wealthy lords owned the land and tenant
farmers were ‘dirt poor’ with little money for
necessities. Then came the great famine, and the poor were
even more destitute than before. Many men were sent to the
workhouses to basically work for food, otherwise, they would
starve to death.
Many
of the Catholic Ursuline nuns, of the Order of St. Ursula,
came into Ireland as they did in all Christian countries
around the world. Their convents sprang up and they eventually
developed and ran the parochial schools. These nuns were
familiar with Venetian lace which they brought over from
France. Irish women had been producing rough cloth (raw
linen) for their families for generations. The nuns realized
the
opportunity that these skills presented to help save the
people from the famine. They began teaching many girls
and women to produce the fine crochet that has come to
be known
as ‘Irish lace’.
Families
developed designs and motifs. The patterns were closely
guarded secrets passed from mother to daughter.
The details were kept so secret that many of them were
lost as
the families either died off or fled the poverty for
other lands.
The
crochet schools established by the Ursuline nuns in the
1850’s and 1860’s disappeared as the industrial
revolution emerged and factory mass production of lace became
the rule. The 1880’s saw a brief revival of the
cottage lace industry and produced most of the samples
that are now
family heirlooms or museum pieces. In modern Ireland,
women create lace patterns and enter them into competition
for
prizes at county fairs. At Kiltale
House in Co. Meath,
Michael Lydon displays his late mother's collection
of blue ribbon
samples of her Irish lace.
The
Sheelin Irish
Lace Museum is
a wonderful place to visit in person or through the
virtual tour. The tour includes a brief history and stunning
graphics
of Youghal Needlelace; Inishmacsaint Needlelace;
Crochet; Limerick Lace and Carrickmacross. The Museum traces
the history
of lace-making in Ireland, and conveys to the visitor
the importance of the industry to Ireland as a whole and
to Irish
women in particular.
