At the beginning of 2024, the Guild of Irish Lacemakers was contacted to discuss the opportunity of having a stand at the Knitting&Stitching Show in Belfast from the 7th to the 10th of November 2024.
The Knitting and Stitching Show used to come to RDS every year, and it was a huge event for every crafter in the country. Following Brexit, the organisers decided to bring the show to Northern Ireland, rather than Dublin.
The Guild’s committee called on all lace groups around the country for expressions of interest, as we are all volunteers and it would have been extremely difficult for one group to cover 4 days.
We had several Zoom meetings throughout the year, and, based on the preferences expressed by various lacemaker groups, we came up with a list of participating groups and a roster. Sara Clancy was brilliant as coordinator and the brain of the operation, and a WhatsApp group helped us communicate closer to the show dates.
We met so many people interested in lace – young and old – that we think our efforts really paid off. Despite of the complete absence of lace material suppliers from the show, we enjoyed our time in Belfast and would consider such an opportunity again.
Between 4 and 6 October 2024, a delegation of The South Armagh Lace Collective came to visit Limerick , following the invitation of Friends of Lace Limerick.
Day 1 of the visit was spent in the Limerick Museum, studying and discussing pieces from the Florence Vere O’Brien and the Maude Kearney collections.
On Day 2 of the visit, Eva Ryley taught a Limerick lace workshop in the Limerick Museum in the morning.
In the afternoon we paid a visit to the Sisters of Mercy Provincial Heritage Centre in Charleville, hosted and guided by Sr. Bernadette Knopek. Sr. Bernadette was an amazing host, bringing artefacts to life with the stories she told us. We are really sorry to hear that the Heritage Centre closure is imminent – it is such an important repository of Ireland’s lacemaking history!
Day 3 was dedicated to a Limerick city walking tour, with an emphasis on “places of lace”: Todd’s, Cannock’s, the different sites of Florence Vere O’Brien s lace school (Bank Place, 112 and 48 George Street), Thomondgate where Thomond Lace Industry was based, Clare Street, where the David Kinnear and the David McClure manufacturers were based, and finishing with the site of the Good Shepherd Convent.
On the way back, we paid a visit to the AntiqueLoft at the Limerick Milk Market and had coffee together in The Savoy Hotel . Less photos, as we were too busy making plans!
We had a wonderful time together, and we are all looking forward to meeting again soon!
An Evening Celebrating Youghal Lace, Youghal, co. Cork, 19:00-21:00- Showcasing pieces of Youghal lace, photographs and memorabilia with light refreshments served on the night.
If Lace Could Talk – Lace Stories, Limerick, co Limerick, 18:00-20:30, – a 10 min video running in a loop in the Limerick Museum , presenting the stories behind five lace objects (both traditional and modern) designed to be worn. The video will also premiere on YouTube on Culture Night.
LACE AGUS CEOL, Borris, Co.Carlow – 20:00-23:00 – a brief talk about Borris Lace, accompanied by a display of beautiful samples of the lace, followed by lively entertainment from local traditional musicians.
Russborough House is situated in West Wicklow, not far from Dublin. It was built in the mid-1700s for the 1st Earl of Milltown, and later it became home to the world-famous Beit Collection.
“Its classical design, perfect scale, architectural detail, and exquisite decoration marks this Palladian jewel as the most beautiful Georgian house in Ireland” says the website description.
During a recent visit, Sara Clancy, lacemaker and lace curious, visited Russborough House and spotted a few interesting pieces.
This post is of a more personal nature, as it summarises my own experience (Gabriela Avram’s) during a recent vacation in Bantry, West Cork.
I have been attending the West Cork Chamber Music Festival almost every year, so I am very familiar with the Bantry and Glengarriff areas. But this year I decided to make a few inquiries about Glengarriff Lace, as I was quite intrigued of its scarcity and close resemblance to Limerick lace. The first mention I heard of Glengarriff Lace was from Veronica Stuart a few years back when I first attended the International Lace Festival in Kinsale. The only photograph I could find online was the one of a collar from the Headford Lace Project collection.
We stayed in a new place this year, and when I tried to question our landlord about Glengarriff lace, he promptly introduced me to his wife, who has been an art teacher in the area for many years. She hadn’t heard anything about Glengarriff lace, but told me that the Sisters of Mercy had created a Lace School in Bantry that was active many years in the 20th century.
The Lacemaking class in the Convent of Mercy in Bantry, West Cork pose with their samples to celebrate the end of year! From the Fergus O’Connor Collection .
The following day I went to the Bantry Library, where I got more help. The Bantry Historical and Archaeological Society publishes a journal, and in the second volume I found an article on The Sisters of Mercy in Bantry, signed by Jenny McCarthy. The article states that the Lace School was open in 1902, and it was an effort of the Sisters to teach the young girls useful skills.
On one of the following days, I visited the tiny Bantry Museum and discovered there was quite a bit of lace there – of various types – although the origin of the pieces is mostly unknown.
The type of excellent lacework that you can get in little cottages around tourist spots like Glengarriff is of immense artistic quality, and has been a heritage of the people and of families. This is something that could be encouraged and developed so as to make available things of beauty and quality instead of the awfully loud, garish and unfortunate souvenirs that are plastered around this country and which are meant to be representative of something typically Irish or something produced in Ireland.
Further discussions on the characteristics of Glengarriff Lace on the Laces of Ireland Facebook Group led to a number of other contributions.
Fidelma Cosgrave, lacemaker from Limerick, told us:
“Below is Glengariff lace my brother and I bought it in 1957 or 1958 as a present for our mum. Nora Finnegan knows who made it – the lady is dead for many years. My memory of buying it is: I was 4 or 5 we went into the lady’s thatched cottage to see this old lady dressed in black making the lace. She had a large frame and she worked away on the lace. It was in the Glengariff area.”
Nora Finnegan, Kenmare Lace and Design Centre:
“I believe the Limerick Tambour Lace you had on Facebook was made by Sheila O’Sullivan from Ardgroom village. Ardgroom is near Glengariff. Sheila regularly supplied Tambour Lace to the Convent in Kenmare and after that to The Kenmare Lace and Design Centre. She passed away a few years ago. If you look at the piece she is working on , it is very similar to the piece you had on Facebook. I have kept the other piece, because I wanted to have something made by her.
Nellie Brooks was a very talented lacemaker. She also made some lace for The Lace Centre. She lived up a steep road above Glengariff town in a lovely old cottage. She learned to make Limerick Tambour, or Glengariff Lace, from her mother in law. Nellie in turn taught it to her daughter in law, but her daughter in law passed away at a very young age and so did not get to make much of it.”
Veronica Stuart, Traditional Lacemakers of Ireland:
“A lady called Peggy Brooks used to teach in Glengarriffe, I was lucky enough to have met her a few times. Lovely lady. RIP. I have a newspaper article about her . Must look it up.”
On 21-23 June 2024, following the invitation received from the South Armagh Lace Collective, a delegation of Friends of Lace Limerick , including Susan Frawley, Fidelma Cosgrave, Toni O’Malley, Eva Ryley, Marina Poster and Gabriela Avram, undertook a trip to Culloville in South Armagh.
The next stop was the Armagh County Museum , which is a partner in our Laces of Ireland project and will organise a dedicated lace exhibition in August 2025. A group of members from the South Armagh Lace Collective joined us for the visit. Sarah Millsopp, the curator, shared with us an important part of the lace collection that is not usually on display. The two hours reserved for the visit flew. We were all in a trance, marvelling at the exquisite work and attempting to identify lace types and provenance.
On Saturday, 22 June 2024, the members of the South Armagh Lace Collective organised a Carrickmacross Lace making class for the visiting group and for local people interested. Some were complete beginners, others like myself had attended a workshop 5 years prior (and still had the unfinished piece!). A pop-up exhibition with heirloom and contemporary lace pieces was organised in the same venue.
In the afternoon, a Lace Gathering took place at the Culloville Community Centre. The event saw the launch of the Laces of Ireland project in Northern Ireland. Rosie Finnegan-Bell, the chair of the South Armagh Lace Collective, sent invitations to the lace making community both north and south of the border, and there were more than 70 people in attendance.
The audience had the chance to appreciate the pop-up exhibition, discover new connections and talk about their own experience related to lace.
A pop-up Limerick lace exhibition was organised by Friends of Lace Limerick.
Carrickmacross lace teacher extraordinaire Mary McMahon was also present. Mary was one of the lacemakers who created the lace for Sybil Connolly’s famous dresses Pink Ice, and Illusion, now in the collection of the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
The gathering was a huge success, with enthusiastic feedback coming from all over the island of Ireland.
On the next morning, June 23rd, before departing for Limerick, the visitors were led on a tour of the Creggan Graveyard by local historian Una Walsh, whose enthusiasm, knowledge and elocution left a deep impression on the audience.
Based on a last minute arrangement, an invitation to visit lace designer PJ McCabe and custodian of the St. Louis Convent lace designs in Carrickmacross was extended to the whole Limerick group, accompanied by Rosie Finnegan-Bell. The idea of commissioning a joint design for a triptych has emerged and is under discussion at the moment.
The first lace exhibition on Inis Oírr, Aran Islands.
Step into a world where craftmanship meets centuries old tradition at this Exhibition of Irish lace! Each handmade piece draws its inspiration from the culture, heritage, landscape, flora and fauna of Galway, Connemara and the Aran Islands. Lace requires practice and precision; the result is a unique creation that reflects the artistry and skill of the makers’ hands.
Two Antique Irish crochet lace wedding dresses (on loan from The Traditional Lacemakers of Ireland, Cork) will also be on display, threads of the past intertwined with those of the present.
Ar an Imeall – Taispeántas Lása le Lásadóirí na Coiribe – 2-20 Meitheamh 2024
Is é seo an chéad taispeántas lása ar Inis Oírr, Oileáin Árann. Ar taispeáint freisin beidh dhá ghúna lása cróiseáilte seanré a fuarthas ar iasacht ó Lásadóirí traidisiúnta na hÉireann.
Feicfidh tú ceardaíocht sa taispeántas seo de thraidisiún atá ann leis na céadta bliain. Tá gach ceann de na píosaí lámhdhéanta spreagtha ag cultúr, oidhreacht, tírdhreach, flóra agus fána na Gaillimhe, Chonamara agus Oileán Árainn. Don lása teastaíonn cleachtadh agus cruinneas, bíonn an toradh ina chruthú ar leith a léiríonn ealaín agus scil na lásadóirí.
Beidh dhá ghúna pósta seanaimseartha lása ar taispeáint freisin (ar iasacht ó Lásadóirí traidisiúnta na hÉireann, Corcaigh), snáitheanna ón am atá imithe fite le cinn na haimsire seo.
The project focuses on supporting collaboration and exchanges between lacemaker groups and heritage institutions on the island of Ireland, and is led by Limerick City and County Council. The partners in the project are Friends of Lace Limerick and the South Armagh Lace Collective, and three museums: the Limerick Museum, the Armagh County Museum and the Cork Public Museum. The long term goal is to create and promote a lace trail through the majority of historical lacemaking centres on the island of Ireland.
For the duration of the project (2023-2025), we will be organising pop-up exhibitions, presentations, demonstrations and lacemaking classes), as well as mutual visits .
The Laces of Ireland digital platform will be further developed to include a Laces of Ireland Trail map. An all-Ireland lace trail that will include the permanent collections and lacemaking community groups available to welcome visitors, as well as a joint calendar of events.
In late July, we consulted with a number of lace artists and lace groups about the opportunity of a series of online interviews that would be shared online for August Craft Month and Heritage Week 2023. We received a lot of enthusiastic responses, and the project became reality.
This project aims to enhance the visibility of lacemaking groups, organisations and individual lace artists who are keeping alive Ireland’s lace making traditions on the island of Ireland. They will continue to publish conversations with lacemakers on the Laces of Ireland channel throughout August 2023, in an attempt to encourage closer connections between groups and provide more information about Irish traditions to an international audience.
