Lacemaking in Ireland began during the 1600s, with Pillow or Bone Lace, which we now know as Bobbin Lace. Early records of the work are frustratingly scarce and it suffered from being regarded as a peasant lace, also perhaps from never having an Irish place name attached to it as the later laces did, with the result that it failed to gain an Irish identity.
The first real documented records began with the foundation of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in 1739, which strongly promoted arts and crafts through prestigious annual competitions and exhibitionsof the highest standard. Bobbin Lace was actively supported from the beginning, the society’s records reporting that there were several centres in Dublin alone making Bone Lace, including three lace schools, and funding was offered to encourage the teaching of the technique as early as 1741.
In the 1750s the RDS initiated a new direction for the lacemaking, to encourage commercial production rather than individual. Bone Lace was also being made in other parts of the country. In Kilkenny Mrs Rachel Armstrong of Inistioge, County Kilkenny (in the centre of the country) trained and then employed a group of girls, who by 1767 were producing ‘considerable quantities of Bone Lace’ and Mrs Armstrong was awarded funding for her success.
Further west in County Mayo, lacemakers in Castlebar, patroned by Lady Bingham, were achieving Bone Lace ‘of an extraordinary Degree of Fineness and of very elegant patterns’.
Around this time the RDS attempted to increase their awards for commercially produced Bone Lace. However, it proved difficult to assess and validate the origin and comparative quality of entries, also expensive, as they set the awards very high for the time (£100). Consequently, these schemes did not continue. There are no samples remaining which we can identify as being from this era, so it is therefore hard to judge the style and quality of the designs. It is thought that the majority of the work was relatively simple in design. Most probably the work comprised of edgings for which techniques could be learned quickly and could be made with not too many bobbins and pins, both of which would have beenexpensive and not readily available in Ireland.
Bobbin Lace did feature to an extent during the 1800s, when the other more widely recognised Irish Laces named at the start of this article were developed, but most samples from that time show only simple insertions and edgings of Bucks Point and Torchon.
However, there is published reference to ‘Pillow Lace in imitation of Devon Lace’ (Honiton) and surviving work from the Convent of the Poor Clare Sisters in Kenmare, County Kerry shows that Irish Lacemakers definitely did achieve excellence in complex design and technique.
In Dublin, pupils of the Normal Lace School on Harcourt Street, were recorded as working blond silk borders of great variety for a short time, from 1856-58. The school continued to function until the 1920s, after which time Bobbin Lace seems to have faded completely from sight until it was revived inan adult education evening class in Dublin in 1985.
While today it is purely a pleasure pastime, Bobbin Lace is taught, along with other laces by the Guild of Irish Lacemakers (GOIL), which began offering classes in 1987. More information on the history of Bobbin Lacemaking in Ireland came to light in 2014 with achance discovery by archaeologists with the Officeof Public Works (OPW), who were excavating to install a lift in the 17th century Rathfarnham Castle inDublin. There they found the remains of an apparent rubbish dump, and its contents of over 18,000 items included some 9,000 fine pins, also needles, bodkins, silver buttons, ribbons, a handsomely turned wooden needlecase and a number of lacemaker’s bobbins!
Most significant is that the hoard has been dated to approximately 1690, making it an extremely early record of Bobbin (Bone) Lace being made in Ireland.The bobbins are in good condition, made of woods identified as apple, pear, hawthorn and Mountain Ash, and are styled in the English South Bucks traditional shape. The needlecase is believed to be ebony. Research into the find is ongoing and it is hoped these treasures will form the core of a permanent exhibition at the castle.
More lacemaking history was unearthed in 2016 when a group from Headford, County Galway was involved with a community project promoting research into local history as part of the preparations for Galway to be European Capital of Culture in 2020. They discovered references to ‘Headford Lace’ in the historical record and were given access to the onlyknown surviving piece of the lace, dated to about 1904. Jackie Magnin of the Traditional Lacemakers of Ireland identified the piece as being Bobbin Lace of Torchon design and further research discovered that Headford had indeed been a centre for Bobbin Lace production. Headford Lace has been revived by the Headford Lace Project, with the help of teacher Jackie Magnin.
Bobbin Lace Teachers:
Jackie Magnin – Headford Lace Project
Ann Keller – Guild of Irish Lacemakers
Unagh McCullough – ARDS Bobbin Lace Enthusiasts
(Adapted from “Irish Laces and Lacemakers” by Mary O’Neill)