A Tale of Two Lace Centers, the Iconic Irish Laces - pt. 2
This is the second part of our series on types of Irish lace. We aim to explore not only the history and characteristics of these laces, but also discover a bit about who bought, designed, and created them. [click here to read part 1, about Youghal lace]
by Erin Frumet
[Irish crochet's] history is one that entitles it to a place of honour, since it is altogether a new product than anything known in olden times, and is sometimes as beautiful as one could wish.
- Nottingham Journal - Monday 25 January 1886
Crochet collar, Ireland, 1850-1855. Purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1855.
Accession # 1159-1855. Maker Unknown.
Irish crochet has a special place in my heart; because this was the first Irish lace I learned about, and because it is perhaps the most controversial. Throughout its history, Irish crochet has been both praised and scorned. On one hand, it was an extremely fashionable lace that helped keep families afloat during the famine; on the other, it was sometimes written off as a coarse and unartistic, even morally depraved, form of art. In this article, we will delve into the invention, proliferation, waning and revival of Irish crochet throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
One of the peculiarities of the crochet production was, that it seemed to grow under the hands of its makers, and to be developed according to their intention; and this intention was truly nature's own, for there never was a more ungoverned manufacture. [...] Their crude fancies knotted and gnarled the thread into shapes so various and extraordinary, that to examine them became a study - not of lace, but of people.
- Meredith, Mrs. “The Lacemakers.” Meliora; Social Science in its Ethical, Economical, Political, and Ameliorative Aspects VII (1865): 180–83.
I. The Origins and Invention of Irish Crochet (1840-1850s)
II. Characteristics and Structure
IV. Classifications of Irish Crochet + Resources for Making
VII. Irish crochet in the 20th century (1910s - 1970s)
The Origins and Invention of Irish Crochet
By most accounts, crochet lace in Ireland developed as an industry to provide an alternate source of income for households during the famine in the mid-19th century. However, the origins of Irish crochet lace, and crochet itself, are difficult to pin down. The word "crochet" was not published in English until about 1840. The earliest recorded crochet pattern was featured in an 1824 issue of Penelope, a Dutch periodical, although slip stitch crochet had previously existed in the form of "shepherd's knitting" with a flat hooked tool (9). However, there is no documented evidence of true crochet production prior to the 1820s.
The popularization of crochet instruction manuals began in English in about 1840; Jane Gaugin's Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting and Crotchet (1840) and Frances Lambert's My Crochet Sampler (1844) being great examples of these early instructions. Text only for the most part text-only, with un-detailed illustrations otherwise, these early crochet patterns were for simple bags, garments, or pillows of alternating colors or beaded for decoration. Coincidentally, this new textile art was just starting to grow in popularity at the same time that the Great Hunger was taking hold in Ireland, with the potato blight affecting crops in 1845.
One of the first designers to publish floral crochet patterns was Mademoiselle Eleanor Riego de la Branchardiere, an English woman of French and Irish heritage. Mlle Riego de la Branchardiere published her first crochet manual in 1846 at the age of 18, and later two books containing the "new floral designs" in 1848. These designs were pioneering in their organic lacy patterns. It's possible to see the similarities to Irish crochet in these patterns, especially in the shamrock, thistle, and rose pattern below.
On the left, a floral collar from her 1848 The Crochet Book, Second Series.
On the right, floral design from her 1848 The Crochet Appliqué Flower Book
These manuals may have been used as teaching aids by the early Irish crochet schools (10), and Branchardiere has been credited as the "inventor" of Irish crochet both by her own account and various other histories.
In 1851, Branchardiere published "Crochet Book, Eleventh series," with patterns that claim to be "exact copies" of antique laces. The Irish crocheters may have used her idea as inspiration, or potentially developed a technique for imitating complex antique lace patterns separately - illustrated by the below example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, c. 1850:
from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 88.1.71
Guipure Collar, "an exact copy of old point", from Mlle Riego de la Barchardiere's
Rose Point Collar, from Mlle Riego de la Barchardiere's
Guipure Berthe, from Mlle Riego de la Barchardiere's
There are few accurately dated early examples of Irish crochet. From those that we do have, it can be discerned that Irish crochet "antique lace" imitations had raised motifs starting from the 1850s, as per the first photograph illustrating this article. There are no dated examples from the 1840s, as far as I'm aware. By 1852, the Irish crochet schools were creating imitation Point, Honiton, Mechlin, and Guipure (11). Compared with Riego de la Branchardiere's published designs, though similar in character to the Irish examples, they have a flat profile (until this 1856 pattern). I think it's fair to say that although Mlle Riego de la Branchardiere's work may have been an inspiration or jumping off point in the development of Irish crochet, it was ingenuity of the the Irish crocheters and crochet schools themselves who developed this iconic lace to what it has become known for today. This sentiment is echoed by John McGuire in his description of the lace produced at the Blackrock Convent school in 1852 (11):
The principal portion of this work was designed by the conductress of the school; but a considerable portion of it was also left to the taste of the workers, who exhibited amazing talent and ingenuity in the manner in which they adapted their own inventions to the general character of the pattern. One charming berthe was wrought with a profusion of vine-leaves and roses; the latter being raised in successive folds, as if to represent layer upon layer of leaves.
We'll continue to trace the history and development of this lace from its earliest schools in the next section.
For a more in-depth study and analysis on Mlle Riego de Branchardiere's contribution to Irish Crochet Lace, as well as the early history of crochet lace manuals, I highly recommend Barbara Ballantyne's "Mademoiselle Reigo and Irish Crochet" which you can find here.
Early Irish Crochet Schools
Máire Treanor credits the Ursaline nuns in Blackrock, Cork for being the first to bring crochet to Ireland from France in the 1830s (10). It's possible that this is the true origin of Irish crochet, as Blackrock was one of the earliest centers of crochet lacemaking in Ireland. The Ursaline convent added industrial training for crochet to their school program in 1845 (prior to Branchardiere's first publication), in a charitable effort to help children earn money for their families at the start of the famine (11). Their work was exhibited in the National Exhibition of 1852 and described in the quote from John McGuire above. He considered their work equal "in beauty and delicacy, [to] almost any description of lace." (11)
Soon after in 1846, Lady Deane, also from Blackrock, Cork, had joined in on the effort. By 1850, the Cork Examiner reported that she had employed every woman and girl in the neighborhood at crochet work, and that the workers were earning 6s. to 10s. per week (this would be about £30 - £50 a week in today's currency). The average weekly wages of agricultural labour at the same time were 4s. 10d (7). In her 1851 obituary, it was mentioned that she received large orders for "ornamental and useful crochet work" and "something like £1200 was paid by various correspondents within the last year; and we are assured that, by this industrial occupation, many a family was supported by it's youngest members." (19) The primary purchasers of the lace from this school were private parties in England (11).
Lady Deane turning sod for a new railroad in Blackrock, Cork.
From Illustrated London News, 26 Jun 1847 © Illustrated London News Group.
The first contemporary reference I could find of specifically "Irish crochet" is mentioned in the Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier. On a visit to the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851, the journalist noted "a good deal of beautiful Irish crochet work and embroidery - amongst the rest some from Kinsale Convent of Mercy". The typical crochet lace from this region in the south of Ireland was known for having large motifs, connected by open filling stitches (12). The first advertisements of Irish Crochet in London newspapers appear around this time as well, sometimes mentioning the same Crystal Palace Exhibition:
Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times - Saturday 26 July 1851 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
The below examples from Victoria & Albert Museum are some of the earliest concretely dated examples of Irish crochet, and may have been from one of the early Cork schools.
Pair of crochet lappets, Ireland, 1850-1854. Purchased from the Women's Industrial Fund in Dublin by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1854. Accession # 1095&A-1854. Maker Unknown.
Crochet lace collar, Ireland, 1850-1853. Purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1853. Accession #876-1853. Maker Unknown.
In 1847, Mrs. Cramer Roberts, of Thornton, Killucan, started her crochet school. There, she was soon able to employ more than one hundred young women at "fancy crochet work" at an average of 5s per week (8). Her school was short-lived but one of the most impactful contributions to the development of Irish crochet. At this point, crochet was still a relatively new form of "fancy work", and she borrowed an ill-designed sample to learn and teach the technique with. After teaching five Irish women to crochet, she lent them old specimens of lace, and "of their own ingenuity they brought it to its present perfection" (16).
According to Royal Dublin society's 1855 report, "Crochet Guipure" was invited by the workers at her school (22). Again, this recollection places the invention of Irish crochet firmly in the hands of the makers.
Indeed, she later claimed to have the "first piece of Crochet Guipure ever done in Ireland", which she lent to the London International Exhibition in 1872. What I would give to know what happened to this specimen! Unfortunately for us, this piece and its maker's name are both lost to time.
The Royal Dublin Society's 1855 Cattle show included an exhibition of the crochet work of the Industrial schools, including from Mrs. Roberts' Newbridge School, which submitted "imitation of real lace in crochet work" described as "very remarkable; it is difficult to distinguish between them" (20). The article about this show goes on to note that the specimens from Killeshandra were "also good". The below example from of crochet work from the V&A was purchased from Killeshandra school this same year (1855), so we can assume that the examples from Mrs. Roberts' school were even more incredible.
Crochet collar, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, Ireland, 1850-1855. Purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1855.
Accession # 1158-1855. Maker Unknown.
Although not named by in this article in The Ladies Companion in 1851, it's often attributed to Mrs. Roberts that she trained six students in "crochet guipure" under the condition that they in turn teach three others (23). It seems likely that each region formed their own distinct variety through this system. It's possible that her school was the first to perfect the imitation of old laces, as per the Royal Dublin Society's claim, or that this idea may have evolved independently in different schools around this same time.
One of Mrs. Roberts teachers made her way to Clones, where the other major center of Irish crochet industry sprung up under the patronage of Cassandra Hand. Cassandra was the wife of a Church of Ireland minister, who was appointed rector to Clones in 1847 at the height of the famine (10). This school, like many others, was founded as a famine relief effort. Clones became famous not only for their various types of Irish crochet lace (reviewed later in this essay), but for their high standards even during the waning of crochet lace in the 1860s.
Maire Trainor's book "Clones Lace" is a fascinating review of how the Clones lace industry developed over time, and includes various accounts and profiles of the individual lacemakers of the time who may otherwise be lost to history. By 1905, Clones fine crochet was in steady demand and considered the most important branch of the Irish Crochet industry (14).
By 1855, there were over 60 industrial schools supplying crochet lace.
So what happened to all of this early lace? Much of the lace was purchased from the industrial schools by charitable organizations such as The Irish Work Society, who had a shop on London's Regent Street, and the Ladies' Industrial Society for Ireland, who had a shop at 76 Grafton Street in Dublin (23, 24). These charitable organization made up of wealthy elites, who bought up many different outputs of the industrial schools, sold them out of their own shops or set the market value and sold to lace dealers. Occasionally, they would supply patterns and materials. Thus, wearing Irish-made goods during these early years could be a social indicator that one is not only fashionable, but charitable.
I was able to find two examples of crochet collars that in early photography from this period. These may or may not be Irish crochet, but we can see similar examples in museum collections:
Hand-colored ambrotype photograph of a woman wearing a crochet collar, c.1859 (source)
Although this example is more geometric in design, a very similar style can be found in the Powerhouse Collections, dated 1850-1870:
Cuffs, pair, Irish crochet lace, ecru cotton, Ireland, 1850-1870, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Object # A5592-4
Another similar version can be found on Etsy. This has a similar shape as the photograph and is described as a rare Irish crochet design that came from a private lace collection:
Images from The White Room on Etsy
Daguerreotype photograph c.1853-1856 of a woman wearing what looks like an early Irish crochet collar,
colorized by Frédéric Duriez
The collar in the above image looks similar to the one below from Powerhouse Collection, dated 1840-1850.
Powerhouse Collection, object No.86/764-2
Characteristics of Irish Crochet Lace
As discussed in the first portion of this essay, some of the early Irish crochet laces were prized for their accurate imitations of antique laces.
In the mid-nineteenth century antique laces were a highly coveted fashion item, and would be sought out and integrated into modern fashionable dress. One description of Irish crochet lace in a New York newspaper perfectly captures the sentiment around the state of antique laces and Irish crochet at the time:
I have heard of a lady who purchased a quantity of what she believed to be old Roman point, in Italy, at a great expense. On bringing it home she took it to her dressmaker in Dublin, and gave it to her as trimming for a dress, with many cautions against waste, and with repeated orders not to cut it unnecessarily. The woman smiled when she heard the discolored work called antique point. She got a magnifying-glass, and showed her customer that she had, in reality, bought Irish crochet lace, which had been dipped in some yellowing fluid[17], in order to give it an appearance of great age. This clever expert was, moreover, able to tell from what part of the country it had originally been procured.
- The New York Times, 15 Nov 1874, p.4
The "Old Roman Point" mentioned in the quote above may have been Italian Gros Point or perhaps Venetian "point de neige", both of which were popular antique laces of the 18th century.
On the left, fragment of an early 18th century Italian gros point needle lace. From the Met Museum, Accession Number: 06.695.1 On the right, Detail of Venetian "point de neige" from the Met Museum, Accession Number: 08.180.701
The below example is from the lace collection of Mrs. Alfred Morrison at Fronthill (21). On the left is an example of 17th century Point de Venise. On the right is an Irish crochet example worked silk, made specifically for this collector to reproduce the 17th century pattern at the left (sometime prior to when this article was written in 1902) . This was described in the article as "an experiment in improving the spiritless and confused effect of Irish crochet, where conventional motifs are fitted together without any pre-arranged design". Shade from the original description aside, from this comparison we can get a good idea of what sets Irish crochet apart from other laces.
Keeping these examples in mind, we can start to see where the characteristics of Irish crochet emerge from. Although there are many varieties of lace that can be considered "Irish crochet", in general this lace is characterized by a variety of "motifs", which are made individually then connected by filling stitches or bars:
A few "motifs" that can be made from patterns in The Priscilla Irish Crochet Book, 1912
These individual motifs normally have a raised or padded character, which is formed when stitches are created on top of a chain stitch or separate, larger cord, as we see in the below example:
In an early 20th century review of the state of Irish crochet industry (12), William Coyne describes the process for making lace as follows:
In this lace, the forms are made separately by the worker, and the practice has been [...] for the worker to take a large sheet of brown paper cut to the size of the flounce or trimming, and on this to scatter crochet forms, keeping them pretty evenly distributed: they were then secured to the paper, and joined by a ground made in imitation of the ties or bars seen in rose-point lace.
We can see some of that process in this image of a Donegal Irish crochet lace school from the late 19th/early 20th century:
On the left side of the image, the students are crocheting individual motifs from spools of thread.
In the center of the image is the template of the finished lace shape, onto which the individual motifs are arranged.
Once the motifs are laid out on the paper template, they are then joined by filling stitches. The filling stitches are the bars between the crochet motifs, and can be made in many different varieties.
Above, various filling stitches for the ground. Below, working the ground in progress.
Late 19th century Irish Crochet, probably from Cork from Coutau-Begarie
According to Needlecraft magazine (c.1910), the most popular thread for making Irish crochet lace was Manlove's cotton crochet thread in sizes 42, 50, or 80, and the padding cord would have been Harris & Sons flax padding thread. I wasn't able to locate early sources with a hint of what thread was used, but Manlove's was founded in 1829, so it's possible that this was used most extensively (25). Brachardiere's earlier crochet books mention "Taylor's crochet thread". Some early examples are made with linen thread as well.
Image from Etsy
The Morality of Crochet (1860s -1880s)
Illustration of an Irish crochet collar from La Mode Illustree, 1870
An ongoing complaint about Irish Crochet lace from almost its inception was that the workers were careless or messy in its creation.
The lace which emanated from the schools never suggested any idea of the toil it was to train the girls. Totally unaccustomed to regular work, sitting still all day long, following a pattern, and repeating it over and over again, the workers tried the patience of the teachers to the utmost. As soon as a girl had come to use her needle freely, she would branch out into plans of her own, and add here, and subtract stitches there, as it pleased her fancy. To drive into the girl's heads that travellers would not buy the work, and it would be a dead loss if it were incorrectly carried out, was impossible. [...] Even yet, there is the same tendency to carelessness, and rather too low a standard of perfection in women's work which comes over to England from Ireland. (13)
The view that both the quality of Irish crochet lace and the industry itself was declining was common by the time "The Lacemakers" by Mrs. Meredith was published in 1865. In a review, the London Morning Herald noted that "money so easily earned began to be as recklessly spent; and to be in many other ways a snare to the ill-trained female"(30). By this point, many of the original Irish crochet schools had shut down. The industry in Clones was one of the few survivors.
Mrs. Meredith, who had founded one of the original crochet schools in Cork, argued that the decline was due to lack of government funding and support - something that thriving industries in lace centers like France and Belgium had. This is apparent in the below assessment of the work, which laments the lack of quality thread even though the work itself was competent:
Of late the Irish Laceworkers have taken to reproduce the heavy point guipures of the seventeenth century, and very creditable work of this kind with regard to pattern has come into the market. Unfortunately, the thread is coarse, woolly, and of a bad color, and very indifferently spun. A finder and whiter thread would materially improve the hand-made modern Point Lacework; and all these Laces ought to be submitted to a process of singeing - "gasing," as the Nottingham Lace manufacturers call it - which burns off the loose fibres without any injury to the work.
-The Queen Lace Book, 1874 (33)
One of the chief commentators on Irish lace in the late 19th century was Alan Cole (b.1846), an Englishman, assistant secretary and lace expert at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). His father was the first director of the South Kensington Museum.
From 1883-1899, he was tasked with reviewing the state of Irish laces, and helped to set up and improve the design schools of Irish lace. He wrote numerous articles about Irish lace in popular magazines of the time. His aesthetic sensibility was particular and continental, and he seemed to have little tolerance for the offbeat sensibility of Irish laces. In one of his papers, "Lacemaking In Ireland" for English Illustrated Magazine in June, 1890, he argued against the production of Irish crochet due to it's demoralizing character:
[Crochet is] a class of threadwork more easily made, when the pattern is not exacting, than embroidery or net. "Wanton-eyed" women standing at their doors, and chattering with any one who would stop and talk, greatly favoured crochetmaking, and it soon superseded the embroidery on net. Crochet was readily bought up, but it as quickly earned a bad name - not merely on account of its artistic deficiencies, but also because of its socially demoralizing effects. Godly people held the crochet-worker in horror, and so long as travelling agents bought the work freely, and enabled the demoralized crochet women to thrive, there was no doubt a justification for the outcry made against the vice which seemed to be inseparable from this form of industry. [...] Dealers are beginning to require more careful and more artistic work, and the consequence is that the crochet-worker cannot be the heedless gossip and mischief-maker she was if she is to succeed with her metier.
We find a sharp rebuke of this attitude in a letter to the editor of "The Freeman's Journal", on 25 Feb 1884:
Indeed, Alan Cole went on to write a book about Irish laces, "A Renascence of the Irish Art of Lace-making" (1888), and kept the section about Irish crochet lace to a minimum, illustrating crochet borders made in Cork under the direction of Michael Holland:
As we can see from this photograph, although beautiful, the crochet lace is missing the free-spirited nature of Irish crochet, almost to the point of being unrecognizable. The three lower examples may be forms of Cork's "plain crochet" which you can see another example of in the "Classifications of Irish Crochet" section.
However, Cole was still collecting lace for the South Kensington Museum at this time, and his contributions to the collections can be found in "A Supplemental Descriptive Catalogue of Specimens of Lace Acquired for the South Kensington Museum Between 1880 and June 1890". He described this lace from Cork c.1880 as having "degraded floral forms" and "irregularly arranged" grape bunches.
Irish crochet border, from the V&A Collection, Accession # 850-1883
Catalog excerpt from A Supplemental Descriptive Catalogue of Specimens of Lace Acquired for the South Kensington Museum Between 1880 and June 1890 (1891).
We can see from this example that the character of Irish crochet lace may not have as bad as described in these various sources, but simply had fallen out of fashion.
Dealers like the Irish Lace Depot played an important role in keeping the Irish crochet lace industry alive during this period. Originally the Ladies' Industrial Society, then the "Industrial Depository", this depot was founded in 1847 as a charitable effort to increase distribution of the products from the Irish cottage industries, such as lace, knitting, and tatting. Their storefront was located at 76 Grafton Street, but they also enlisted various sellers in England to become exclusive"agents" for this society. They were responsible for buying lace work from schools and households and preparing it for distribution. It seems like Ben Lindsay took over this organization and renamed it "The Irish Lace Depot" in 1874 (35).
In 1870, The Milliner and Dressmaker and Warehouseman's Gazette wrote that:
Ben Lindsey is employing numerous hands at this work [...] producing great quantities of this lace for the trimmings of trains, Court dresses, &c [...]. Ben Lindsey and Co. copy every kind of old English, Spanish and Jesuit point laces [...] and these copies go far to prove that the ancient art of point-lace making is revived in Ireland at least.
In 1883, Lindsay helped to organize the "Mansion House" exhibit, which showcased and promoted the varieties of Irish laces. Images from this exhibition make up the main portion of the images in the "Classifications of Irish Crochet Lace" section and are an extremely valuable contribution to crochet lace history.
Despite this promotional push for Irish laces, in an 1887 review of the state of Irish Industries Ben Lindsey advised that while he previously was able to employ more than 3,000 lacemakers, at that time he only had enough work for 500 (34).
Classifications of Irish Crochet Lace
Among the remarkable attributes of this lace were its localization, and the effects of this localization. Stitches settled, pitched, tooted themselves, and they could not be transplanted. The mode of working in one place could not be taught to the girls of another, so as to produce quite the same effect. [...] In combination, the stitches formed a pattern, and this pattern became a picture, and this picture was nothing more nor less than the characteristics of the neighbourhood, as they appeared to the eye of the maker. [...] Crochet was topographical, and described it's birthplace with a surprising accuracy. That produced in the boggy districts was full of minute fibrous interlacery, and the specimens from the mountainous, rocky places had a peculiar style, which displayed some notion of cubic proportions, while the pieces fabricated in the soft, damp, watery places of the green, fresh, vegetative south were overrun with flowers and foliage of the most luxuriant variety.
- Meredith, Mrs. “The Lacemakers.” Meliora; Social Science in its Ethical, Economical, Political, and Ameliorative Aspects VII (1865): 180–83.
To preface this section, I would like to bring to your attention that many of the below classifications were outlined by Ben Lindsay, Alan Cole and other Irish crochet "reformers" in the later part of the 19th century. These classifications do not cover all possible styles of Irish crochet. According to contemporary sources in the mid-19th century, it was possible to tell which school a particular piece of crochet was from based on the style. However, there is no surviving record or images that we can use to classify earlier examples. Please keep this in mind when reviewing the below.
Clones Laces
As discussed in the first section of this article, Clones was one of the two major centers of Irish crochet in the 19th century (the second being Cork). The industry there was encouraged by Mrs. Cassandra Hand, of Surrey, who came to Ireland with her husband the Rev. Mr. Hand during the famine (4). By studying fragments of old Venetian point lace to come up with designs, she began a lace school at Clones, probably with the help on a teacher from Mrs. Robert's school. There are a few different styles of crochet laces that were said to originate from this area.
1. Clones Guipure
The first mentions of guipure lace from Mrs. Hand's school in Clones are from her 1853 submission of crochet guipure articles to the Great Industrial Exhibition.
This style of lace was shown in the 1898 Textile Exhibition in the Royal University Building, Dublin, organized by Countess Cadogan. It was described in the review of the Textile Exhibition in The Magazine Art as:
a fine kind of crochet, closely resembling the old raised Venetian point, from which the designs are generally adapted. Fashion having recently favoured laces of heavy and decided style, this guipure has found a ready market both in London and Paris.
Example or Clones Crochet Guipure from the 1898 Textile Exhibition in Dublin
(image from Magazine of Art, p.163)
Raised crochet from the Cork Public Museum, #1777.1792
The above example from Cork Public Museum collections may be Clones Guipure, as it has similar motifs and structure to the image from 1898 Textile Exhibition in Dublin.
2. Clones Spanish Crochet
The Mansion House Exhibition of 1883 catalog houses even more variations of this kind of Clones Guipure: The first of these was labelled "Spanish Crochet". From the illustrations (provided below), the Spanish Guipure is characterized by it's stemmed floral motifs, with use of raised packing cord only around the ring details. The catalog describes Spanish Lace as "made chiefly for ecclesiastical purposes. The monasteries being dissolved in 1830, a large quantity of choice specimens came into the market; and [...] formed the basis of design from which was worked a larger variety of quality and pattern that now go under the general term of Spanish Lace."
A very similar example of "Spanish Crochet" from Clones can be found Countess Aberdeen's "Guide to Irish Exhibits" in the Edinburgh International Exhibition from 1886:
The below example of Irish crochet lace looks like it may be this imitation Spain Point as well, using stemmed motifs with raised, padded central rings:
Irish crochet collar, from AtlantiquesStore on Etsy
3. Clones Jesuit Crochet
Jesuit Guipure, as illustrated below, incorporates heavy use of a padded outlining, with flat, decorative filling stitches. These were made from atleast from 1862, when they are mentioned in as being submitted to the Industrial Exhibition that year (26). The below photograph again comes from the Mansion House Exhibition catalog, and describes this style as having possibly "originated from the fact that some of the specimens from which copies were made had belonged to this religious order. They were richer in effect and more difficult to work than the Spanish. From them have risen many varieties that are classified by the same designation, though very inferior."
Image from the Mansion House 1883 exhibition catalog
We can see another example similar to the Jesuit Crochet also from Clones, c. 1880, in the collection of the V&A. The original catalog entry lists this as "a brides picotees".
Irish Crochet Insertion, c.1880. From the V&A Collection, accession # 849-1883
Catalog excerpt from A Supplemental Descriptive Catalogue of Specimens of Lace Acquired for the South Kensington Museum Between 1880 and June 1890 (1891).
4. Clones Guipure Variations
The below examples, also from the Mansion House Exhibition 1883, illustrate simpler variations of Clones crochet lace. From top to bottom, we see Imitation Guipure, Knotted Guipure, and Lifted Guipure. These have much simpler motifs with more dense background filling and without raised padding cord. The catalog describes these as follows:
Guipure - These are very distinct from those of Carrickmacross and Limerick, and are classified under three different heads, - first, those consisting chiefly of border, worked close and tight, and among them small objects of design, having a plain and simple effect. The chief merit of these is the excellence of the work: the design allowing no scope for taste. This is made chiefly in two qualities of thread, 40 and 60.
Knotted Guipure- This lace is evidently from a Venetian original, and consists of knotting the threads as the work of knitting them together proceeds. Here the value rests upon the skill of the worker - and it demands considerable skill. There are not many, indeed, that can learn to do it well, but those who do are well remunerated, as the work always obtains a ready sale.
Lifted Guipure - This is the name applied to another specimen, on account of the stitches having to be lifted in the working. This is more difficult than knotting, consequently this work is more expensive. Its value consists in its solidity, while a light and elegant appearance is maintained. It is exceedingly durable, but it is not always appreciated.
Image from the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog, 1883
Another illustration of the guipure styles comes to us from the 1886 "Guide to Irish Exhibitions" (15). Again we see the plain Guipure, flat with 3-stemmed motifs and a dense background. Lifted Guipure includes the same horseshoe patterns with a distinctive, patterned filling, and Knotted Guipure is the most dense, and includes patterned rings .
There are a few examples of the regular Clones "Guipure" style in the collection of the Met. These have the characteristic three-pronged stemmed motifs with the longer, crown shaped stitches interspersed within the mesh filling :
from the Met Museum, c. mid-19th century. Accession Number: 08.180.641
Another example of "guipure" irish crochet from the Met Museum, c.19th century.
We can see an example of "knotted guipure" in this mid-19th century example:
Lady's cap, Irish, mid-19th century, Accession #06.13, MFA Boston
Directions for an Irish crochet lace similar to the "knotted guipure" can be found in Therese Dillmond's Encyclopedia of Needlework, published in 1890 and available to view online here. Illustration from the manual below:
5. Greek Crochet, Clones
This style of crochet is described in "Irish Lace: Its Origin and History" as having "never been so much used for dress as for toilet or furniture ornamentation. The original is a kind of button-hole stitch. This, however, is worked by the tambour-needle, and copies are almost perfect in resemblance, and nearly equal in value, to the original." (36)
Image from the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog, 1883
It seems that this exact piece of lace illustrating the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog was bought by the Victoria & Albert Museum, as per the image below. This was the only example of "Greek Crochet" that I was able to find in museum collections.
Crochet Border, 1800s, Irish. Accession # 848 - 1883. V&A Collections
6. Venetian Crochet, Clones
This style of crochet was praised as being very similar to the original lace. In the Mansion House Exhibition catalog, it was described as follows:
Some specimens, indeed, can scarcely be distinguished from the best models of the ancient lace, while they are reproduced at much less cost than the original, and are within the reach of the many who are affluent, if beyond the reach of the million. The durability of these is quite equal to the old. The skill of their curious workmanship and the artistic beauty of the best designs have gained for them patronage in every market of. the civilized world. The leaders of fashion in Paris, New York, Vienna, and Brussels have used them freely, and given the Clones industry deserved encouragement.
Image from the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog, 1883
The below example is a smaller border version of this style:
From the Detroit Institute of Arts, Object 30.229
Ben Lindsey's 1886 book includes a simpler version:
Image from "Irish Lace: Its Origins and History" by Ben Lindsey, 1886, scanned from microfilm
Example of raised Irish crochet, from Cooper-Hewitt, late 19th - early 20th c.
Accession Number 1957-120-9-a,b
7. Clones Fancy Work or "Baby Crochet"
Baby crochet is the newer and maybe more well-known version of Irish crochet. Surpassing the original guipure in fashion by the early 20th century, this version in worked in finer threads, and the background filling is made at the same time as the motifs (instead of joining motifs together afterwards).
These images from How to Make Baby Irish Crochet (1930) illustrate the repeating patterns and an illustration of how the background filling is worked.
This style of crochet abandoned the heavy padded motifs of earlier styles and used smaller, daintier motifs called "sprigs". The below style was popular with alternating "sprigs" and a similar mesh background to the guipure styles.
Band (Ireland), Cooper Hewitt Museum
Accession Number 1957-119-9, Object ID 18411685
6. Point d'Angleterre, Clones
The below image was included in Ben Lindsey's 1886 book about Irish crochet. However, there is no detail on what differentiates this version of crochet. We can note the spiky leaf motifs, clustered motifs connected by thick stems, and a fancing filling stitch with a shamrock motif.
Image from "Irish Lace: Its Origins and History" by Ben Lindsey, 1886, scanned from microfilm
A similar example can be found in the Met Museum collection.
Cork Laces
Although Irish crochet was probably first invented in Cork, by the late 19th century it was considered the lesser of the two crochet centers. The output was considered less consistent in quality and not as well managed as the industry in Clones. The below examples are taken from the Mansion House Exhibition in 1883.
1. Cork Plain Crochet
Image from the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog, 1883
An extremely similar Cork plain crochet lace was later used to make up the hem detail on this c. 1910 dress by French designer Callot Soeurs, a label that utilized antique laces in their designs (you can see the dagged borders were added upside down to create a straight hem!).
Detailed image of the hem
Callot Soeurs, Paris (attributed to) (fashion house)
Marie Callot Gerber (attributed to) (designer)
Evening dress (c. 1910)
cotton (lace), silk (satin, tulle), metallic thread (lace), beads
159.5 cm (centre back) 40.0 cm (waist, flat)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Mrs Krystyna Campbell-Pretty in memory of Mr Harold Campbell-Pretty, 2015
A simpler version of Cork's plain crochet can be found in the "Irish Lace: Its Origins and History" from 1886:
"This is the most elementary, and consists of the simplest manipulation of the thread and hook in edgings, D'Oyleys, articles for toilet use, and antimaccassars. These have for years been a stable production". (36) A similar example can be found in the Met Museum collections.
2. Crochet with Lace Stitch
This style of crochet lace is described as "consists in connecting the designs by lace stitches, and relieving the principal objects with other of curious and exquisite workmanship." (36)
Image from "Irish Lace: Its Origins and History" by Ben Lindsey, 1886, scanned from microfilm
A version of this lace can be found in the Powerhouse Collections, and is estimated to be from 1840-1850. Their collections description notes that "it is simpler than other early styles of Irish crochet, its small easy motifs being suitable the the beginners and and young children who were put to work during the famine years.
The needle-made ground mesh is unusual in Irish crochet, however, women who had previously done sewn muslin work may have found it easier to work than the more difficult crocheted ground."
Powerhouse Collection, object No.86/764-2
Another example can be found in the Kent State University collections:
From Kent State Museum collections: Object # 1983.001.1397ab
3. Cork Lace Crochet
Across many sources, it was noted that Cork lace was famous for it's heavy, padded motifs such as the below example illustrated in the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog below.
Image from the Mansion House Exhibition Catalog, 1883
This variety seemed to have been called "Modern" or "Raised" Irish crochet in period sources as well, characterized by various motifs joined by a picot ground. This style of Irish crochet became one of the two dominant styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with the Clones "baby" crochet.
Image from "Irish Lace: Its Origins and History" by Ben Lindsey, 1886
Example of raised Irish crochet, from Irish Homestead, 1897
This regularly patterned example from the Cooper Hewitt Museum is less scattered than the above examples, but shows the same picot or "clones knot" ground.
Accession Number 1923-35-5, Object ID 18300189
Similar motifs are found in this example dated 1890-1910, the description is a "waterlily"
From the Powerhouse Museum Collection, Object No. A1080
This same motif is found on this bodice by Bourniche of Paris, c.1905, indicating that it must have been a popular motif at the time:
Images from Kerry Taylor Auctions, Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles, 21/03/23
Images from Kerry Taylor Auctions, Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles, 21/03/23
By the late 19th century, new designs of Irish crochet proliferated. We can see some of these designs represented in the below lace sample book from 1899.
Other Irish Crochet styles
The below categories are ones that I've found in my research that were not illustrated, but I've found examples that match the description.
1. Royal Irish Guipure
Invented by Messrs. Haywards c. 1886 (2), "Royal Irish Guipure" is a version made from silk thread. The example below is a silk thread Irish crochet example from the Victoria & Albert Museum, c. 1890. Note the lustre of the thread!
Border of crochet and silk, Ireland, ca. 1890. In the Victoria & Albert Museum collections.
Accession # T.69-1972. Maker Unknown.
Another, less fine example of Irish crochet made in silk thread:
Lace and images from The White Room on Etsy.
Online Resources for Irish Crochet Making
I've created a Google Doc with a running list of free, available online resources of Irish Crochet motifs and designs. This also includes a tab with all of Mlle Riego de la Branchardiere's books available online. You can access it HERE.
If you know of additional resources that I can add to this list, please email me: thelibertiesarchive@gmail.com.
Makers and Designers
The majority of Irish crochet workers were women and young girls, who supplemented their family's income by crocheting in their spare time. In Maire Trainor's book "Clones Lace", she
imagines the working conditions of a lacemaker, who despite the precautions to keep her work clean, brought it to the lace buyer brown-black from the turf fire:
I could imagine a woman crocheting this piece in her white-washed thatched cottage, with her spool of thread in a jam jar, to keep it from the antics of the cat. Like most crocheters, she wore an apron to keep the lace as clean as was possible in the basic conditions of her home. Maybe some of the beautiful motifs were made by her neighbours, who were also experienced crocheters. [...] To keep it as clean as possible, she would hide the lace under her bed mattress when doing housework. [...]She was expert at the shamrock Clones knot, a filling stitch that made this piece more special and valuable and she would hide it from her neighbours, as this filling stitch made her work of more interest to the buyer in Clones. When she was finished [with] this jabot and a few other collars, she would rise at 6 am on Friday to walk 15 miles to the fair in Clones, with her neighbours. As most of the buyers followed the bartering system, she probably didn't get any money for her crochet, but exchanged it for sugar and tea, some material to make a dress, maybe a hat for one of the children who had helped her with her crochet. The skill of crocheting and their creativity gave these women pride and self-confidence in their difficult and impoverished lives. (10).
As already discussed in the earlier parts of this essay, the nature of crochet allows for inventiveness of the worker. Through that inventiveness, Irish crochet was born into many different forms and styles. The makers and designers listed in this section are a small and somewhat random selection of workers who I came across in my research, and meant to give a give a name and credit back to some of these very talented creatives who are generally forgotten to history.
The earliest named Irish crocheter that I could find was in the New York Exhibition catalog from 1853 (6), a Mrs. Manly from Blackrock, Cork, Ireland exhibited "specimens of crochet pearl tatting and guipure lace" with motifs of rose, shamrock, and thistle.
from New York Exhibition catalog, 1853
Another group of early crocheters is named in The Royal Dublin Society's list of "Best Specimens" from their 1855 Industrial Exhibition. From the Killyshandra School, who submitted crochet collars, collarettes, sleeves and chemisesette -
Jane Doherty (b. c.1834) May have been married at the age of 21 in 1855 to David Walker, labourer in Co. Cavan.
Ellen Brewster (b. c.1834) Daughter of a gardener. Married Michael Carbin, servant, in 1856.
Rose Kelly (probably b.1828 in Killeshandra, Co. Cavan), from 1841 census fragments we can see that she was at that time enrolled at McKenny School, and could read and write. Her father, James Kelly was recorded as a labourer who could not read or write. Her mother was occupied at spinning and could read and write. She may have emigrated.
Maria Ennis (1836-1918[?]), 19 years old at the time of this award. Her father was a farmer, and she married Robert Maxwell, also a farmer, the following year in 1856.
Catherine Ennis (b. 1828?) potentially the sister of Maria Ennis, may have moved to London and married there in 1861
Julia Arabin (c.1840-1872), 15 years old at the time of this award. Her father was the postmaster and she later married John Gowan in 1870 in Waterford.
It's possible that these girls were responsible for creating this collar that is now in the V&A Collection, created in the same school and purchased in 1855:
Crochet collar, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, Ireland, 1850-1855. Purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1855.
Accession # 1158-1855. Maker Unknown.
The below photos are of the Adara crochet lace school run by the Irish Industries Association, and funded by the Congested Districts Board, a government subsidized program that aimed to improve the economic conditions in the west of Ireland (more on this later). Just one year after these photos was taken, in 1898, their work was submitted to the Art Industries Exhibition. The school won second prize in the crochet lace category judged by Alan Cole. (39)
Crochet school, Ardara, Co. Donegal Presented by Mrs. H.L. Mick, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Photos taken by her husband for the 'Congested Districts Board', Oct. 1895 - May 1897
Crochet school, Ardara, Co. Donegal Presented by Mrs. H.L. Mick, Bray, Co. Wicklow
Photos taken by her husband for the 'Congested Districts Board', Oct. 1895 - May 1897
Photographs courtesy of National Museum of Ireland
Unfortunately, there are no census records for c.1897 when these photos were taken, and I wasn't able to locate school records to find the names of the lace makers.
Michael Holland
"Some novel crochet-works were produced by workers in the south and south-western districts of Ireland from designs by Mr. Michael Holland, of Messrs. Dwyers, and by Mr. Murphy. (2 p.666).
From The English Illustrated Magazine, 1890
Michael Holland was a talented crochet designer and vocal supporter of the industry. He was a student at the Cork School of Art, and was employed by Messrs. Dwyer & Co. of Cork, a local department store and lace dealer. He later became an independent lace dealer and won many awards for his designs.
In April 1888, Messrs. Dwyer and Co submitted a case of crochet work designed by Michael Holland to the "Lace Exhibition" at the Crawford Municipal Schools of Science and Art in Cork. A review of the event described his work as:
"That gentleman becoming alive to the fact that design was required took the matter up, and by re-arrangement of old forms and introduction of new forms has demonstrated that crochet is capable of wonderful development". (40)
The Cork Public Museum has some excellent examples of his work, which is different. in character than anything we've seen so far:
Michael Holland design, c.1896
Courtesy of the Cork Public Museum, Accession # L1945.14
There is a Michael Holland Collection of documents in the Cork City & County Archives, and a wonderful biography of him in Barbara Ballantyne's "Early History of Irish Crochet Lace".
Miss Eliza Meade from the Industrial School, Ursuline Convent Cork was a crochet designer who participated in an exhibition of designs by art students at the South Kensington Museum (now V&A) in 1884 and won an award for her design at the Connaght Exhibition in 1895 . Unfortunately, I was not able to find an attributed image of her work or designs.
From the Health Exhibition Catalog , p.150, 1884
Western People - Saturday 07 September 1895, p.5
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Lastly, I would like to include these images of "Real Irish Crochet Robes", made at Presentation Convent in Youghal, from the Cork Public Museum, from the early 20th century. This is speculation on my part based on her age , but I would like to think that the model was one of the crochet makers who worked on this stunning Irish crochet gown. Lacemakers rarely, if ever, got. to wear the work they created. It would be lovely if she had gotten. to model her work before it was sent off to a wealthy buyer.
Images courtesy Cork Public Museum, Accession # 1666.3320
Images courtesy Cork Public Museum, Detail of Accession # 1666.3320
For further anecdotes about individual lace-makers, I highly recommend Máire Treanor's book "Clones Lace: The Story and Patterns of an Irish Crochet".
The Irish Crochet Revival and Renaissance (1890-1910)
Despite the controversy over Irish crochet's reputation, by 1889 the Roscommon Constitutionalist declared "The old-fashioned collar of Irish crochet lace has been revived". This time, it was not bolstered by charitable effort only, but also by interest and fashion.
As we discussed in previous sections, the lace expert Alan Cole had been enlisted to help revive the industry to controversial effect. His appearance on the scene was, in part, arranged by James Brennan, an artist and Headmaster at the Cork School of Art (41). Brennan was the on-the-ground support, visiting classes, inspecting work, and arranging design classes. We can see the creativity that flourished during this time in the designs attributed to Michael Holland, as well as these two examples from the Cork School of Art Archives, c.1900:
Irish Crochet Lace Border, with floral spiral design, c. 1900
Cork School of Art Archives, Crawford Art Gallery, Catalogue Number: CAG.2957
Irish Crochet Border piece with large leaf and flower trim, c. 1900
Cork School of Art Archives, Crawford Art Gallery, Catalogue Number: CAG.2956
Around the same time, the Congested Districts Board was founded in 1891 to help support industries in impoverished districts on the west coast of Ireland. This included the founding of many lace and crochet schools, particularly in Donegal. The Irish Lace Depot supplied designs for use of workers at these schools. This type of government funded program was a boon to the lace schools, as the Board would encourage the younger workers to go through a "proper course of instruction", and work was monitored by inspectors.
The Adara crochet school we saw images of in the previous section was founded by the CDB but was under management of the Irish Industries Association, founded in 1886 by the philanthropist and Vicereine at the time, Countess Ishbel Aberdeen. The association was intended "to stimulate the production of home industries, provide information to workers, establish depots from which goods could be sold, find markets," and promote use of native manufacture (42). Aberdeen promoted a wide range of Irish industries, including poplin and tweed, and made a point of ordering gowns from Dublin couturiers such as Manning and Mrs. Sims. Besides these efforts, she also hosted events promoting Irish production in both London and the US, notably at the Chicago's World Fair in 1893. There, her organization set up a model Irish village with a series of cottages, each representing a different Irish craft, with a model of Blarney Castle in the center. Mary Flynn was the ambassador for Clones lacemaking. (43)
Group portrait in the Irish Village commissioned by the Countess of Aberdeen on the Midway Plaisance at the World's Columbian Exposition. Chicago, Illinois, 1893.
Chicago History Museum, Inventory Number:4210
Possibly due to all of this encouragement, innovation, and promotion, The Delineator magazine noted that Irish crochet laces "have returned to vogue after a long period of retirement" in 1897 (31).
"Costume of Irish crochet lace over pale blue. Frill of real lace down the side of the skirt. Torquoise-blue waistband; lace basque."
From the Queen, Saturday 27 February 1897, p.50
© THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
It wasn't only the export market that was interested, either. While in earlier times, much of the output was exported, Irish crochet was beginning to be recognized within Ireland as "unlike other laces, and is the strongest of all laces, and is beautiful in form and texture. [... ] the most distinctively Irish of all the laces." (39)
Irish crochet blouses, early 20th century
from Augusta Auctions
Around the turn of the 20th century, Irish crochet became extremely popular with Parisian designers. They loved the heavy, padded designs indicative of the Cork crochet styles. In a 1906 fashion review, it is noted that "the craze for Irish crochet appears to increase more and more instead of abating as time goes on. As a matter of fact, the heavier the Irish crochet is nowadays the more it seems to find favour with. the modern dressmakers." (29)
c. 1905 image of an Irish Crochet Lace coat (right). Source unknown.
It is good news for Ireland that Irish laces are still so great a furore in the fashionable world. Mrs. Brown-Potter, in "The Musketeers," wore a whole gown of Irish crochet point, and at great functions in Paris whole evening gowns of this luxurious sort are freqently seen. An Irish lace blouse is becoming a familiar luxury to ourselves.
-Gentlewoman, 03 December 1898
Irish crochet gown by Dunlevy of Cincinnati
Image from Kerry Taylor Auctions
Irish Crochet Gown c.1905
However, because of its extreme popularity on the European continent and the United states around this time, new styles of "Irish crochet" were being invented outside of Ireland. In her book, "Irish Crochet Lace in Austria and France", Barbara Ballantyne lays out some of the characteristic differences between the crochet laces made in Ireland vs. Austria or France:
Irish laces are generally informal, and asymmetrical, with slightly raised surface work, normally only one type of mesh ground, limited mesh ground, which normally have picots. Motifs such as bows, butterflies, and pendants are rare.
Austrian and French laces are more formal, symmetrical, with three-dimensional effects such as petals or stuffed spheres used as pendants, grapes, and butterflies. Combinations of grounds are often present, and large areas of ground are used. (44)
Examples of more continental styles of crochet are below:
From the de Young Museum collection, Object No. 2007/186/2
The larger collar in this group from Coutau-Begarie is a good illustration of the type of mixed mesh grounds characteristic of French and Austrian crochet lace.
Detail of a French or Austrian "Irish crochet" collar, early 20th century.
From Coutau-Begarie
French postcard featuring an Irish crochet lacemaker, sent 1915.
(source: Ebay)
This new crochet from abroad was popular enough to cause concern. The often repeated sentiment that Irish crochet workers repeated too many of the sample patterns was reiterated again and again in newspaper columns:
M. Foussard Senae, of the Grande Maison de Dentelles, Rue Halevy, declared that he could get better "Irlande" done in Paris than in Cork or Dublin. He complaied that our Irish workers repeat the same designs. [...] This is a serious matter. Crochet is carried on in so many parts of Ireland that if once the impression got abroad that our workers do not turn out as good lace as their foreign, competitors, it would be. agreat loss to a thriving industry. (45)
By 1909, imports of 'Irish' crochet from abroad were common enough to propose adding an Irish trade-mark to distinguish Irish-made goods (46).
Irish crochet bodice, c. 1900
Gotlands Museum Collection, Item # GFC11431_3a
From the de Young Museum collection, Object No.1990.62.2
Irish Crochet in the 20th Century (1910-1960)
Irish crochet continued to be used regularly throughout the first half of the 20th century, although by the 1910s had evolved to a daintier variety that developed in Clones.
...We are glad to see in the prize [crochet] specimens an emancipation from old styles. The Clones crochet first prize went to Stranorlar lace class, [...] a crochet that is is very decorative indeed, and when the workers have accomplished a more even mesh, it ought to have a much greater vogue than the raised or padded crochet that has been in fashion so long, and in which we have been pained by very glaring specimens. (27)
- from The Irish Homestead, 1911
A model wearing "Real Irish" crochet lace, from New York magazine "Toilettes" v.34, 1912.
Irish crochet blouse with the cutest faux lapels c. 1910-1914
A report from the Congested Districts Board in 1919 detailed the state of Irish crochet throughout the teens.
The procedure of the Board at first was to hire or build a suitable schoolhouse and to appoint and pay a qualified teacher to give instruction to girls in the very poorest districts in lace and crochet work, and to arrange on behalf of the girls for the sale of their work. [...] This work proceeded and was extended by degrees until the outbreak of war in 1914, when the demand for lace and crochet naturally fell of greatly. [...] The average receipts for lace and crochet before the war were about £20,000 a year, most of which was paid in the poorest districts. The following list will indicate the progress of work and sales [see below table]. The figures are satisfactory and the earnings are still increasing (38)
However, while the market was still strong in Clones, crochet was in steady decline in Cork.
Anecdotes from 1930 archived in the National Folklore Collection, recall a booming industry that disappeared "30 years ago".
Irish crochet "brassiere" from the 1910s or 1920s, from Augusta Auctions.
While Irish crochet was still being made in Clones until the 1950s, hand-made lace were generally in decline post-WW1. Expensive and impractical, the market for this style of lace could no longer support a large industry of lacemakers. However, some of the great Irish fashion designers of the mid-20th century incorporated Irish crochet into stunning modern designs.
Below is an evening dress, worn by Phyllis O’Kelly, wife of the then President of Ireland, Sean T. O’Kelly, to a state reception in the White House. It was designed by Irish fashion designer Neillí Mulcahy, who used antique crochet from the early 1900s to create it. It was accessorised with a matching bag, custom-made by Beverly Bags.
Images courtesy National Museum of Ireland
Sybil Connolly (1921 – 1998) was an Irish fashion designer famous for using iconically Irish textiles. Her use of Irish crochet in her designs of the 1950s-60s was a fresh and modern take on this heritage craft.
White crochet dress, from the Sybil Connolly Collection
from the Sybil Connolly Collection
This stunning documentary Clondalkin's Tangible Threads, a partnership production between South Dublin County Council and Irish Crochet Lace Revival, details the couture production of Irish crochet lace making for designer Sybil Connolly:
Groups like Irish Crochet Lace Revival, and individual historians and lacemakers like Máire Treanor work to preserve this art form in Ireland today. Irish brands such as Kindred of Ireland and Stable incorporate this lace into their work.
Irish crochet is now made by passionate enthusiasts all over the world.
If you are interested in trying out this artform for yourself, I've created a Google Doc with a running list of free, available online resources of Irish Crochet motifs and designs. This also includes a tab with all of Mlle Riego de la Branchardiere's books available online. You can access it HERE.
If you have more information about Irish crochet lace, lacemakers, or designers, please email us at thelibertiesarchive@gmail.com! We would love to hear from you and update this article.
Sources
1. THE RECENT IRISH TEXTILE EXHIBITION.
Maguire, Annie B. The Magazine of art; London / New York (Jan 1898): 161-163. https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/articles/moa_move.pdf
2. LACEMAKING IN IRELAND. Cole, Alan. The English Illustrated Magazine. United Kingdom: n.p., 1890. 655-668
3. SPROULE, John. The Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853; a Detailed Catalogue of Its Contents, with Critical Dissertations, Statistical Information, and Accounts of Manufacturing Processes in the Different Departments ... Edited by J. Sproule. Ireland: J. McGlashan, 1854.
4. CLONES GUIPURE, 1847-1897. Madden, Miss Isabel. "Irish Homestead" Special: Some Irish Industries. Ireland: "Irish Homestead., 1897.
5. A HISTORY OF HANDMADE LACE. Jackson, Mrs. F. Nevill. London : L. Upcott Gill. 1900.
6. Science and mechanism: illustrated by examples in the New York Exhibition 1853 - 54: Including extended descriptions of the most important contributions in the various departments, with annotations and notes relative to the progress and present state of applied science, and the useful arts. Edited by C[harles] R[ush] Goodrich, (James) B[enjamine] aided by Professors Hall, Silliman, and other scientific and practical men. United Kingdom: G. P. Putnam and Company, Sampson Low, son and Company, 1854.
7. Bowley, A. L. Wages in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century: Notes for the Use of Students of Social and Economic Questions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900.
8. Downpatrick Recorder - Saturday 22 December 1849. p.4
9. In an early explanation of crochet, single crochet (slip stitch in the US) is explained thusly: "Single crochet is the old-fashioned shepherd's knitting, and is formed thus: after the chain is made, put the needle in the 1st stitch and draw the wool through it, and also through the loop on the needle". Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times - Saturday 06 March 1847, p. 29.
10. Treanor Máire. Clones Lace: The Story and Patterns of an Irish Crochet. Berkeley, CA: Lacis Publications, 2010.
11. Maguire, John Francis. “The Blackrock Convent School.” The Industrial Movement in Ireland, as Illustrated by the National Exhibition of 1852, 202–14. Cork: John O'Brien, 1853.
12. Coyne, William P. Ireland, Industrial and Agricultural. Dublin: Browne and Nolan, 1902.
15. Edinburgh (Scotland). International Exhibition. Women's Industries Section (1886). Guide to Irish Exhibits. Dublin, 1886.
16. Meredith, Charles. The Lacemakers: Sketches of Irish Character, with Some Account of the Effort to Establish Lacemaking in Ireland. United Kingdom: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 27, Paternoster row., 1865.
17. (If you are wondering what would be used for a "yellowing fluid", an Australian article from 1880 recommends the following: "The yellow hue is difficult to obtain, and nearly everyone has their own method; Judson dye, black tea, and coffee being all recommended in turn; the latter having generally the preference. Of course it has to be done-over with every successive washing, as cottons and linens will not take a permanent yellow hue. The slight stiffness of new lace is given to them by the employment of a little sugar and water; as no lace, to look well, should be starched". -The Sydney Mail, 18 Dec 1880).
18. The Roscommon Constitutionalist - 27 Apr 1889, p.3
19. Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times - Saturday 21 June 1851, p.18
20. Advocate - Saturday 14 April 1855, p.4
21. The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Jun., 1903), pp. 95-97+99+101+103 (6 pages) accessed via https://www.jstor.org/stable/855655
22. Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society. Ireland: n.p., 1855. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Dublin_Society/EO1BAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
23. The Ladies' Companion. United Kingdom: Bradbury and Evans, 1851, p.70. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Ladies_Companion/UvP9q6bl35QC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=crochet%20guipure
24. Saunders's News-Letter - Wednesday 27 July 1853, p.2
25. The Graphic. United Kingdom: n.p., 1897. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Graphic/MeVEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
26. Saint James's Chronicle - Thursday 22 May 1862
27. The Irish homestead. v.18:no.26-52 (1911). p.678
28. "Irish Homestead" special. : Some Irish industries. 1897. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89032416935&view=1up&seq=7
29. Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle - Friday 28 December 1906. p. 5
30. Morning Herald (London) - Tuesday 24 October 1865. p.6
31. The Delineator. V.49 1897. p. 83. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858046091918&view=1up&seq=89&q1=irish%20crochet 32. The English illustrated magazine. v.7 1889/1890. p. 658 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056059655&view=1up&seq=678
33. The Queen Lace Book: a Historical and Descriptive Account of the Hand-made Antique Laces of All Countries. Pt. I.. United Kingdom: "The Queen"Office, 1874. p.35
34. Consular Reports: Commerce, manufactures, etc. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1887.p.313
35. A search of newspaper ads in the British Newspaper Archive shows that 76 Grafton Street was home to the "Industrial Depository" up until 1874, when it is replaced by "The Irish Lace Depot". Under both names, this organization claimed to have been founded in 1847. I am presuming that the name change coincided with Lindsey's takeover, but the actual date that he took over is unclear.
36. Lindsey, Ben. Irish lace: its origin and history. Dublin, Hodges, Figgis and Co., 1886.
37. Dublin Daily Express - Tuesday 21 November 1899, p.6
38. Twenty-seventh report of the Congested District Board for Ireland for the year ended 31st March, 1919, with references to subsequent transactions and with accounts for the year ended the 31st March, 1919, p.17-18. Accessed via archive.org.
39. Freeman's Journal - Wednesday 24 August 1898, p. 6
40. Cork Weekly News - Saturday 07 April 1888, p.2
41. Ballantyne, Barbara. Early history of Irish crochet lace. Drummoyne, N.S.W.: Barbara Ballantyne, 2007.
42. Helland, Janice. British and Irish Home Arts and Industries, 1880-1914 marketing craft, making fashion. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2007.
43. Guide to the Irish industrial village and Blarney castle,[Chicago] Irish village book store, 1893. Accessed via Library of Congress.
44. Ballantyne, Barbara. Irish crochet lace in Austria and France. Drummoyne, N.S.W.: Barbara Ballantyne, 2012.
45. Kerry Reporter - Saturday 20 July 1907, p.11
46. Irish News and Belfast Morning News - Saturday 13 November 1909, p.6
47. Forty-Fifth Report of the Department of Science and Art of the Committee of Council on Education. By Great Britain. Dept. of Science and Art, 1898. p.99