Mountmellick - Mountmellick Lace

Mountmellick Lace

According to tradition, in 1825, a Quaker named Joanna Carter introduced what later became known as Mountmellick embroidery. This became one of the most popular forms of needlework during the 19th century. The first known sale of the product was to the Earl of Dunraven (Lord Adare) of Limerick in 1847.

Although Joanna Carter is credited with its introduction little is known about her. It has been traditionally assumed that she had been a Quaker. However an educational report of 1824, describes her as a Protestant, which may have meant that she belonged to the Church of Ireland. She ran a small school in a thatched house and had fifteen girls, eight of whom were members of the Church of Ireland and seven Catholics. Her annual income was £9 per year. Although the precise location of her home is not known, we know from the 'Primary Valuation of Tenements' that a John Carter lived in a house in Pond Street, Mountmellick in 1850. This is the only recorded Carter for the town at this period. In the report on the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853, she was referred to as, 'Carter, J Mountmellick, Queen's County, Designer and Manufacturer, embroidered quilt, toilet cover and doileys.' The report also stated that Mrs Carter was responsible for the design and execution of a richly embroidered quilt exhibited by the Countess of Eglinton. It is not clear that she was a native of Mountmellick. Another woman associated with its early development was Margaret Beale (1809–1877), an accomplished lacemaker, originally from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. She was married to Joseph Beale, a prominent manufacturer in the town.

Mountmellick was a significant industrial town before the Famine of the mid-19th century, when it was known as 'little Manchester'. This was partly thanks to the Grand Canal, the Mountmellick branch of which is now filled in. Mountmellick embroidery, also known as Mountmellick Lace, became one of the most popular forms of needlework during the 19th century, and early examples fetch high prices on the international market. The local museum displays original pieces of this craftwork.

Mountmellick work had been particularly popular in the decoration of the following products: toilet covers, night-dresses, sachets, dressing table mats, comb and brush bags, quilt and pillow shams and pin cushions.

The history of needlework in Mountmellick before the 19th century is unclear. However, when the Society of Friends opened their school in Mountmellick in 1786, the girls were instructed in needlework to earn money for their textbooks. There appear to have been strong links between Mountmellick embroidery and the Quaker Leinster Provincial School in the town. They fostered the tradition of embroidery by both teaching it and adapting their own designs. A government school report of 1858 recorded that plain and fancy needlework was being taught at the School. The same report also noted that plain and fancy needlework was taught to girls at the Church of Ireland School Mountmellick. The Presentation order was heavily involved in the promotion of the craft. In 1920 when the Quaker school closed, the Presentation Sisters moved into the school and continued its embroidery tradition.

Four possible sources of influence on the origins on Mountmellick embroidery have been suggested. The most likely influence was crewel embroidery, because of the similarity of the stitches. (Crewel is fine worsted yarn used for embroidery and tapestry.) She may have found inspiration for her many varied designs from the abundance of flora nestled in the hedgerows and riverbanks of the Owenass river. A less likely source was that the craft originated in France and was taken to Ireland by the Huguenots. Some Huguenots did in fact settle in the nearby town of Portarlington. The third theory is that Joanna Carter may have been connected with or influenced by a Sister Carter from Fulneck, England, who started teaching embroidery at a Moravian settlement in Co Antrim in 1793. It is unlikely that the two were related. Finally the presence of the cotton industry in the town must have been an influence on its development.

About 1880, a Mrs Milner started an industrial association in Mountmellick to provide a livelihood 'for distressed Irish gentlewomen'. By 1890, it is known to have had fifty women employed in producing the embroidery. This seems to have led to an upsurge in interest in it. It was taken up by women throughout the country; as a consequence, it ceased to be just a local craft. A Mrs Florance Patterson, an architect from Craigivad, Co Down, was an expert in needlework, including Mountmellick embroidery. At this time it seems that Mountmellick embroidery was gaining international recognition. For example, in 1885, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, visited Ireland and the industrial association presented her with a dressing-table cover in Mountmellick embroidery. Between 1890 and 1898, Weldon, a London publisher, produced four volumes called 'Weldon's Practical Mountmellick embroidery'. Altogether, Weldon published eight volumes on the subject and helped to make the embroidery extremely popular. Barour's Prize Needle-Work series, published in Boston, in the United States, in the 1890s included a section on Mountmellick embroidery. One consequence of its increased popularity was that the emphasis changed from its being a source of income for the poor to being a middle-class social pastime.

The production of Mountmellick embroidery and other forms of needlework began to decline during the 19th century. By 1907, the number of people employed in the production of the embroidery had fallen from fifty to eight. Despite this, it maintained an international reputation for quality, style and durability. In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was presented with a white Mountmellick embroidery quilt by the National Council for the Blind of Ireland.

The tradition of Mountmellick embroidery lives on today due to the work of Sr Teresa Margaret, who taught herself the traditional techniques, and until recently held weekly classes in at the Mountmellick Development Association building.