ISBN: 978-0-86140-368-4

29.6 x 21.0 cm.   91 pp.  with 115 illus.

Limerick is probably the most famous of all Irish laces. When President Kennedy came to Limerick in 1963 the Lord Mayor presented him with a Christening robe of the lace, and other important visitors have been delighted to receive gifts of this prestigious material.

The making of this form of lace became possible when machine-made net became readily available, as it is a form of embroidery on net, being either chain-stitch (tambour) or darned net (also called run-lace), or a combination of both techniques.

This volume is produced in the same format as Carrickmacross Lace and Mountmellick Work, and is in three sections. The first deals with the invention of Limerick lace and its history, the second with Mrs Florence Vere O'Brien and her contribution to Limerick and its lace-workers, while the third deals with the techniques used in making Limerick Lace, the materials and designs, preparation and sewing, and filling and embroidery stitches.

The book contains many illustrations of fine piece of lacework from the authors' collections, as well as pictures of prizewinning examples from photos in the possession of the Royal Dublin Society.

About the authors

Nellie O Cléirigh was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, and is a graduate of University College Dublin, in History and Irish, but she also attended embroidery classes at the Dublin School of Art. She formed a collection of old Irish lace which has been exhibited in Ireland and abroad, and this led to her study of the history of lace making in Ireland and of the people who contributed to it development. Publication of her Carrickmacross Lace in 1985 has led to lectures, publications and broadcasts in Ireland and abroad.  She worked as a civil servant in Dublin until her marriage to Cormac, when she established a handicraft business in Dublin, and later a craft shop in Knightstown, Valentia Island, Co.Kerry. Her Valentia, A Different Irish Island was published in 1992.

Veronica Rowe (née Hardy) grew up at Walterstown, Crusheen, Co. Clare, not far from the home of her maternal grandmother, Florence Vere O'Brien (whose work for the Limerick lace industry is told in Section Two of this book). She trained as a textile designer in Scotland and worked with several handweaving firms in Ireland. She gained an Arts Council scholarship to France and Italy, and a Diploma in the History of European Painting. She is a past chairman of the Irish Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, and was its representative on the Crafts Council of Ireland. She is a member of the Arts Committee of the Royal Dublin Society, of its Crafts Sub-committee, and of the committee that in 1988 organised an important lace exhibition in Dublin (later displayed in Lisburn Museum, Co.Down), at which her collection of Florence Vere O'Brien's lace was shown. She organised an exhibition of Clare Embroidery in County Clare and County Down, and has written articles and a booklet on the subject.

ISBN: 978-0-85105-512-1

29.8 x 21.0 cm.  80 pp.   2nd edition  1996

White-on-white embroidery in various forms has been practised in Ireland for several centuries. Mountmellick work is probably the best-known style of Irish white embroidery and is named after the town where the craft was developed in the early decades of the nineteenth century.  Mountmellick is in the centre of the area in which Ireland's cotton spinning and weaving industry developed a century earlier and here, in about 1830, Mrs Johanna Carter invented the style of embroidering in thick cotton thread which is named after her native town.

Many of the characteristic designs are based on natural forms, especially on the abundant flora of the area, worked into richly decorative patterns. Mountmellick work became widely known in a few decades and was shown at several international exhibitions. The craft declined in the early years of the present century, but the old paper patterns, many in extremely fragile condition, were preserved by local enthusiasts and by the devoted sisters of the Mountmellick convent who continued to work the designs. Jane Houston-Almqvist has had access to these original patterns in preparing her book which not only tells the story of the craft, but is a practical manual with many full-size patterns based on the originals. Mountmellick Work will be welcomed by all lovers and practitioners of fine needlecraft. Jane Houston-Almqvist was born in Massachusetts of Scots-Irish stock. Her studies in psychology, painting and design let to work as an occupational therapist which took her to Denmark where she became interested in traditional needlework techniques. A further period of study at Uppsala University in Sweden helped to deepen her interest in the decorative arts, particularly in textiles. She has lived in Ireland for the past fifteen years and her skill in embroidery has led to commissions for church work, to exhibitions of needlework and patchwork, and to teaching. She likes Ireland and has made it her permanent home.  Mountmellick Work is her first book, and was originally published by the Dolmen Press in 1985.

The bibliography and list of suppliers have been updated and enlarged, and further illustrations have been added to this second edition.