Historical information

This elegant lace trim is Irish crochet lace.

Crochet skills were brought to Ireland from France by Ursuline nuns in the 1700s and was mainly confined to the convents. When the Potato Blight occurred in 1845 the principal source of food and income was lost and families were destitute. Several wealthy women taught the peasant women the art of crochet and then marketed it to their wealthy friends in England and Europe thus saving many Irish families from starvation.

Irish crochet is made in several parts. Women would specialize in a signature motif and would sell their motifs to stores. From there more lace workers would be employed to join them together to make a larger piece. The larger pieces would go to the master lace maker who would assemble them into the final pattern or items. Many women became the major wage earners for their families from these skills. Closer inspection of this piece reveals the initial repeated floral motif. To get an idea of the fineness of some of this crochet lace, a woman described her ‘famine hook’ as a sewing needle with the eye cut out and the point at the other end inserted in a wooden handle.

Significance

The Amess family owned Churchill Island from 1872 to 1929. This lace collection was owned and contributed to by four generations of Amess women, see above.

Physical description

Irish crochet handmade lace trim, ivory