Monthly Archives: December 2014

The launch of the Amazing Lace book and exhibition

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And finally, the big day arrived! More than 100 people came to the launch. The Deputy Mayor of Calais, Pascal Pestre, was the guest of honour invited to open the exhibition. Calais has a very strong lace tradition and it is the home of a lace centre titled International City of Lace (Cite Internationale de la Dentelle). Mike Fitzpatrick, the artistic director of Limerick City of Culture 2014, and Sheila Deegan, the Arts and Culture officer, were also present. Among the special guests was Veronica Rowe, who is the grand daughter of Florence Vere-O’Brien, one of the most important names in the history of Limerick lace. 

The echoes in the media were brilliant! Thank you very much to all who were present, and don’t forget the exhibition will be open until March 2015! The Amazing Lace book is available for sale at the museum and in the O’Mahony book shop.

Media echoes – Limerick Leader

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Today’s Limerick Leader has an article by Dr. Matthew Potter on the history of Limerick Lace.
Below an excerpt:

Limerick lace created a rich material culture.

Over many decades, it produced a large output of lace products, from dresses, christening shawls and ecclesiastical robes to handkerchiefs and doilies. It was worn by thousands of women, including a few who figure prominently in the pages of history, such as Queen Victoria, American First Lady Edith Roosevelt and Countess Markievicz.

A visit to Moyross Threads

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Gabriela visited the “Moyross Threads” group on Thursday, 4 December 2014, to collect their pieces, and found them at work. Here they are after having received their invitations to the ‘Amazing Lace’ book and exhibition launch.

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The members of the group were involved in the Communities of Culture programme organised by the Hunt Museum. They expressed their wish to learn more about Limerick lace, and Carrie Lynam from the Kilkenny Craft Gallery was invited by Sorcha O’Brien, Access Officer at the Hunt Museum, to work with the Moyross group.

Here’s the ladies’ work which was exhibited in the Watch House Cross Library and in The Hunt Museum:
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This video, also made as part of the Communities of Culture programme, gives an insight into these crafters’ practices:

Setting up the exhibition

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Eileen O’Caffery’s first communion veil was made by a neighbour. Eileen remembers how the lady had painted all the walls in her courtyard in white, to create better light for the lace making.

The day Eileen brought her veil into the museum was special, and the set up was a real ceremony.

Bringing in the “Enlaced” dress installation wasn’t an easy job! The mannequin had no legs, and we had to find a solution to give the lady the vertical position she deserved. While Gabriela was running around the city collecting the last lace contributions, Suzanna attached the already received ones to the sleeves, including the NFC tags underneath each of them. We finally managed to take a photo of the dress, but the electronics embedded in the table still needed attention.

It is the turn of the ecclesiastic lace to come out of storage. This is an important part of the exhibition.

Contributions to the dress by contemporary lace makers

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We issued a call for lace pieces in October, as we wanted to show that the Limerick lace tradition is still alive.
We reached out to the public, and we received five contributions:

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