Limerick lace is the most famous of all Irish laces. Established in 1829, it has been worn by thousands of women, including Queen Victoria, American First Lady Edith Roosevelt and Countess Markievicz.
Limerick lace is a hybrid lace made on a machine made net base. It is a ‘mixed lace’ rather than a ‘true lace’, which would be entirely hand made. Limerick lace comes in two forms:
tambour lace, that is made by stretching a net over a frame like a tambourine and drawing threads through it with a hook;
needlerun lace is made by using a needle to embroider on a net background.
Heritage Week is getting closer! Have you signed up for a Limerick Lace class yet? Are you going to the talk?
Here is the full list of Limerick lace-related events:
16-18 August, 11am – 5pm – Bring Out Your Lace, organised by the Limerick Museum, Limerick Archives, & the Friends of Limerick Lace at the CB1 Gallery, 51a O’Connell St, Limerick. A special event where you can bring in your own items of lace to be assessed, catalogued and photographed. Whether it’s in the attic or a family heirloom, bring it along for our experts!
19-26 August, 11am – 5pm- ‘Amazing Lace’ Exhibition, organised by the Limerick Museum, Limerick Archives, & the Friends of Limerick Lace at the CB1 Gallery, 51a O’Connell St, Limerick. An exhibition of Limerick lace, featuring lace garments, designs, drawings and demonstrations of lace-making.
20 August, 10:30am – 12:30pm- Lace-Making Class, organised by the Limerick Archives at the City Hall, Merchant’s Quay, Limerick City. A free lace-making class for beginners, that will show you how to make pieces of lace.
24 August, 12pm – 1pm – Limerick’s Amazing Lace Story, talk by Matthew Potter, organised by Limerick Museum at Istabraq Hall, Limerick City and County Council, Merchants Quay, Limerick City
A pop-up exhibition of Limerick lace from the collection of the Limerick Museum will be open from the 16 until 26 August in CB1. For the first 3 days, volunteers from Friends of Lace will be present to meet the public, demonstrate lace making and discuss with visitors. If you are the lucky owner of one or more Limerick lace pieces, bring them in and tell us their story. If you allow us, we will photograph your items and include them in the upcoming online catalogue of Limerick lace, together with their story.
Update:
There was a fantastic turnout for the Bring Out Your Lace event! A number of pieces were donated to the Limerick Museum on this occasion. We will dedicate a separate post (and maybe publication) to the lace artefacts that have been brought in. On Saturday, 18 August 2018, we had an official launch of the Amazing Lace exhibition, that was opened by Limerick vice-mayor, Cllr. Vivienne Crowley. The brand-new Limerick lace kits were on sale, together with the instructions booklet created by Toni O’Malley, as well as the Amazing Lace book by Matthew Potter.
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
18-8-18 Launch of Amazing Lace exhibition of lace and lace patterns from the permanent collection of the Limerick Museum. Picture: Keith Wiseman
A reminder that the Limerick Show is on Sunday, 26 Aug 2018. There is a Limerick lace category. Entries are accepted until Friday 10 August and there are 3 classes entrants can choose from:
class 18 – a recently made item to include heavy and light darning and at least 4 filling stitches.
class 19 – confined to lace makers who have not won an prize at Limerick Show. An item to include heavy and light darning and at least two filling stitches.
class 20 – an item of Limerick Lace with modern interpretation showing a minimum of 4 Limerick lace stitches.
New Limerick Lace classes are starting at the Granary (in the Library) on September 14th 2017 (Thursday mornings 10:30 to 12:30).For registering your interest or for getting more information, call Toni on 087 277 5113.
The Guild of Irish Lacemakers will be hosting a lace-making weekend at An Grianán in July 2016. There will be classes in five disciplines as well as a Social Room for those who wish to just relax and make lace but without the formality of a class.
The cost for the full residential package covers bed and board as well as the class fee, while non-residents and Saturday-only attendees can chose between two options that includes class fees and some meals. All packages are open to non-members as well as members, who want to get away from it all in this beautiful part of the country, while practicing their craft-making skills.
Cost
Residential: €210 Member/€250 Non-member Non-Residential (including High Tea, Saturday): €175 Member/€200 Non-member Non-Residential (excluding High Tea, Saturday): €155 Member/€180 Non-member Saturday only (including lunch & High Tea): €70 Member/€85 Non-member Saturday only (including lunch): €50 Member/€60 Non-member
Deposit €50 required
Booking
To book a place, please visit The Guild of Irish Lacemakers website to download the booking form and return to The Secretary, GOIL, 106 Ceannt Fort, Mount Brown, Dublin 8, enclosing your deposit.
Classes
Bobbin Lacewith Ann Keller Mountmellick Work with Maree Maher Limerick Lace with Grainne Conlon Carrickmacross Lacewith Mary Shields Irish Crochet Lacewith Anne Greene
The Limerick College for Further Education offers Limerick Lace making classes at its Cappamore Campus location. LCFE Cappamore is situated in the Slieve Felim area on the border of Tipperary and Limerick.
For more information on the lace making course, call 061 381272.
At 6pm on Monday January 25th in the Limerick School of Art & Design Church Gallery, Clare Street, there will be an exhibition based on entries for a lace design competition, the ‘Florence Vere O’Brien’ award. There will also be an award ceremony for winners of the competition on the night.
