We are delighted to be able to share another old clip from our friends at Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive.
This week's clip features lace making in Fermanagh from 1964 and courtesy of UTV © ITV.
The notes to this clip read: “Charles Witherspoon visits Mrs Annie Ward at Carrickawick in Fermanagh to learn about lace-making. Beautiful film of Mrs Ward at her craft by an open fire but unfortunately we don’t get to hear her story. Charlie interviews John Lees in Enniskillen who runs a shop that sells the lace. He laments the lack of interest of younger folk in learning the skill.”
This clip is somewhat poignant for me personally. My great-grandmother, a lady named Roseanne Ruske (nee Peel) was also a lacemaker from Fermanagh, as were her two sisters too.
No doubt it was a skill that had travelled from England like their father John, my great-great grandfather.
Back in the 1970s and 80s I recall there was always lace on the table at my granny's house down in Lisnaskea.
Do you recall the bygone days of lacemaking in Northern Ireland? Do you have any old films from bygone? We would love to see them. Get in touch via darryl.armitage@nationalworld.com.
See more films at www.digitalfilmarchive.net
Twitter – @NIScreen
Facebook – @northernirelandscreen
Instagram – @northernirelandscreen
#DigitalFilmArchive #NorthernIrelandScreen
This week's clip features lace making in Fermanagh from 1964 and courtesy of UTV © ITV.
The notes to this clip read: “Charles Witherspoon visits Mrs Annie Ward at Carrickawick in Fermanagh to learn about lace-making. Beautiful film of Mrs Ward at her craft by an open fire but unfortunately we don’t get to hear her story. Charlie interviews John Lees in Enniskillen who runs a shop that sells the lace. He laments the lack of interest of younger folk in learning the skill.”
This clip is somewhat poignant for me personally. My great-grandmother, a lady named Roseanne Ruske (nee Peel) was also a lacemaker from Fermanagh, as were her two sisters too.
No doubt it was a skill that had travelled from England like their father John, my great-great grandfather.
Back in the 1970s and 80s I recall there was always lace on the table at my granny's house down in Lisnaskea.
Do you recall the bygone days of lacemaking in Northern Ireland? Do you have any old films from bygone? We would love to see them. Get in touch via darryl.armitage@nationalworld.com.
See more films at www.digitalfilmarchive.net
Twitter – @NIScreen
Facebook – @northernirelandscreen
Instagram – @northernirelandscreen
#DigitalFilmArchive #NorthernIrelandScreen
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Now this tablecloth would set you back nearly 11 quid, but remember, every inch of the lace and embroidery is hand-worked.
00:08 And in cottages and farmsteads all over Fermanagh, women are turning out examples of this beautiful work.
00:14 And the man responsible for reviving this traditional craft all over Fermanagh is John Rees of Inniskillen.
00:21 Mr Rees, how did this come about?
00:23 Well, about five years ago I took over this business really quite accidentally and I realised that there was a need for Irish lace and it just wasn't being fulfilled.
00:35 So I set about fulfilling that need.
00:38 How did you do that?
00:39 Well, I set about finding workers. I had a few names and then I went out into the country and passed on from one to the other different names.
00:49 Different people came in to see me when they heard about it and so we built up a team of workers and we found the outlets for it and we're now going strong.
01:00 Where do most of your customers come from?
01:02 Well really, they come from all over the world. This place becomes a virtual United Nations at times.
01:07 A large proportion from America and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, continent, South America, anywhere you like to name.
01:20 That's a pretty wide market. Are any young girls taking up this craft?
01:24 They're not. The young people just don't seem to be interested. Although there is a move afoot to try and start classes to encourage these youngsters to take up these crafts.
01:36 Well with the demand increasing, how are you going to manage?
01:39 Well, unless we can really get something started and teach the young girls and encourage them to do it, the craft is just going to die out.
01:47 Thank you Mr. Rees. Well, this traditional craft has had a revival in the meantime.
01:55 But most of the women who are working at it are old women and middle-aged women.
01:59 And it looks as though if you want femenolace, you'd better get it fairly quickly because in 20 years' time you mightn't be able to.
02:08 [projector clicking]