The Irish Countrywomen's Association Book of Crafts E-Book

Irish Countrywomen's Association

• Herausgeber: Mercier Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 121

Beschreibung

Nothing compares with the pleasure and satisfaction of making something yourself, and for years the Irish Countrywomen's Association has been at the forefront of Irish craft. This beautiful book is an inspiring collection of projects from ICA members that introduce traditional Irish crafts in a fresh, modern way. From making your own jewellery and embroidered cushions, to crochet hats and handmade Christmas decorations, 'The ICA Book of Craft' contains 40 practical projects to inspire you to have a go. Many of the ideas are simple enough to be tackled by beginners; some are more of a labour of love. Try your hand at a cosy scarf, beautiful Aran jumper or delicate lace collar, or add finishing touches to your home with redwork embroidery, fabric covered boxes or seasonal decorations. Collected from ICA members around the country and captured in beautiful, atmospheric photographs, the projects in this book show you how to make jewellery, soft furnishings, clothing and festive decorations with a personal touch and a home-made flavour.

Leseprobe

Page 2: This beautiful example of tatting is included here in memory of Rose Harris, Sevenhouses Guild, Kilkenny, who is sadly no longer with us.

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© The Irish Countrywomen’s Association, 2014

ISBN: 978 1 78117 234 6

Epub ISBN: 978 1 78117 340 4

Mobi ISBN: 978 1 78117 341 1

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Acknowledgements

The ICA has always practised the teaching of crafts and we hold regular craft competitions and craft displays at our own meetings and at events nationwide. The idea behind The Irish Countrywomen’s Association Book of Crafts was to share the many skills and expert knowledge that exists among our members, and it is great to see our newest book come to fruition.

I am very proud of all our members who have taken the time to make detailed submissions to this book. Each member submitted a piece of craft work, some photographs, a history and a detailed summary of how to make each craft. Unfortunately, not all of the craft work submitted has been included, but this was usually because the pieces were so intricate, requiring such an expert level of skill, that they would be beyond the scope of this book to try to teach them.

I would like to thank each and every member for their wonderful contributions. Without them this book could not have come into being. I also wish to thank Joanne Dunne for her professional handling of all submissions, Joanne Murphy and Orla Neligan for their beautiful photography in the book, and Sarah Liddy, Dominic Perrem and all the team at Mercier Press for creating this book of which I am enormously proud.

Liz Wall, National President of the ICA

Introduction

As National President of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association I was very pleased to be asked to write the introduction for The ICA Book of Crafts. The ICA has published two books during my presidency: The ICA CookbookandThe ICA Book of Home and Family, so it seemed only natural to follow on with another book showcasing one tremendously important aspect of our history – our traditional Irish crafts. These days many of us do not have time in our lives to spend making everything we wear or use, but a revival has begun and there is a growing interest in learning some of what we in the ICA call our ‘heritage’ crafts, as well as some more modern crafts, including upcycling and decoupage. But first, let me start with a short introduction to the ICA itself.

The ICA has made a difference, a profound, measurable and marvellous difference, to the way generations of Irish women live their lives. The ICA was central to the setting up of the co-operative movement, the credit union movement, breast health initiatives and Montessori pre-school education and has been an advocate on a huge variety of issues. The members of this organisation have made an exceptional contribution to enriching the lives of the communities in which they live and advancing the role of Irish women in society as a whole. Since the founding of our association, originally called the Society of United Irishwomen, Irish society has changed dramatically and for the better for Irish women.

The ICA’s purpose has always been the betterment of women and it has worked to empower women through education and through addressing specific grievances during its existence. Although cloaked in tradition, women have used our association to improve their own lives and the lives of their families and communities.

The ICA has been a strong vehicle for change over the past hundred years. We have been a meeting ground for women from the big house to the cottage, from the Catholic and Protestant religions, from wealthy landowners to poorer immigrants. We are firm believers in self-help and community co-operation. We are non-religious, non-sectarian and non-party political, and this has contributed in a large part to our success, as we give a voice to all women.

The idea behind the organisation arose from the AGM of the Irish Agricultural Association in December 1909, which George Russell addressed, saying: ‘Every Irish community should make its own ideals and should work for them. We cannot build up a rural civilisation in Ireland without the aid of Irish women.’ This passionate plea made a profound impression on the women attending that AGM and they came out of that meeting determined to embark on organising a new association. On 8 May 1910 a meeting was called in Anita Lett’s home to organise a women’s rural organisation. In her opening paper, entitled ‘The Scheme Explained’, she argued that Irishwomen, regardless of class and creed, could unite for the common good of the country. The scheme covered many areas of life including the deficiency of good-quality nursing and health care, adequate nutrition for children, education, horticulture and dress. The scheme also outlined how the new organisation was to be governed. Branches were to be set up in every parish. These branches would be affiliated to a county organisation and an all-Ireland branch would be set up in Dublin. Local women would enjoy a good degree of autonomy in their local branch and the end of the scheme shows Anita Lett urging them to unite and achieve their goals. The fact that we still meet in autonomous Guilds, have Federation or County committees and unite to achieve our goals shows how solid the foundations laid down all those years ago were.

The main objective of the ICA when it was first founded as the United Irishwomen in 1910 was to bring women together in fellowship and friendship and to develop and improve their wellbeing, knowledge and skills, as well as improving the general quality of life in Ireland through the co-operative effort of women. Even the fact that it began meeting without men, to discuss women’s needs and to improve their education and skills, was a very radical action for that era.

Another of the organisation’s early agendas was to work together to achieve better living conditions for all, as can be seen in this quote from a 1910 paper:

It is essential to Ireland that her rural population should be strong, healthy and active. It must remain on the land, happily occupied, well employed, socially and intellectually developed. Here is permanent work for women to do and UI is the organisation best qualified to help them. We had no special training for doing what we intended to do and we, none of us, aspired to reform society or preach any gospel but that of domestic economy, good comradeship and truth.

The first detailed minute book of the association, covering the years from its foundation up to 1921, gives a fascinating insight into the formative decade of the United Irishwomen. Between December 1910 and December 1911, seventeen branches were set up. There were also individual subscriptions from sixty-four married women, nine titled women, eighty-one unmarried women and two French women. Twenty-four gardens were started, and sewing classes, cookery classes and Irish classes were all set up. Up to this time craft work would have been taught at home, with many families specialising in one particular craft, safeguarding traditional methods and family secrets for generations – now they had a chance to pass these on to others.

The same minute book shows how important it was for members to be kept up to date with the latest information and there is a subscription toIrish HomesteadandBean na hÉireann (the newspaper of Inghinidhe na hÉireann), as well as a subscription for library services entitling them to borrow thirty books at a time. The ICA’s founders believed that education would add to social and economic reform in the country as a whole.

In May 1912 the United Irishwomen launched their own publication, also entitled The United Irishwomen, and it was the journal for Irish countrywomen. By 1914 the title had been changed to The Irishwoman.

In the following decade, in 1927, Lucy Franks took a stall at the RDS Spring Show to sell handcrafts and the produce and baskets produced by the branches. The stall made a profit of £50, which led to the setting-up of a school of basket-making in Wexford. By 1929 profits from the RDS spring show had risen to £95 and the following year £102 was made. The UI set about organising courses of instruction in simple crafts for new branches and provided an income for them to invite lecturers. This did much to revive traditional crafts and brought new hope and life to these crafts in Ireland.

Two other milestones in the history of the United Irishwomen occurred in the late 1920s. The first of these was the holding of the first UI summer school. In the summer of 1929 Olivia Hughes of Fethard, Co. Tipperary, invited craft teachers from all over Ireland to join her on the slopes of Slievenamon (which translates as The Mountain of the Women) to exchange ideas and skills and to study poetry, drama and singing. The summer school that the modern Irish summer knows so well was born. All the women camped on the mountainside, which was considered a rather mad idea at the time. They learned how to make baskets in rush and cane, how to seat chairs with cane seating and how to work with leather, and enjoyed lectures in Irish poetry and local geology. Local farmers provided contributions of eggs, soda bread and cakes. From that informal gathering on the side of that lovely mountain has grown the annual summer school and it culminated in the gift of An Grianán by the Kellogg Foundation, Ireland’s first residential adult education college.

Numbers grew steadily from 1929, and by the mid-1930s two summer schools were run each year and each Guild was limited to one delegate per year, although an effort was made to fit in delegates from newly formed Guilds. Even the war years, when transport had virtually come to a standstill, did not deter the summer schools.

No longer held on a mountainside, the summer schools now took place in an empty house owned by Dr O’Connell in Tipperary, father of two stalwart members. The staffing of the schools was voluntary and the work of the house was divided into shifts and duties allocated amongst the groups. The mornings were devoted to classes which included such diverse subjects as the Irish language, arithmetic, needlework, embroidery, dressmaking, knitting, basket making, house decoration, spinning, dyeing, weaving, rug making, sheepskin curing, glove making, carpentry, cooking, laundry, colour and design. All the delegates attended health talks and were involved in keep-fit exercises and games. The afternoons were left free for expeditions and the evenings were devoted to music and singing, dancing, drama, verse-speaking, lectures, debates and discussions. Members attending the summer schools were expected to learn all that they possibly could and to take that knowledge back to their Guild. The association received no funding to run these summer schools, so many Department of Education teachers gave the courses during their free time for no payment.

The summer schools were held every summer from 1929 to 1953 in different parts of the country, until the opening of An Grianán in 1954.

The second milestone was the formation of the Country Workers. The United Irishwomen had made great inroads into educating the women of Ireland and at the end of the 1920s turned their attention to enabling women to make their own money by selling their homemade produce. This was singularly the most important aspect of helping isolated craft workers in rural areas to improve their production of home-made crafts and to support them in home industries. For many women, making and producing high quality crafts was the only source of income for themselves. The result was the opening of the Country Shop on St Stephen’s Green (with a restaurant to finance it) and the formation of the Country Workers Ltd, which was a not-for-profit company, to direct the activities. The Country Workers Ltd had two stated objectives:

• To help people in small farm areas in the West of Ireland by encouraging and supporting home industries such as handspinning, weaving and knitting.

• To encourage craftworkers throughout the country and to promote country crafts and country produce generally, with special emphasis on developing co-operative working practices.

The three directors were Lucy Franks, Olivia Hughes and Muriel Gahan. Together these three women were an outstanding force to be reckoned with. The country shop opened in 1930 and closed its doors for the last time in 1978. It became the centre for traditional crafts and a haven for rural people visiting Dublin. The Country Shop was an excellent opportunity to showcase and promote some of the excellent talent in rural Ireland. Exhibitions were regularly held there of tweeds from Kerry, patchwork quilts from Wexford, rushwork from Louth and produce from all over Ireland. There were also some more unusual exhibitions, including one in 1933 of a group of country cures. That exhibition was a collection of the traditional cures used by a Mayo woman all her life and also widely used throughout rural Ireland.

Following the success of the Country Shop, the Irish Homespun Society was set up in 1935 with ICA member Muriel Gahan as the chairperson. The Irish Homespun Society worked closely with the Irish Folklore Commission until 1959.

The ICA has always been aware of the importance of developing the social side of women’s lives and the policy of the ICA over the years has been to teach countrywomen to tackle their own problems in a self-reliant way without depending too much on outside help. When a member learned a new skill she was expected to pass this on to other Guild members. If a member attended a conference they had to submit a report of their findings for circulation so that all members could learn through them. Classes in public speaking, running meetings, the improvement of homes and how to make handcraft for profit were all taught to members to help them become more self-reliant.