IRELAND. 



287 



W>i ..-;. 



supposed, of one halfpenny per h.ink." The Irish wo- 

 men have long been celebrated for their skill in spin- 

 ning yarn. This is supposed to arise from their la- 

 bouring little with tiu-tr hands, and hence having their 

 finders very supple and soft. 



In many pirts of Ireland, the manufacture is confined 

 to spinning ram, which is sold to the weavers at esta- 

 blished markets ; but, in several instances, the ti.ix is 

 <rrown, prepared, spun into yam, and manufactured 

 into linen, by the same person and his family. If, how. 

 ever, we look to the country in general, those who 

 grow flax, are much more numerous than the spinners. 

 This appears by the exportation of unsptm yam ; and 

 the spinners are more numerous than the weavers, as 

 appears from the exportation of linen y urn. 



The earnings of the weaver depend partly on his 

 skill and indu-'.ry, and partly on the fineness of the 

 linen which he weae. The looms they employ cost 

 from four to five guineas each ; many houses have three 

 looms; one third of a pound of tallow is required to 

 dress a web. Children are hired to attend a loom, at 

 from 13s. to 17s. the half year, with diet, washing, and 

 lodging: in 'some cases journeymen are employed, at 

 eight guineas per annum, with board and lodging. 

 The weavers estimate, thus, when working them- 

 selves, they gain 10s. a web, and if they worked every 

 day, could weave a web in a week ; this, however, 

 mutt depend on the oneness of the linen. The ave- 

 rage earnings of a linen weaver may, perhaps, be esti. 

 mated at 7s. a week. 



The linen manufacture flourishes most in Ulster; 

 but it is established also in Gal way , Mayo, and Sligo, and 

 towards the sooth, in the whole neighbourhood of 

 Drogbeda ; it exists also in some places in the King's 

 County. Kerry, and along the coast of Carlow ; in fact, 

 with the exception of Wexford and Wicklow, wl 



the total value will be 562,500 Sterling. On the Siati.-if v ->. 

 I5ann, which is the principal river in the county of -Y- ' 

 Down, there are 20 bleach-greens, which bleach on 

 an average 8000 pieces annually, or KSO.OOO pieces ; 

 the value of which is estimated at upwards of half a 

 million. 



The quantity of linen sold in Dublin, in 1 808 and 

 1 809, will be seen from the following statement, ex- 

 tracted from the Appendix to the Linen Board Ilcport. 



A return of Linen, innards and outwards, at Ike Linen 

 Hall, for one yrar, ending Itl of March 1809. 



I*Sfk> and Boxes. Avenge Value. 



Inward* . . 10,227 . . . 1 60 each 1 ,636,320 

 Outwards . 9,279 170 each 1,738,5.00 

 Value remaining in the Hall, 1 st March 1808, 408,01."' 

 From which deduct linens sent 



from the Hall to merchants' 



warehouses . . 50,000 



More in value outwards than 



inwards . . . 102,227 15.2,527 



is unknown, it prevail*, more or less, over all the other 



Cof Ireland. I. 

 10 inch bundle linen, made at Kerry, to .'. 4th 

 sheetings mauwfrcfasred near Cootehill ; and of diffe- 

 rent qnalitie*, from come, thin, 3-4ths wide, manufae- 



I.inen is woven of different widths. 



\ntrim, which sell for fid. per yard, to cam- 

 brics, worth one guinea per yard. The manufacturing 

 of linens of certain widths, seems confined to certain 

 districts. Narrow linens, not exceeding, when bleach, 

 ed, :hi inches, are manufactured in Donegal, London- 

 derry. Tyrone, and Antrim ; in this last county also 

 are made all the 3-4th wide linens. The fine yard 

 wide, or cambrics, lawn*, and diapers, are made near 

 Belfast. I.isbum, and Largan ; in Armagh, coarser 

 yard widen. In (a ran are manufactories for thin linen, 

 for the most part 7-tha wide. Fermanagh and - 

 manufacture 7-&th*. A strong kind of 7-8th dowlas ; 

 ome 9-Wh swd 5.4th theetirnrs, are made in the coun- 

 ties of Lonth, Meath, and Dublin. A coarse cloth, 

 like the Scotch Osnaburghs, is manufactured in Kerry 

 and Cork ; it is exported for negro clothing. There is 

 a damask manufactory at Lisburn. and a manufacture 

 of sailcloth in the neishlwurhood of Cork. Most of the 

 bleach- greens, which finish for sale those linens that 

 are sent in a bleached state to England, are hi the coun- 

 ties of Fermanagh and Sligo. The bleachers are dis- 

 tinct persons from the manufacturers ; the latter carry 

 their webt to market, where they are purchased by the 

 former. It i< calculated that every bleacher in the 

 county of Londonderry, furnishes, on an average, 5000 

 pieces annually ; so that, on the supposition that there 

 are* 50 bleachers, the pieces bleached in this county 

 wflj amount to *SO,000 ; and, at % 5s. 8d. the piece, 



Compcratiix vu-tr t>f the Linen, outwards and iirxards, 

 at the Linen Hall, for on* year, ending 1st March 1809. 



Inwards. Outrank. 

 Year ending 1st March 1 60<1 . . U>,*77 . 



Do. Do. 1808 . . ).-H'.> . !K)-JO 



I 



in 1809 



7 :.' 



219 



The cotton manufacture is of very late introduction Cotton m 

 into Ireland. The first mill for spinning cotton twist nuiacwre. 

 by water was erected in 17H4 ; and, in the year 1800, 

 it appeared, in evidence before I' irlinmcnt, that the rot- 

 ton manufacture, etablished within acrcleof ten miles 

 round Belfast and Lisbum, and including those towns, 

 employed 13,500 working people; and that the whole 

 <r, to whom it gave occupation, amounted to 

 37,000. This manufacture is spreading rapidly, and 

 seems as if it would supplant that of linen in many 

 parts of Ireland. Being similar, in some respect*, to 

 the latter, it made its way with greater facility among 

 the lower classes. It also affords them higher wages, 

 principally from the manner in which it is carried on ; 

 lr, instead nt'the raw material, as in the case ot'tlir 

 linen manufacture, being purchased by the weaver, and 

 sold afterwards in a manufactured state, the cotton- 

 yam is either given out by the master manufacturer to 

 the weaver, who receives so much per piece for his la- 

 bour, or it is wove in manufactories. All the spinning 

 is performed by machinery. The cotton manufacture 

 is established chiefly near Belfast, where it was first 

 fixed. It has also spread to Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, 

 >rd, and Louui. At Collon, in Louth, there are 

 1 300 looms employed in calico weaving ; and at Str.it- 

 ford, in the county of Wicklow, there is also a large 

 calico manufactory : the yarn for this is brought from 

 Scotland, and wound and wove in the village. The 

 manufacture of muslins is also carried on in some parts 

 of the counties of Cork, Down, and Queen's County ; 

 and, indeed, it is highly probable, that all the branches 

 of the cotton manufacture will fix themselves in Ire- 

 land, especially in those parts where linen is made; from 

 the great and obvious advantage which is derived from 

 the similarity of the manufactures, in enabling the 

 weavers to turn their labour to the one or the other, as 



be demand for either is more prevalent. 



