By the 1600s the flax plant was widely grown by families and communities throughout Britain, the fibres home spun by women and children, and linen cloth for household use woven by jobbing weavers. Strong and absorbent, different grades of linen fabric were used for clothes, domestic furnishings, sailcloth, sacks and artists’ canvases. There was some commercial production in areas including Norfolk, Yorkshire and Ireland, although the softest, finest lawns were often imported from the Low Countries. Yet despite linen’s popularity and convenience, the linen industry within England was overshadowed by the all-important, zealously protected English wool trade (see February–August Periodical issues), while wool was restricted elsewhere. Consequently linen manufacture was actively encouraged as an alternative economic product within Scotland and Ireland.

By the 16th century the teaching and practice of spinning in Ireland was a requirement under the Brehon laws and the craft advanced under the 17th-century Lord Deputies of Ireland, the Earl of Strafford and Duke of Ormonde. Later, Boards of Trustees were established in Dublin in 1711 and in Edinburgh in 1727. Both boards helped to fund all aspects of their respective industries, for instance supplying superior seed to farmers, flax-spinning instruction for women and establishing dedicated bleach greens, as well as enforcing strict manufacturing standards and uniform sizing for the woven cloth. Significantly, the weaving of the much-admired figured (patterned) linens known as damask, once woven mainly in France, Germany and Holland, was introduced into Edinburgh and Dunfermline in the early 1700s, also developing in Lisburn and Belfast in the late 1700s. The Jacquard loom, invented for silk weaving, was also used by the 1820s by Scottish and Irish linen weavers, who produced luxurious damask tablecloths and napkins for wealthy consumers.

For around 300 years linen manufacture and export was Ireland’s most important industry, particularly in the North of Ireland. As production grew increasingly mechanised during the Industrial Revolution, linen manufacture became pre-eminent in Ulster. Around one-third of all flax-spinning mills were located in Belfast – including York Mills, the second-largest in the world – and the city was dubbed ‘linenopolis’. Irish linen continued to flourish during the 1800s, linen mills being a primary source of employment for many local families, although mill life was hard. Like its manufacture elsewhere, Irish linen experienced an irreversible economic downturn with the rise of cotton textiles and other cheaper fabrics (more on this next month). No longer a major industry, nonetheless a few Irish families continue the traditional craft of linen weaving today and high quality Irish linen carrying the Irish Linen Guild’s trademark of authenticity is a sought-after fabric within the global luxury market.