Kenmare Lace

The surviving home of Kenmare's nineteenth-century lace tradition

The lace shop and small heritage display preserve a craft that came within a generation of vanishing. Pieces here are still made by hand on the premises or by a network of local women, using the same needlepoint techniques the Poor Clares taught in the 1860s. Expect to pay accordingly — a small piece represents many hours of skilled work.

The display section is free and shows examples of historic Kenmare lace alongside photographs from the convent school. Demonstrations are occasionally given when one of the makers is at the counter.

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A story
Lace-making came to Kenmare in 1861 when the Poor Clare nuns set up a school to give women work during the famine years. Kenmare needlepoint lace, distinct from other Irish styles, became fashionable in Victorian London and was exhibited at the great expositions. Production has dwindled to a handful of practitioners, but the techniques and patterns survive.

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