Small wonders put new twist on old tradition

Today we are so technologically-minded we can hardly remember a world where everything was not accessible at the click of a mouse, where a desired item was not instantly purchasable online, but took days,weeks, months to create.

Yet scarcely two or three generations back, it was the way we all lived. If you wanted something — be it a field cleared or a coat mended — you did it yourself. If you were an artist, a craftworker, you spent long hours at your easel or workbench, creating something of beauty. Ireland was renowned for its exquisite crafts, and many a household relied on the income brought in by the making of lace. Among the treasures lost on that last ill-fated voyage of the Titanic were handmade Irish lace blouses, purchased in Cobh on the ship’s final call. They would be priceless today.

In an age, though, when we can see comparatively inexpensive machine-made versions in any huge department store, should the painstaking and time-consuming traditional craft of handmade Irish lace be forgotten, or at least consigned to the realm of gentle hobbywork? One doughty Irish artist doesn’t think so. Recently, Beara-based artist Fiona Harrington has been making considerable waves in the age-old world of lacemaking, showing how an old craft can be combined with new ideas, creating stunningly different visual pieces.