JOURNAL OF THE COUNTY ·OONEGAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY would have died a certa.in death. But the smuggler pt1eserV'ed its ex,.. ist.ence for almost one hundred years, and when Free Trade permit.ted a resu~ption of work there w.as a plentiful supply of wool in t;he ·country. 6 PEBIOD OF ·GRATTAN'S PARLIAMENT, 1779-1800 While Irish trade and industry generally made extrao·rdinary strides during the period of Grattan's Parliament the woollen Industry made little progress. There were too many obstacles in the way of a large scale revival. Ireland had lost the' ar.t of making the finer materials and had forgotten the method of dyeing. England with her modem machinery could sell woollens in !Ireland at a price' too low for 1the Irish to compete,. The Irish woollen industry strug:gled on, but its hey-day ha<J passed, and it existed only as the ghost of its former greatness. THE UNION, 1801 The Commerdal clauses of the Vnion provided that on a.nd after lst .January, 1801, all articles produced or manufactured In either country should be imported from ea-eh to the other, free of duty, but the· existing dutiies on woollen good~· imported into I'reland were to ibe retained for :a period of twenty-one ye:ars. This respite W'3$ of little advantage to ·the Irtsh wooUen trade competing as it was against mass production from across the Channel. In 1810 !Wakefield found that it existed principally as .a domestic industry ·carried on to provide the immediate wants of the peasantry, and that it did. not exist on any large s·c.a.le. "In the ma.nufactur.:. ing of their cloth and stuffs," he c·ontfnues, "these poor people display great ingenuity: instead of using oil in the weaving, they extract in the summer time the juic:e of the fern root wMch they find to answer the purpose, ·and for dye..; ing they employ the indigenous vegetalble productions of the country, such '8.S twigs Of the alder, walnut or oak trees, alder.berries and so on." In 1823 the protective tariffs were removed and on ·the heels of 173 . -- · -) ... . thts came a t.errible slump ln_ ·t.he woollen ·industry in atgland. A~cumulated stocks were thrown on· the market at ruinous prices. It fiooded the Irish market and there was· no power to keep It out. The result was unemployment and .starvation tor those dependent on it for a Uvelihood. Dr. Kane in "Industrial Resources of Ireland" <1'845) estimares the sheep population of Ireland at that period as aibout 'two million, and states that· great quantities of wool were exported particularly, to iFrance, and that several French houses had established agencies for the more direct purchase of the wool. · W!t.J) referenee to manufacturing, he says: "At present ~e woollen trade dQe8 not form an exception ·to the general stagnation ot . Industry, which is so unfortunately characteristic of this countr1." PARTW DONEGAL HOMESPUN "TlliE hand-spinning and weav .. .1nig . of home-1grown wool ha.Y.e survived 'i!I'om ·ea;tlle.st itime~ !n certain parts of ·the Gaeilltachit, chiefly W·est and South· Donegal, Conniemara, and isollated parts of Kerry :and Wesit Cor:k. Exoea:>•t in Dcme,g.aJ. .the eX'im.enoe of .this industry in recent ·times in aD.l these d!Lstrfots hia;ve been mainly to sUJPPlY the loca.1 ·cfema.nd for hom<eapuns. In Don·egal an important industry existed for many years and ga.ve employment to a great many spinners, weavers, etc." 12 <From Repor·t ot Gaeltaeht Commission, 19'25). The location of the industry on the isolated headlands of the west coast g1 ves further proof of the e:trect of smuggling which accord,.. ·1ng to tradition persisted lon·g a.fter the advent of Free Trade. The older generation had many ·tales of adventures associated with the traffic. A small creek called :Pollaniska. on the west coast of eueveatooey figures prominently in these stories. The nooks ln which ke.gs of wine were placed and the if:lags on which rolls of tobacco were laid are· still known to residents of the district. Men carried these goods in creels
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