JOURNAL OF THE COUNTY DONEGAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY on their backs to KillY:begs, and Ardara, and even as far as Donegal town. When the outlet through smuggling channels ceased homespun was sold at fairs throughout Donegal and the adjoining counties. About thirty years ago old men in Ballina told me that they rememlbered in their youth a Donegal man, with a white horse, who sold homespuns, white and gray, a.t the fairs of North Connaught. Occasionally dealers came to the district to buy small lots. Amongst these was the ready-tongued !Peggy an Asail* from the Gortahork district whose witticisms were the delight of the · ·country-side 1back in the 'sixties. In 1870 the late Neil Mc1Nelis, founder of Neil MC!Nelis & Co., started business in Ardara as a grocer and hotel-keeper. Forseeing the possibilities of the homespun industry he set out to se·cure mar~ets and met with a fair amount of success. Institutions were the 1biggest purchasers. His principal difficulty was the 1a·ck of variety in the materials he had to off.er. T1he lb,uilk of the ip1r10tduction was white with an occasional silver grey <made :by mixing black sheep's wool with white). ·With the exception of indigo, used solely for home wear, it would seem that the art of dyeing had ibeen completely lost. And the fact that "bawneen'' (from ban, meaning white) is the only Gaelic word used in .Donegal to designate homespun .would indicate that our cloth for centuries back had been made from virgin wool. Then about 1884 1Dr. Ernest Hart of London (1Editor and owner of the British !Medical Journal) ana. Mrs. Hart came to Donegal to investigate conditions in the povertystricken congested areas. 'I'he potentialities of spinning and weaving as a means of livelihood for these poor people attracted ·their attention. They ·came to the conclusion that if Donegal homespun had the ·colouring of Harris tweed it would readily !become a mar!k·etalb~e commodity. Tih1ey selected the late Daniel Tlghe from T~he Gllem. Glent1:es, to 16,0 to Har:rii.s to study the methods of dyeing in use there. On his return he was sent to Gweedore, but on ·the ad174 viee of Mr. Mc.Nelis and others he was soon transferred to Sbuth Donegal which was ,a. more' :fe·rtile field for his labours. [)r. Hart died about this time, but -the work. was continued by his wife who sacrific·ed most of her-· l~rge .personal fortune to the' enterj)rise. In 1887 she prevailed on the ·British Guvernment to take an interest in the project. They .ga:ve her .a grant ·of £11,000 with which she established a war·ehouse-,Donegal House -in Wigmore Street, London, W.1. Iit ob:e1cta1me a 1eentre Olf attraction for home and foreign visitors, and the contacts made proved very useful in later years. WORK OF ~HE C.D.B. In the month of .July, .1893, Lady .Aberdeen, President of the Irish Industries ·Association, suggested that the Congested Districts Board and the Association should unite in an effort to improve the manufacture of homes:pun in the Ardara district of County Donegal. This was agreed to by the Board and the improv·ement scheme :provided for the inspection of .the cloth, the stamping of superior pieces, the paymenit df a ;bonus to ;the owner and to the weaver of such stamped pieces,· and the erection of a marit for the storage and sale of the tweed. 10 Mr. W . .J. D. Walker, Glenbanna Mills, Laurencetown, County Down, inventor of the modern hand-loom, was put in complete char.ge of the development of the scheme. A man of sound commercial knowl-· edg2 and traininl5. he .g:ave 101f ih.i!S best to the enterprise, and in a f1ew years Donegal homespun was 'attracting attention at international exhi1bitions, and finding a market in many parts of the world. In 1908 the amount earned by homespun workers in South Donegal alone was well over £11,000. 10 In those days homespun was sold from ·boxes or be!bnches on the public street at 'the local monthly fairs of Ardara and Oarrick. The disadvantages of this· system in inclement weather ·can be easilv imagined, so the Congested Districts Board set out to remedy the situation, and a market-house known as "The Mart" was erected at Ardara, the principal centre. It was offi-
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