JOURNAL OF THE COUNTY DONEGAL ·HISTORICAL SOCIETY loan sys·tem, and are the :tn>e in use to-day. For about twenty years some of the older models continued side by side with their more modem c·ounterparts. · Very few of ~ese old-timers are ~n exis~nce •to-day. I know of just one. It ls· owned and operated by ·Peter Cannon of Croveiban (aiboUt six miles :trom Ardara on ·the Glengesh road to Carrick. · With all his ancient equipment this man can manufacture a cloth able to compete in quality and price with that produced on the newest looms in the district. The power-loom which was invented in England by Dr. Cart- "WTight in 1787. did not find its way to Ireland for a long time after. Otway's .report .on hand-loom weavers discloses that there were no power-looms employed on woollen-weaVing in this country a:s late as 1840. WOOL CARDING Ancient M.S.S. contain many references· to spinning, and weaving, but ·carding is seldom mentioned. ·· 1A reference which I' 1believe :t;o 1be largely traditional connects the name of St. Blaise with this !branch of the work. St. Blaise was B1shop of Sebastia, in Armenia, about 316. He fell foul Of the G1over:nor of C'a1ppad:0ie:ia, a•t whose hands he suffered persecu~ tion and martyrdom. IBefore his death his' 1lesh was systematically torn :by iron combs used' by WoolCombers, for which reason he became the Pa:tron of 'Wool-Manufacturers. The very earliest cards were made by mounting :flower heads of the T·easel Plant on a frame 'Oi'OVided with a handle. In much more recent times this type of card was used for raising the nap on woven cloth. Teasel is a plant somewhat like thistle, and the head is furnished with a large number of stout recurved nooks which grip ·the wool. There is· no record of any of the:se cards haVing been preserved in Ireland, but. the National Museum in Wales has a specimen, so has Sweden and other Continental countries. A fourteenth century manuscrip.t in the iBr1'tish Museum shows the sketch of a· card almost similar in shape to those of the present day, and :a sketch in a fifteenth century manuscript also looks quite modern. n is likely that these early cards were made :by driving spikes or small nails in rows into a wood·en base. A. K..Longfield <Mrs. Leask) author of "Anglo-Irish Trade in the 16'th Century," has stated that hand cards were improved in the 18th century, In all proball:>1llty that was the ibeginning of the wire cards as we know them to~ay. ~~---------:•:---~~~~ Ill FOOT NOTES. I beg to acknowledge the· use of the following works as •the foundation for my paper:- 1. "IreLarul in Pre-Oeltic· Times" (MacAllister). 2. "Snm.:ller Social History of Ireland" (P. W. Joyoe). · 3. "The Ma.king of Ireland and its Undoing" CGreene).. · 4. "Sooiar History of Ireland" (O'Kelly) . 5. "Shm"t Story of the Irish Race" (MacManus). 6. "Economi~ History of 18th and 19th •centuries" (O'Brien). 7. Historical Introduction .to "Modern Irish Trade and Industry" (O'Brien). 8. "A Tour in Ireliand, 1776-79" <Arthur Young) . 9. "Industrial Resources of Ireland" (Dr. Kane). 10. "History of the Congested Districts Board" (Micks). 11. Modern Irish Trade and Industry" (Riordan) . 12. "R.eport of Gaeltacht Commis.. sion" 0925).
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