The Mayo Flax Growers List 1796 is an important genealogical source for those searching for their Mayo ancestry. It is, however, much more than that. Published by the Irish Linen Board, the long list of names demonstrates the degree to which people from Killala to Cong and Kilmovee to Kilmeena became involved in the growing of flax for linen production.
Spinning wheels were distributed based on the number of acres planted with flax. Those who planted one acre received four spinning wheels, while those sowing five, were given a loom. Much of this flax growing was small scale and linked to home spinning, but it supplemented otherwise low incomes.
There is evidence for flax growing at the Neale as early as 1732. By the 1750s, linen had become a significant industry. Markets developed at Ballina, Westport, Newport, Foxford, Hollymount, Manulla, and Castlebar. In 1765, 49,000 yards of linen were sold at Castlebar, an increase of 39,000 yards from three years earlier. By 1790, the industry's focal point was the rough-cut limestone Linen Hall on what is now called Linenhall Street (Image: Wynne c. 1900 ). Opened on 25 October, 1790, under the patronage of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, the Linen Hall was a place where linen was sold, and by all accounts, the new market was an immediate commercial success.
The Linen Hall is an integral part of Mayo heritage and should be promoted as a socio-economic heritage and touristic site. To realise the full heritage potential of the Linen Hall, we need to marry bricks and mortar with the stories of the people who worked there and the multitude of others across the county involved in the industry. The latter included those who toiled in the fields planting and pulling flax, or afterwards, stoking and rippling the harvested plants before retting them in pools of water and then drying them for scutching and hackling; all of this before those involved in spinning, weaving, and bleaching got involved.
We should also consider the Linen Hall in the broader socio-economic context of the time. The perceived importance of the linen industry to Mayo is evident from the level of engagement by landed proprietors and men of commerce. In 1823, a large gathering at Westport was instructed by a Linen Board representative on the merits of Dutch methods of treating flax, over those methods employed in Mayo. Those gathered were impressed, and it was agreed that five acres would be planted with Dutch seed and the plants treated using Dutch techniques. In 1824, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed measures harmful to the industry in Connacht, resolutions were passed calling for public representatives to lobby the King, Parliament, and Lords.
The rise and fall of the linen industry in Mayo is detailed in travel writings. In 1801, James McParlan noted the prevalence of flax growing across all baronies. By the time Henry D Ingles arrived in 1834, the linen industry was in decline. He recalled an extensive trade eight years previous at Westport – on a market day, when as many as 900 yards were sold. In 1834, this was reduced to 100 yards. Even so, 500 yards were sold each week across Castlebar, Westport, Newport, and Ballinrobe. Ingles estimated that 30,000 people were engaged in the industry. In 1837, Samuel Lewis found that linen was principally manufactured in the cabins of the poor. The cloth was generally grey and sent elsewhere to be bleached – there were two extensive bleach-greens near Westport and another at Turlough.
The linen industry left its imprint on the people and landscape of Mayo. The Dúchas School's collection contains some 147 Mayo essays connected with the industry. Central to many of these is the arrival of weavers from Ulster in places like Castlebar, Newport, Westport, and Swinford. They also left their mark with placenames like Sion Hill and New Antrim Street in Castlebar and many northern surnames and customs.
The Linen Hall is much more than an attractive historical edifice. The current repurposing of the building will undoubtedly secure its future. The fascinating history of the Linen Hall and the Mayo linen industry is yet to be written.
