Stitches in the air: celebrating Dubin's history through lace

RTÉ News​

23-07-2025

Sínann Fetherston sits down with visual artist and lace maker Fiona Harrington to learn about the history of needlelace in Ireland, and how she is using it to celebrate Dublin's tangled past.
A traditional craft passed down through generations, the Italians refer to handmade needlelace as "punto in aria" ("stitches in the air") because of how the fine-threaded stitches are suspended between grounding threads.
Held together through tension and delicate dexterity alone, this hard-earned skill was once a lifeline for women in Ireland following the devastation of the famine in the late 19th century.
With schools set up by philanthropists and religious orders, women were trained in the profitable skill, eventually making it the second-largest industry in the country.
Known as a 'Golden Fabric', the vast majority of pieces were sold internationally, frequently bought by artistocrats and royalty.
In fact, in 1911, Britain's Queen Mary had a handmade piece commissioned using Youghal Lace, one of the specific varieties hailing from Ireland. Coming in at four yards by two yards, and using a shockingly fine linen thread, the veil took six months of 60 women working day and night.
Today, if one person were to undertake the task under a more humane eight-hour workday, it is estimated that it would take them 35 years to make.
Despite the incredible beauty of the pieces, following World War I and the invention of machine-made lace, the art form quickly died out, with just a few people in Ireland today retaining the skill.
Visual artist and lacemaker Fiona Harrington is one such person.
I had the opportunity to watch Harrington at work through Culture Club, a series of hosted talks, tours and activities that introduce and encourage people to connect with cultural spaces of the city, organised by Dublin City Council's Culture Company.
As the current Artist in Residence at 14 Henrietta Street, a museum holding 300 years of Dublin city life, Harrington is currently exploring the unique quirks of both the building and its past tenants through the practice of lacemaking.
Drawing inspiration from the patterns of the old walls and the historical objects with memorable names (she paid homage to the "guzunder", a bedpan called so because it "guzunder the bed"), she is yet to confirm what the end result will look like.
"I began by exploring the collections, wandering around the house, photographing everything, and kind of starting to piece together my own stories," she told RTÉ Lifestyle.
"I also did tons of tours with the guides, and the guides are so important here in Henrietta Street because, not only do they have the history of the house, but they also have their own personal stories."
Harrington responded to the stories by creating both needlelace portraits with hidden details and colourful bobbin lace pieces mirroring the building.
The Child of Prague, for example, features wallpaper patterns from bedrooms and fanlights above doors, while her bobbin lace pieces capture the various shapes found through layers of chipped paint on the old walls.
"Another piece is dedicated to the memory of Peter Brannigan, who is an ex-resident of Henrietta Street but was also a dear friend of the museum," she explains. "I was really fortunate to have met him a few months ago; he only passed away two or three weeks ago, so I'm making a piece in memory of him."
To see Harrington's work and to learn more about the history of life in Dublin city centre, you can book in for a tour at 14 Henrietta Street.