WILLIAM KIRK
October 1795 - 20th December 1870
A Merchant, a Magistrate, and a Senator
‘Mr Kirk’s name was associated with the advancement of the best interests of Ireland, both in matters of Church and State.’ In Memoriam, William Kirk, MP
(1)
They say that some children are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. It’s quite possible that the infant William Kirk was born holding a shuttle, for although he was a man of many parts, he is remembered chiefly for his association with linen. He was born into the trade, married into the trade, and settled in an area that, if ever the Almighty had a plan for industrial development in His mind, must surely have been destined from the dawn of time as a centre for linen production. The picturesque valleys of south Armagh, with their plentiful supply of water and flat land for building, provided an ideal setting; the moist climate was perfect for the growing of flax; and when a man of Kirk’s entrepreneurial and business skills took up residence there, the resulting prosperity and expansion were a foregone conclusion.
Ironically, this man who was to make such an impact in and around the Armagh/Newry area, not only as an industrialist inspired by egalitarian philosophies, but also as a magistrate, landlord and member of Parliament, was not actually a native of the place, being born in County Antrim, and moving here around 1820. But he made it his home until he died, and is commemorated by a fine monument in Keady, while his name is spoken in the school he founded in Darkley and echoed in the long folk memory of the people. There are still some alive today who reminisce about working in ‘Kirk’s mills’, for even though by the turn of the century the Kirks had been replaced by other proprietors, it is the founder who is remembered.
Perhaps the earliest reference to the town of Keady is in the records of Trinity College in Dublin for 1674, but the town existed long before this time. The O Neill clan got a foothold via The Fews and Middletown in the early sixteenth century, their legacy traceable in many of the placenames such as Kinelowen or the seed of Owen, Rathcarbery, or Cairbre’s Fort, after an O Neill chieftain, and the many families who bear the surname Hughes, probably from Cairbre’s brother Aodh or Hugh, who clearly sowed more than a few wild oats! It most likely developed as a way-station or trading post for travellers, clustered around a place where the roads meet and cross, and during the Tudor conquest was a halt for troops travelling between garrisons, and a changing post for horses. Its fortunes fluctuated over the centuries, and it was grievously affected by the famine, but its time of greatest prosperity coincided with the rise of the linen industry in the nineteenth century, presided over, in the main, by the towering figure of William Kirk. It was never a major industrial town but it was an important market centre, and the mail coach from Dublin to Armagh stopped there three or four times a week. With the manufacture of linen at its height, many smaller spin-off trades also flourished, including tailoring and shirt-making, along with small engineering works, coachworks, crafts, and nail-making: hence the town’s nickname, ‘the town of tailors and nailors’. But even though Northern Ireland produced some two hundred and fifty million yards of linen for the war effort between 1939 and 1945, the boom years were over by the fifties, and not even Kirk’s mills could resist the pressure from new easy-care fabrics for ever.
Today there are derelict mills, abandoned mill-races, the great Darkley factory given over to deep-litter, the big wheels silent, the turbines stilled. There are no fields of snowy linen, no thrumming beetling engines, no trains chugging out to Armagh or thence to the port of Newry to take the fine fabric to destinations across the world. Instead there is the silence of reflection and a thoughtful people whose roots go deep into their native soil and who are justly proud of their heritage. In the end, when the works of men have perished, if their memory remains, perhaps that is legacy enough
*****
(11)
William Kirk was born to Mr. Hugh Kirk and the former Miss Eliza Miller in Larne, in 1795. No record of his early life survives, but we must suppose that he attended the local school and, like many sons at the time, followed his father into business, in this case the manufacture of linen. The next thing we can be sure of is that he married Miss Ann McKean, whose father resided in Darkley House, in 1820. James Mc Kean was also involved with linen, and we might reasonably assume that the two young people met through their fathers’ business connections, but whether William came to work in Darkley and then met Anne, or fell in love with her at another location and followed his heart to the Callan valley, no one can say for sure. What we can say is that Anne was clearly a much-loved daughter and a cherished wife, and has the distinction of having two houses named after her: Annvale House, now demolished to make way for a development; and Annmount, still standing, and occupied by the Crozier family.
The manufacture of linen was already well-established in the area when Kirk began to make his mark, but his contribution was to harness and develop the rich natural resources such as the eight lakes and the river system, and the skills and manpower that were already there from the days when weaving and spinning were no more than cottage industries, subsidiary or adjunct to agriculture, two props providing support for the family as the markets in the one or the other fluctuated. Farmers bringing their produce to the nearest town also brought flax or cloth to trade or sell, and by the 1820s the Armagh market was the biggest in Ireland. Kirk’s investment accelerated the transition from farmhouse to factory, and it was under his guidance that the most dramatic expansion took place. He was active in Annvale early on as a bleacher, and bought it over in 1837, when it was mainly concerned with beetling, the finishing and bleaching of the linen cloth near the end of the process. Originally the bleachers would have purchased the brown or unfinished cloth, but by the1840s the complex at Annvale was weaving as well as bleaching and dying, and at its peak, it employed six hundred people, with two hundred power looms in operation in an area of over two hundred and fifty acres, all this despite the fact that when he took it over it was little better than a ruin. It is said that at the height of production, with every inch of water-power utilised, the end-race for one mill provided the head-race for another, and today there are many visible remnants of the great days scattered across the landscape if you know where to look.
One of the most poignant reminders is the village of Darkley, as close as you will come nowadays to an authentic nineteenth century mill village. There was a spinning mill here well before Kirk’s time though the village was tiny, and it was owned by Henry McKean, Kirk’s brother-in-law. On his death in 1845 the mill was taken over by Kirk, and under his auspices Darkley began to flourish. The demand for linen increased throughout the second quarter of the century after a brief spell of subservience to its rival, cotton, and according to Industries of Ireland (1891) the Darkley works came to occupy ‘a splendid property of about one hundred and thirty-seven acres in extent’, boasting two hundred power looms, and eight thousand spindles, manned by seven hundred persons. The mill was operated by the second largest, if not the largest, water wheel in Europe.
The prosperity of the enterprise owed much to the fact that the whole process of manufacture from flax to cloth could be carried out in a relatively self-contained area: Keady for scutching, Darkley for spinning and weaving, and related processes like hackling, with many other mills in between: Ballyards, Moneyquin, Tassagh, Corclea and others. The raw material itself, the all-important flax, was extensively grown in the area, for the soil and climate were both ideally suited to its culture and it could be rotated with the potato to promote soil fertility, but it was an uncertain plant, often difficult to grow successfully, and eventually local producers could not provide sufficient quantities to meet the spiralling demand, so much of it was imported from Europe, especially Russia, which to this day produces beautiful linen goods which are now exported to the UK.
Kirk had a good head for business, but he was greatly interested in the technical side of the industry too. He travelled to France to examine a water turbine invented by Fourneyron, a French entrepreneur, and later, with the help of one Samuel Gardener, was able to devise his own version; by1848 he had installed the first water turbine in one of his own beetling mills near Keady. Farrell tells us that he was also interested in the development of a mechanical means of scutching though there is no evidence that he ever bought this type of equipment himself; but it is clear that he was prepared to pursue any course that might lead to the stream-lining and refinement of the industry in which his enterprise was fast becoming a world leader. He knew very well the wisdom of the old adage that you reap what you sow, and it was by adopting an innovative approach and applying the most up to date methods that he ensured success for the Annvale-Darkley operation. Eventually the Kirk empire would expand to include a magnificent warehouse (which) stands among the most prominent and imposing architectural features of Donegall Square (in Belfast) where the perfection of mercantile organisation exists’, and branches or agencies in London, Manchester, New York and Paris. At a meeting held after his death to discuss the erection of a monument to him, one of the speakers, a Mr. Thomas Small, recounted the following story:
‘I heard from a young man lately, who had gone out to America and got a situation in a town in a far-distant Western State, that, to his surprise, nearly the first goods he saw in the warehouse were piles of boxes of linen, with the name of “William Kirk & Son” on them.’
The houses that shaped the profile of Darkley village as we know it today were built as a direct result of the upsurge in demand for linen cloth and the concomitant expansion of the industry, and the layout owes much to the template of the model village of Bessbrook. Liam O Manacháin, in his leaflet A Guided Tour of Darkley, wryly observes that ‘Darkley is not really on the road to anywhere’, but it was ideally situated for the building of a mill. That being the case, the mill needed workers; the workers needed accommodation, and Kirk was able to secure a government grant to assist in his building schemes, which in turn provided more employment in the area. Such was the expansion of the workforce that by the 1860s many of the houses were home to two families. This is hardly surprising, since at one time workers used to come from as far as Ballybay in Monaghan, about sixteen miles away, no small distance when you consider that they had to walk it! But Kirk was aware that to build a community it is necessary to have more than a place to work and a place to live, so besides letting out the houses at a reduced rate to attract people in, he also established a shop, where credit was readily available, a dairy and a small farm with produce slightly cheaper than elsewhere; and as a vocal champion of the system of national education, he demonstrated his belief in the benefits of such a scheme in a very practical way by building a school in 1857, well-ventilated, warm and well-equipped in line with the prevailing wisdom of the day. With the children catered for, Kirk turned his attention to their parents, and went on to establish evening classes where basic skills could be acquired. There is also evidence to suggest that he founded a library or more probably a reading room, so here we have in microcosm the personification of the ideal of the Victorian gentleman: securing self-advancement by hard work and good principles; happily married and with a growing family; and in the public arena, the entrepreneur, the philanthropist, and the businessman, creating community, increasing production, and enshrining his political beliefs in edifices of stone and brick.
*****
(111)
Comfortably settled in his fine house where he dispensed the best of Christian hospitality; an improving landlord who stated categorically that improvements to farms were largely made by the tenants themselves, and thus conferred upon them the right of compensation; and master of a thriving business empire which included the welfare of its workers on its agenda, it was the most natural thing in the world that Mr. William Kirk should consider entering the political arena. He was already an acknowledged spokesman for the linen trade, and was a man who took an interest in what was going on in the world about him. He enjoyed reading, was active in Church affairs, acted as a magistrate and sat on local boards and committees; and as Deputy Lieutenant and later High-Sheriff of County Armagh, he probably discussed the issues of the day with his friends and associates: the removal of trade restrictions; the vexed question of landlord-tenant relations; the importance of education; the potential for further economic growth; the ease of travel made possible by the railways; the need for electoral reform; the Christian virtue of religious toleration. It is hardly surprising that a man with opinions on all these matters, and one who, according to a memorial published after his death, was possessed of a remarkable gift for oratory, should have been encouraged by his friends to offer himself as a parliamentary candidate. Kirk displayed some initial reluctance, but once elected he brought to his activities in Westminster the same commitment and energy that marked him as an employer. He refused to align himself with any party, saying that he would ‘support the government or the opposition, or an independent member who will propose and strive to carry out measures to benefit this neglected country’, and throughout his career there is evidence that he did just that; in later years one of his supporters, a Mr. McGeorge, referred to his inclination to support measures rather than men. He learned early on the unpleasant truth the a man’s policies can undergo a startling change during the relatively short journey from one side of the House to the other: ‘Have we not men in power proposing and carrying measures which they opposed in Opposition?’ and used this to justify his stance when he attracted criticism for not giving his allegiance to a specific party. At the outset he had insisted ‘I will join no party which will not be a party to serve the people’, and continued to hold this line :
‘…no matter whether the measures they propose are measures borrowed from the Whigs, or whether they originate with the Tories, if they are good measures, I should give them my support.’
It was not until 1865 that he openly declared his support for the liberals, but he always seemed to have the best interests of his constituents at heart, and tried to promote measures which he believed would significantly and demonstrably improve their lives, rather than shackling himself to vote along party lines. Farrell reckons his victory in the election of 1852 to represent the first defeat for the conservative tradition in Ulster.
When he took his seat in the House of Commons it was as member for Newry and not for Armagh, as one might have expected; but Armagh was held by staunch conservatives who had the landed interest as their power base and Kirk and his supporters must have deemed it more likely that a victory would proceed from contesting the neighbouring town, and so it proved. Kirk’s public championing of the Ulster Custom, his pleas for religious toleration, his insistence that Presbyterians needed a voice in Parliament and his pro-disestablishment stance gave him credibility with both Catholics and his fellow-churchmen; the fact that much of his business was carried on via the port of Newry guaranteed him support from its citizens; and he carried the seat in 1852 and again in 1857.
He was a man with a liberal and improving cast of mind, caught up in the great movements for electoral reform, constitutional progress, social improvement, and industrial expansion. This was the age of John Stuart Mill, the Great Exhibition, a growing middle class imbued with a sense of personal dignity and public duty; and it was a period which saw a glorious flowering in the arts, especially literature and painting. It must have been a very exciting time to be in London, never mind at Westminster. He took an active part in debates in the House, and spoke when he felt he had something of value to say; not surprisingly, given his background, he was noted for his grasp of mercantile and financial matters.
His main interests lay in the areas of free trade, religious equality, national education, and tenant right. Arguably, the issue of free trade was one which would materially affect his own business, but the easing of trade restrictions would also improve the prosperity of the town, and he outlined a scheme to introduce cotton manufacture, arguing that Ulster was importing a fabric which it had the skills to make, as well as promoting initiatives to create jobs for women. He supported the move towards a secret ballot, in order to leave tenants free to vote for their preferred candidate without being forced to follow the lead of their landlord by declaring their vote in public; he was instrumental in getting the railway system from Newry extended and improving the harbour:
‘I have sought to effect the improvement of the Port by the removal of all obstacles seaward; and for the improvement of…Trade, by urging forward Railway communication inland, and I …have been at least partially successful’;
and he spoke out for equality for all whatever their background, while remaining an active and devout Presbyterian:
‘I am now, as I ever have been, the advocate of Civil and Religious Liberty. What I claim for myself I concede to others, as I cannot but feel that if my neighbour’s liberty is infringed, my own is in danger.’
Mr. Thomas Small, Town Commissioner for Keady, in assessing Kirk’s effectiveness as a public figure, sums it up thus: ‘Mr. Kirk not only wisely and mercifully dispensed the law as a magistrate, but did much as a member of Parliament in assisting to frame such laws as would be for the advancement of education, civil and religious liberty, the arts and sciences, and the extension of commerce’ , but he was not universally admired and in the campaign of 1859 the deep-seated opposition to his liberal views became clear. He had signalled his intention to seek re-election, but there followed a series of scathing attacks and criticisms of his conduct that revealed the lengths to which his opponents were prepared to go to oust him from his seat. He was accused of supporting measures injurious to Ireland, of renouncing liberalism, of subjugating his principles to personal ambition. Claim and counter-claim are the stuff of political vocabulary, but when allegations emerged of bribery and corruption, and even of intimidation of voters, on the part of the conservative interest, Kirk decided to stand down. The newspapers carried colourful descriptions of the methods employed to influence the outcome of the election:
‘…the Tory party are becoming more unscrupulous and desperate. Not content with serving notices to quit on electors who are known to be favourable to Mr. Kirk, it is said that they have actually resorted to the infamous practice of man-stealing. We have heard that, on Sabbath last, they actually violated the sanctities of the Lord’s Day, by making a bold effort literally to run away with one of Mr. Kirk’s voters…Let (the voters) beware of every man of the Tory faction who approaches them with an oily tongue, and who appears to be in a particularly jovial temperament.’
Whether he was motivated by disgust at the depths to which the opposition would sink, or the pragmatism that convinced him that he was unlikely to win, we don’t know, but his interest in politics was apparently undiminished, for in 1865, now retired from business, he again entered the arena, this time as a candidate for Armagh while his son, William Millar Kirk, contested, but failed to carry, the Newry seat. It was during this campaign that he declared openly for the liberals, but he failed to win the seat, perhaps because the conservative influence was still uppermost in the borough, or because he had lost the support of some of his co-religionists. A letter from ‘A True Blue Presbyterian’ to the Editor of the Belfast News Letter in July of 1865 is openly critical of his actions and sceptical of his good intentions:
‘What are Mr. Kirk’s claims on the Armagh constituency? He cannot pretend that he has any on the Conservative portion of the electors.
‘But on what pretence has he come forward as a Presbyterian candidate? If it be on the ground that he is a Presbyterian, the writer admits it; but there the claim ends; for on questions most affecting the honor and interests of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Kirk in and out of Parliament has sacrificed the one and the other.’
The writer goes on to accuse Kirk of siding with the Government against the General Assembly over the matter of Presbyterian chaplains, and of failing to support the Assembly’s agitation for an increase in the regium donum support for the clergy, and remarks,
‘With a modesty only equalled by its courage, Mr. Kirk, after all this, asks the support of the Presbyterians of Armagh. Don’t he wish he may get it?’
Kirk was aware as far back as 1859 that Presbyterian support was dwindling, and he had tried to rally them:
‘I feel it very hard to blame any class in the community, but I must say that I have not received that support from the Presbyterians to which I think I am entitled. I have at all times supported their rights; and I do think it extraordinary that a body of men, who ought to be sturdily upholding their own principles, should be found supporting an Episcopalian, and allowing themselves to be dragged at the chariot-wheels of a party who despise them.’
But politics is a dirty and a dicey game, and whatever the truth of the matter, Kirk’s sojourn in the wilderness was not destined to end for another couple of years. His final appearance on the political stage was in 1868, when, returning to the hustings at Newry, he successfully contested his old seat. It is certainly not without significance that it was entirely due to the Catholic vote that he achieved his majority. By then he was entering upon his twilight years and a period of failing health, though he continued to attend parliament, and there is nothing to suggest that he did not take an intelligent interest in the affairs of state for as long as he was able. He stubbornly maintained his support for a just settlement of the land question, which would not begin to happen until Gladstone’s Land Acts of 1870 and 1881, as well as continuing to work for the advancement of the town of Newry, so he ended where he had begun, as a member for, and staunch supporter of, the town through which so much of the output from his flourishing manufacturing concerns in the Callan valley departed on its way into the wider world.
*****
(IV)
William Kirk died at his home on December 20th 1870 after a long illness, his funeral according to those who admired and supported him the opportunity to demonstrate their respect publicly by their attendance. According to the Memorial, ‘from the surrounding towns, representatives of the worth, wealth, and intelligence of Ulster came to assist at the sad ceremonial’, despite the snowy conditions that prevailed on that cold midwinter day . It was said that by the time the cortège had reached Second Presbyterian Church in Keady, the end of the procession was still leaving the gates of Annvale House, a mile or so away. The mourners, led by family members, included representatives from all strata of society, public figures, clergy of all denominations; some of his tenants, many of his workers, and a motley crew of poor people from surrounding districts, reinforcing the picture painted by the Memorial of ‘an indulgent landlord, a kind employer, and a generous benefactor’. One of the most interesting details is the reference to the number of carriages present, upwards of a hundred, ‘some of them the private carriages of gentlemen who were unable to attend personally’! They were there to see the coffin of polished oak with its wreath of white camellias placed in front of the pulpit, to witness the cessation of business in Keady for the day, the shops all shut, and to listen to the funeral oration by The Rev. George Steen, while the bell of the Episcopal Protestant Church tolled its mournful dirge, from the start of the procession until the interment was completed.
Not surprisingly the sermon is without exception laudatory and eulogistic, but tellingly it emphasizes the personal qualities that many of Kirk’s associates remarked upon: his honesty and integrity; his warmth and generosity; his ‘spirit of charity towards all denominations of Christians’; and his unflagging support for his own Presbyterian church and the good causes it espoused. A man of enormous energy, he found time to get involved as chair of the Bible and Colportage Society of Ireland, helped to found the Presbyterian Orphan Society, and was a trustee of the General Assembly’s College in Belfast. He promoted their Sustentation Scheme for the maintenance of ministers at a time when government support (the regium donum) was limited and uncertain, being subject to a vote of approval each year, and himself contributed to it, giving credence to Rev. Steen’s claim that here was a man who knew that ‘faith without good works is dead.’ Like his quasi-contemporary Daniel Gunn Brown, ministering to his flock down the road in Newtownhamilton, Kirk was a man whose religious precepts pervaded his everyday life. ‘His religion,’ the Rev. Steen emphasizes, ‘was not confined, as that of too many, to a dying hour…He carried his religion into all the relationships and engagements of life.’
That all this was not mere hyperbole, with more gloss than substance, we can deduce from the alacrity with which the citizens of Keady decided to erect a monument in Kirk’s memory, and from the broadly-based support which the subscription fund thereafter achieved. A public meeting ‘to take into consideration the propriety of raising in this town a memorial’ was held as early as January 2nd 1871, and the Rev. Steen, in assessing Kirk’s contribution to the area, acknowledged that it lay not only in providing regular employment for significant numbers, but in the resulting availability of capital which in turn fed into the local economy, and in the employment prospects offered by related schemes such as the building of the houses at Darkley:
‘Mr. Kirk’s wholesome example, and his marvellous success, largely and beneficially affected this town and neighbourhood. We were all directly or indirectly benefited. If you ask for Mr. Kirk’s monument, we say “Circumspice.” Look around - you can see it everywhere.’
Mr. Thomas Small, town commissioner, addressing the meeting, referred to Kirk as a man who ‘by extending and promoting the various arts of industry, gathering the out-lying and unemployed population around him, and forming a great centre of commerce, (transformed) in a short time what was but a bleak mountain side into a thriving and prosperous town’, and soon a fitting monument arose, a fine structure in Gothic style, with a base of Newry granite and a superstructure of rubbed Dungannon freestone. The work was undertaken by Mr. John Collen of Portadown to a design by Fitzgibbon Louch, Dublin and Belfast, the metalwork being provided by MacFarlane & Co., Glasgow, and the lamps by Ruddell & Co., Belfast. There is a panel of polished pink granite on every side, each one bearing an inscription:
‘Erected by many friends in remembrance of William Kirk MP 1871’, with the Kirk arms and motto.
‘For forty years he was the main spring of the industrial activity and social progress of this town and district.’
‘A man of strong intellect, uniting energy and sterling honour, he was withal of humble spirit for he feared God and served him.’
‘So rare a combination of qualities merited this memorial of one, who was eminent as a merchant, a magistrate and a senator.’
Originally there was a drinking fountain and a granite basin on one side, two lamps, and a metal vane and finials to top it off. It rapidly became the hub of social intercourse in the town, and when it was refurbished in 1992 some seats were added, to allow those with leisure to do so to sit and watch the passing parade. It is a favourite meeting place for visitors and locals alike, and is immortalised, along with the enterprise at Darkley, in a fine humorous song by another famous son of the town, Tommy Makem.
Today the Kirks are gone, the mills are gone, and even Shuttle Row in Darkley is gone, replaced by new houses, although the name survives. But the vision of one man shaped the development of south Armagh for a very long time, and his influence at Westminster contributed to the prosperity of Newry. No wonder one of his eulogists was moved to exclaim:
‘If the termination of such a life be an irreparable loss to Ulster, its memory is one of her most precious legacies…what nobler example or brighter pattern can one leave to posterity than this? Let us hope that, as Ireland now more than ever needs such men, many will yet be raised up to emulate his virtues, to follow his example, and to perpetuate the useful labours of his life.’
There is an old saying that we should strive to leave our names on hearts, not on marble. William Kirk, for a while at least, managed to do both.
*****
APPENDIX ONE
William Kirk and Anne McKean had eight children, six of whom seem to have survived their father: John (d.1873), Henry, Hugh (d. 1858), William (d.1884),Anne, Hanna, Eliza, Jane.
The daughter Anne is not mentioned in his will which is preserved in the Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, and there exists a very curious, though possibly apocryphal, story concerning the death of Hugh in 1858.
If William Kirk was a landlord with the best interests of his tenants at heart, it would appear that Hugh did not share his father’s sentiments, or it may be that like many men before and since he was prepared to put his principles to one side when self-interest was at stake. He had decided to build for himself a great house, referred to as a ‘castle’ but most likely a fine gentleman’s manor, on an elevated spot at a place called Cughan's Meadow. The only thing standing in his way was a small cottage occupied by a widow and her brood. Hugh had her evicted, but having nowhere else to go she stole back and took up residence once more. Hugh had her removed again, this time ensuring that the house would be uninhabitable by stripping off the roof. Thwarted and homeless, the widow laid a curse on him that he would die under the heels of a horse. Some time later he was in London, bowling through the fashionable streets in a smart carriage when he was thrown out onto the cobbles. He was trampled under the hooves of a team of horses coming behind, and died of his injuries.
*****
APPENDIX TWO: LINEN TERMS
FLAX: An annual plant whose fibres provide the raw material from which linen is produced.
RETTING: The process of soaking the harvested flax in water-filled pits - LINT HOLES or DAMS - n order to separate the outer stalk from the inner fibre. The smell was atrocious! It required careful judgement to assess correctly when it was ready, for an error in timing could result in the whole batch being useless, or at best, of inferior quality. After retting, the flax was spread on the fields to dry; this is known as GRASSING. It could also be dried in a KILN, a stone structure containing a fire, but this often resulted in accidents which destroyed a whole consignment.
SCUTCHING: The next stage in separating the outer husk from the inner fibres, originally done by hand. Hard and dangerous work producing masses of fine dust or ‘posse’, extremely damaging to health. Scutchers worked in pairs, the first one being the BUFFER, the second one the CLEANER or HACKLER.
HACKLING: The last stage of preparation of scutched flax, where it was cleaned, broken still finer, pulled through a strong comb called a Hackle, and drawn out into ‘stricks’ or handfuls of parallel strands of fibre, ready to go onto the DISTAFF, prior to spinning.
BEETLING: The process of hammering cloth to a fine shiny finish.
HEAD RACE: Channel for carrying water from the river to the DAM or man-made pool, which stored water until needed. The MILL RACE carried the water from the dam to the mill wheel.
LINT WHEEL: Large circular stone used to break flax, drawn by a horse walking in a circular path. It could also be broken manually with a HAND-ROLLER.
BOBBIN: A detachable spool on which yarn was wound as it was spun on a spinning wheel LOOM: Machine on which a WEAVER made the cloth from the spun fibres.
*****
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bassett, G H County Armagh 100 Years Ago, A Guide & Directory 1888 , Belfast, Friar’s Bush Press, 1989
Beckett, J C The Making of Modern Ireland 1603 - 1923, London, Faber & Faber, 1966
Briggs, Asa The Age of Improvement, London, Longman, 1971
Farrell, Gary The Life and times of William Kirk MP (1795-1870)
BEd Dissertation, Belfast, QUB, 1994
Gribbon, H D The History of Water Power in Ulster ---------------------
McCutcheon, W A The Industrial Archaeology of N Ireland, ------------------?
In Memoriam. William Kirk, MP, Belfast, Printed by Marcus Ward & Co., Royal Ulster Works, 1873 (Author Unknown)
Banner of Ulster, 1852, 1859, passim.
Newry Commercial Telegraph, 1859, passim.
Newry Reporter , 1870
|
Kirk SAGP leaflet.pdf 
