Creating artwork with lace

The Crochet and Lacemaking class at Ashton School in Cork.

Mary O’Sullivan has been attending the lace making class in Ashton Comprehensive School for five years. She tells us of her experience in the class:

“This class was a totally new experience for me. During Heritage Week over five years ago, I went to a Lace Expo in Cork and was intrigued by what I saw. Veronica Stuart, our tutor, was there that day and she recommended the class in Ashton. Veronica is one of the longest-serving tutors in the school.
 
“Everybody makes different pieces, with lace, crochet and embroidery. I'm working on a table runner of wildflowers of the forest. It is Mountmellick Lace style which is unique as it is the only form of white-on-white embroidery from the Nineteenth Century which can claim to be entirely Irish in origin and design.

 “It is brilliant to learn a new skill and I have made all types of lace at this stage. Most of the class return each term and we are very welcoming to new joiners. It is sociable and we sometimes display our work and go to exhibitions out of the school. Since starting the class, I have also become a member of the Irish Lace Association.”