Photography Joe McGivern
Linen is woven deep into the cultural heritage of Belfast. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, almost every town in the north of Ireland had a linen mill, employing mostly women. Belfast became the biggest producer of linen in the world and was known colloquially as ‘Linenopolis’. Working conditions were harsh, with the working day generally starting at six in the morning and finishing at six at night, while a typical working week could be up to sixty hours. Inhalation of flax combined with heat and steam resulted in many workers suffering from tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis and skin diseases.
The young girls and women who were employed in the mills were known locally as ‘millies’. Despite the long tedious days and the strenuous and relentless work, there was great camaraderie among the mill workers. Many people still fondly remember the Belfast millies who sang and laughed as they walked arm in arm through the streets of Belfast going to and coming from work at the mills.
The new silk collection from Éadach by Sara O’Neill celebrates the millies – the incredibly skilled and talented women who worked in the textile mills of Ulster – and captures something of their dreams and ambitions.
The Story…
Once upon a time in a town called Belfast there lived a wee dreamer. Her name was Millie. Like many women in this town, Millie worked in the linen mills. Now, this is no fairytale. Work in the mills was tough and wasn’t well paid but the work(wo)manship … well, it was incredible. The skill and talent of these ladies and the quality of the product meant that Irish linen was prized throughout the world – worn by royalty, supplied to the Ritz and the Titanic, and sold in luxury department stores from London to New York. Through the textile industry, Belfast boomed and prospered.
Anyway, back to our Millie. She lives in a little terrace street in Sailortown with her family. Her Italian grandmother, a very skilled needlewoman, took in embroidery work from the nearby York Street Mill. She passed on her craft to Millie and got her a job in the handkerchief ornamenting department at the mill. Millie is a good worker but dreams of life beyond the mill, beyond Belfast. She dreams of travelling to New York, of working in one of the glamorous department stores where her handkerchiefs are sold, the kind she sees in the films when she goes to the pictures with her pals, Mary and Alice. Often on the way to the cinema she detours to Royal Avenue, walking by the new Bank of Ireland building and past Sinclair’s Department Store. The buildings are so modern and elegant and make her feel like she’s on 5th Avenue in New York. She doesn’t tell Alice and Mary that, though; she says she just wants to go to the sweet shop at Smithfield to pick up a bag of humbugs. They wouldn’t understand because not everyone is a dreamer.
When she goes to Smithfield, she likes to pop into Greer’s bookshop for a browse. A couple of months ago she picked up a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and she’s been dreaming about ruby slippers ever since. She hopes that one day they’ll make a film of it. She’s saving up for a pair of gorgeous red shoes she saw in Dolcis on Castle Lane and plans to wear them with a dress she’s making for the mill dance at the Orpheus Ballroom. Working at the mill means she can buy fabric in the factory shop, and with her skills she’ll be able to craft something beautiful from the ends of rolls. She’s thinking of a green bias-cut dress inspired by the gown her favourite film star, Claudette Colbert, wore in Cleopatra. Woolworths is holding ‘Free lessons in make-up and charm’ next week, so she’s planning to go along to that. She knows she’s charming enough, but she hopes she can snag a couple of free samples if she buys a lipstick.
She’s really looking forward to the dance. She’s only been to the Orpheus once, and thought it was beautiful with its elegant staircase, stained glass windows, wood panelling and jazz music spilling out onto York Street.
When illustrator and designer Sara moved to Belfast to attend art college in 2000, she lived on a street and in an area that was once the heart of the city’s linen trade. The old Orpheus Ballroom had become home to the art college and its library. Remnants of those glamorous days survived – the stairs, the panelling and the stained glass.
This area was Millie’s Belfast. These were the streets she walked to the mill, to the cinemas with Mary and Alice, to the milkbars for a milkshake, to Smithfield for sweets and books. But Sara’s Belfast was a very different city to the one Millie knew. The mills had closed their doors, as had many of the cinemas. Much of Sailortown was gone and the cityscape had changed dramatically during the twentieth century, although echoes of elegant art deco Belfast still survive across the city, as do some of the mill buildings.
The garments in The Dreamer collection from Éadach by Sara O’Neill are:
- The Dreamer: Silk and Irish Linen Kimono with Antique Buttons
- The Dreamer: Silk Trousers
- The Dreamer: Silk Cami
- The Dreamer: Crepe de Chine Skinny Scarf
- The Dreamer: Oversized Silk Scarf
- The Dreamer: Silk Dress with Leather Belt
All garments are available for purchase at www.eadach.com
Photography by Joe McGivern, shot on location at Portview Trade Centre, formerly the site of the Strand Spinning Mill, East Belfast
- ‘Millie’s story: A dreamer lives forever’ is published in Anthology Volume 18. Read more features from this volume or buy it now.
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