Alia Dobson
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Lisbellaw Woolen Mill “All made from Irish wool, which though lacking some of the fineness of the other wools is of great strength in fibre and when properly manufactured is capable of withstanding a great deal of rough usage” reads a business review of The Lisbellaw Woolen Mill in 1891 (Eadie 2020: 14). The Lisbellaw Woollen Mill, located in County Fermanagh, exemplifies the industry decline of wool since the mid 20th century. I picked up the story in a booklet during a weaving exhibition at the nearby Enniskillen library. Once the railway started to connect the rural areas post-industrial revolution, the Woollen Mill began as an expansion project from a very small local mill. As the pamphlet narrates, it grew to be an important cornerstone after its opening in 1858, employing 100 at once and requiring a separate engineering sector which damned the local water source to supply power. They were stocked with local wool, and provided a range of hearty, well-made goods, unheard of in today’s industry (Eadie 2020: 14). However, the Mill was not spared the political and economic changes of the new century. The men and women who worked there were deeply affected by the Easter Rising of 1916, declaration of Independence in 1921, and the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 (Eadie 2020: 19). Attempts were made to keep the mill afloat by participating in global trade and stocking Australian wool, just to make it into blankets and sell it back to hospitals over there (Eadie 2020: 29). During World War II, the mill struggled to keep its doors open with much of its workforce having been called up to fight, but the now retired owners in their 70s decided to come back to run the business and supply uniform material for the cause (Eadie 2020: 32). Then came the invention of “imitation wool” like rayon and nylon in the 1950s, which “sounded the death knell of much of the woollen industry in the UK” which saw the closing of the Wollen Mill in 1965 (Eadie 2020: 33). As the author of the pamphlet, the grandson writes, “I recollect watching the spinning machinery being thrown down from the third storey windows of the Spinning block, destined for the scrapyard, and that, I think, was probably the most emotionally charged and profoundly sad time in the history of the Mill for my Father” (Eadie 2020: 35). After being sold to a tire manufacturing business, the Mill sustained yet again another attack, this time in the form of arson. The I.R.A. campaign in the 1960s, or Irish Republican Army, had taken root and spread fear among unionists in the North. The Mill was a successful Catholic business in a prominent Protestant village, and although nothing has been confirmed aside from “unlawful assembly”, part of the building was destroyed due to a major fire (Eadie 2020: 36). As “the curtain finally fell on [...] the Lisbellaw Wollen Mill” (41), so did much of local Irish wool processing. The Woollen Mill, although no longer in operation, gives a glimpse into the hardships and triumphs the industry has undergone in the last century. A microcosm of socio-economic changes in the North, the mill experienced the gradual decline of economic value of wool and sheep in the area. At the same time, this pamphlet converts it into a historical narrative and preserves its memory as a heritage site for those in the community still connected to the industry. Farming and processing wool strengthens people’s identities and ties to their past, and as the industry continues to shrink in Ireland, efforts to highlight this value are increasing. So, I ask, how are people reframing the good(s) produced in a declining industry? First, we will explore Irish history with wool, and what the market looks like today.  ​ Eadie, R. (2023). The Lisbellaw Woollen Mill. Lough Erne Landscape Partnership.