Bleary Rural Community

A synopsis of the dominant employment in this locality until recent decades

On reaching the weaving factories, yarn which had been grown as flax on local farms and then scotched in the area was then wound into pirns for weft or spools for warp and woven by means of power looms into a variety of types of linen cloth. One such factory which opened in 1880 at Coose, a townland within Tullylish was Hazelbank Weaving Company. Because power-loom weaving had not begun to spread in Ireland until the 1860s, enquiries into working conditions did not begin until 1892.

In That year, Mr. Osborn, seeking to extend the regulations adopted under the Cotton Cloth Act with regard to artificial humidity and enquiries into weaving sheds in Ireland. He found dust, poor ventilation and high humidity due to jets of steam being infused by uncovered pipes, especially where finer counts of yarn were woven. This resulted in a large amount of condensation which saturated the walls, floors and weavers. Regulations to control the amount of humidity permissible were enacted at that time and further refined in 1903 , 1905 and 1914.

Dunbarton Street, Gilford, 1920 

Up until this time and even there after, the traditional cottage industry of handloom weaving flourished in this parish.

Six weavers who worked at Hazelbank were interviewed. None mentioned excessive humidity as a complaint, perhaps indicating that the regulations were more successful in weaving factories. Nevertheless, while all considered conditions better than those in spinning mills, they did not think that the conditions at Hazelbank were good.

Also, while pride in their work was expressed, none enjoyed their work. One weaver described how tedious she felt the work was;
"It was from one to another, watching, and it all depended on what sort of yarn ya got. Some.... would have broken on ya, you see, and you were continually stopping the loom and tying it up, you know. And watching, the both. Maybe when you had finished with this, you'd turn around and there was... maybe... an end out.. what you'd call an end would break, a thread would go across this way and your shuttle would fly out and maybe you'd have a rip and have to rip all out... it was hard work... Some people couldn't be bothered ripping it out and they would sew it up a bit and then when that would go to the office, the cloth passer that examiner the cloth would come on this. That was a fine. He got the Lord's prayer many a time."

Weavers were paid by the piece at so much per cut or 100 yards. All faults in the cloth detected by the cloth passer resulted in fines which were deducted from the wage. While of course some weavers were more careful than others, all could expect fines from time to time. When this cut (100 yards of cloth) was woven, the cloth was carried by the weaver on her shoulder to the office where it was marked down. At Hazelbank a learner got a fortnight or three weeks to learn before she got a loom of her own. It was very common for a learner to be taught by a member of her family, usually a sister. This was the case for five of the six weavers interviewed and it was felt by them to have been a help in easing the pressure and anxiety of a child twelve to fourteen years old who was beginning factory work.

Learners were expected to pick up much of the required skills on their own, but certain skills had to be mastered before they got their own looms. They were, how to change a shuttle, the way to draw in broken ends of warp and how to tie a weaver's knot (which was a non-slip knot). After the initial learning period was over, the young weaver would be given one loom for a few weeks and her progress was monitored by the boss and the tenter.

Well the boss was walking around the factory all the time and then there was what you called the tenters to fix the looms, you see, if anything happened. So then you'da maybe got two, the second loom after two or three weeks.... and then you were on your own, making your own pay.

 Most weavers at Hazelbank had two looms but a few of the most experienced had three. None of the weavers described the lively atmosphere found in the spinning mills. The noise of the machines impeded conversation and the discipline was very strict.
 

If you had a minute to spare and the two looms going, you used to have a wee seat but they woulda tied it up, you hada hide it from them. If you sat down, you daren't be seen sitting! You woulda heard them, you know, with the noisy looms, you would have heard the girls shouting at one another 'yoo hoo', you knew he was comin'. And then, Oh, you'da kept your head down all the time they were walkin' round.

If a weaver was caught fixing her hair or eating, she would be checked by the manager.
You daren't eat a piece of bread, you daren't...., You'd eat it all right, but if they'd see ye that was a fault... they'd think you weren't minding your work if you be eating the bread. You'd only eat the bread when you were busy working away as well like, watching the looms.

Each weaver pointed out that aspect of the work which was to her most annoying. To one it was the fluff and dirt; to another it was standing on the cold tiled floor on a winter morning and handling the cold machinery. One woman summed up her view of Hazelbank in the following succinct terms, "It was a dungeon.... only thing was, you were glad of the money."

Nevertheless, when asked about the interaction between co-workers, weavers all maintained that they were friendly and helpful. Due to the noise in weaving sheds, weavers could not talk to each other easily. They developed instead a sign language. Again, in the area close to the factory such as Lawrencetown, most people knew each other or were related which reinforced friendships both on and off the job.

The plentiful supply of cheap labour and the technological problems involved in weaving fine linen cloth ensured the survival of handloom weaving through the first half of the twentieth century. Before the Great Famine, handloom weavers were to be found in every townland in Tulllylish. After the Great Famine, due to deaths, shifting population, the arrival of power looms and the alternative sources of employment in the factories, handloom weaving tended to concentrate in the townlands of Ballydugan, Bleary and Clare where fine cambric and damask was woven.