All you lovers of Irish lace, mark 6 p.m., Thursday, July 29 on your calendars as Failte Minnesota is hosting a book signing and demonstration by Maire Treanor, author of Clones Lace, The Story and Patterns of Irish Crochet, at the Hill House located at 240 Summit Ave in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Clones Lace is an Irish crochet lace and has an interesting history dating back to "the great hunger"when it first originated . It is named after the town where it was marketed beginning in 1847. Cassandra Hand, wife of the local Church of Ireland minister introduced the lace, based on Venetian Point needle lace, as a famine relief project for the small drumlin region of west Monaghan at the height of the Great Famine. The people of Clones soon made it their own, imitating the flowers that grew in the area with their lace patterns. Within a short period nearly every family the area was involved in the its production, supplying markets in Dublin, London, Paris, Rome and New York. Clones soon became the most important center of crochet lace-making in the the north of Ireland, while Cork was the leading center in the Republic of Ireland. Treanor is recognized internationally for her Clones Lace book and her expertise in the great art of lace-making.