Linen Industry: Continued

A few more facts about the Linen Industry

In 1850 Ireland had 325,000 spindles, England had 365,000 and Scotland 303,000. Over the next fifty years, however, the number of flax spinning spindles in England decreased to near vanishing point with less than 50,000 spindles. By the end of the century Scotland had also suffered a major reduction, the number of spindles being 160, 000.  While these two countries had lost production, Ireland's share had increased and by 1875 there were 906,000 spindles working, this number having reached 935,411 by the turn of the century.  One of the reasons for this great displacement in favour of Ireland was the fact that linen was the staple industry here, whereas England and Scotland had other textile industries which allowed a higher profit and the payment of wages on a higher scale.  Lurgan has historically been an industrial town in which the linen industry predominated as a source of employment during the Industrial Revolution, and is said to have employed as many as 18,000 handloom weavers at the end of the 19th century, a figure significantly higher than the town's resident population at the time.  J.C. Becket states that 'The Linen Industry provided additional employment for cottiers and small farmers and their families, and made them less completely dependant on the land'.  Furthermore, there can be no doubt that 'the general standard of living was much higer in the north than elsewhere'.  

J.C. Beckett's book, 'The Making of Modern Ireland' was very helpful and interesting