Nellie Ó Cléirigh (29 January 1927 – 16 October 2008), was an Irish lace authority and historian.
Nellie Ó Cléirigh | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nellie Beary 29 January 1927 Clonmel, Co Tipperary |
| Died | 16 October 2008 Dublin |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Known for | Lace historian and authority |
Biography
editNellie Ó Cléirigh was born Nellie Beary in Clonmel, County Tipperary about 1927. She got her education from the Ursuline convent in Waterford before going on to study history and Irish in University College Dublin. She worked as a civil servant in the Land Commission but on her marriage she had to resign as the marriage bar was still in effect.[1]
She married Cormac Ó Cléirigh and they had three sons, Conor, Niall and Shane.[1]
Ó Cléirigh had studied embroidery and started her own handcraft business. She became an expert on lace and wrote about it as well as creating an archive of lace and related artefacts. Her in-depth study of the women around the skill lent itself to her study of the women of Ireland which she then also turned into a book. She specifically looks at the lives of women who impacted Ireland including Lady Aberdeen, Maria Edgeworth, Selina Crampton, Cecilia Saunders-Gallagher and Sister Aloysius.[1][2][3][4][5]
She died in 2008 and was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery.[6]
Bibliography
edit- Carrickmacross Lace - Irish Embroidered Net Lace, a Survey and Manual with Patterns, (Dolmen Press, 1985)
- Limerick Lace: A Social History and a Maker's Manual (With Veronica Rowe)
- Valentia, A Different Irish Island
- Hardship and High Living (Portobello Press 2003)
Sources
edit- ^ a b c "Weaver of Irish lace's history and its role in struggle for equality". The Irish Times. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Veronica Rowe - A Life in Irish Craft".
- ^ Cléirigh, Nellie Ó. (March–April 2005). "Life in the Rosses, Co. Donegal, in the 1890s". History Ireland. 13 (2): 08–09. JSTOR 27725228.
- ^ Bumpkin, Country (9 March 2015). A-Z of Whitework. Search Press Limited. ISBN 9781781263402.
- ^ "Fine new book" (PDF). Limerick Leader.
- ^ "Death notice". RIP. Retrieved 8 March 2021.