- By Davoc
- 2 November, 2008
- Comments Off on Belleek
The story of how the world famous Belleek pottery started reads like a fairy
story. In 1849, a young man inherited a large estate close to the village
of Belleek in County Fermanagh. This 26 year- old benevolent landlord,
seeing the plight of his tenants after the famine, resolves to do something
about it. He searched his lands and found all the necessary materials to
make pottery - fieldspar, kaolin, flint clay and shale. He then discovered
that the river Erne, also running through his property, would be ideal to
drive a mill wheel suitable to grind these components into liquid potter's
clay. Next he acquired partners for his venture, and he pulled strings for
a rail service for Belleek. Less than ten years later, on Thursday 18th
November 1858, the foundation stone was laid. By the end of that year,
earthenware was being produced.
The Belleek trademarks are unmistakably Irish, the wolfhound, round tower,
harp and shamrocks have been used since 1863. These symbols with some
variations are still used today. There are at least eight different
periods, either in the ribbon, colour or styles. Most of the early Belleek
marks are minimalist, with maybe only one word "Belleek" being used. In
general the more marks the later the piece.
The most well known and expensive Belleek pottery is the Parian Ware, paper
thin and decorated with all sorts of flowers, shells, leaves and glazed over
with wonderful 'mother of pearl' lustre.
The factory employs over 200 people and the visitor centre is now one of the
top attractions in Ulster.Belleek