The Drogheda Textile Industry, 1780-1820

County Louth Archaeological and History Society

The Drogheda Textile Industry, 1780-1820Author(s): John FitzgeraldSource: Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 20, No. 1(1981), pp. 36-48Published by: County Louth Archaeological and History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27729526 .

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The Drogheda Textile Industry,

1780-1820 By John Fitzgerald, M.A.

The textile industry was by far the most important industry in Drogheda between 1780 and

1820. It was the leading factor in the growth in size and wealth of the town in the late eighteenth century. Its organisation was different from that of the linen industry in northern Ireland, and in

its scale of operation, it was quite unlike any other industry in the town.

The linen industry was already well established in the town by 1760. In his reports to the

Linen Board, Robert Stephenson, apart from mentioning its considerable size, refers little to the

Drogheda linen industry, treating it in a similar manner to that of Down and Antrim, all of which

he considered well developed.1 It grew fairly fast in the 1760s and somewhat more slowly in the

1770s and early 1780s.2 As is indicated by the figures for production in Table 1, the industry

grew very considerably in the 1790s.3 Between 1785 when this period of rapid growth began, and 1808, the output trebled in value terms.4 While there was a considerable rise in prices in this

period, there was at least a fifty per cent rise in the quantity of linen produced. However,

depression set in in 1809,5 partly as a result of a shortage of flax seed and flax, due to the

Napoleonic war. Output fell very considerably and remained at a low level for the remainder of

the war years. The industry began to recover in 1814, and in the following years exports of linen rose to levels considerably higher than in the period 1790-1810.6 However, output was some

what below the pre-1808 level of ?360,000 worth of linen. The figure for output in 1817 given

by a Linen Board inspector was ?230,000.7 This was probably an underestimate owing to the

higher percentage of linen sold outside the market, but it does indicate that the recovery was not

complete. Output remained about this level for ten years, until the mid-1820s when it began to

decline seriously.8 It was not until the mid-1830s that there was any sign of a recovery and even

then it was at a much lower level than in the period 1785-1825.

The organisation of the industry depended on the kind of cloth produced. It is therefore

important to consider each kind of cloth separately. Much the most important kind of cloth

produced was semi-bleached coarse linen which was called, among other things, "market

linen'1.9 It was made of bleached yarn and was sold without any further bleaching of the cloth. The second kind of linen produced was sheeting and dowlas. These cloths were different from

the "market linen" in being fully bleached after they were woven. In the case of sheeting, the

cloth itself was of better quality. The third kind of cloth was cotton which was often made of a

mixture of cotton and linen yarn. The manufacture of each of these kinds of cloth was organised

differently. The production of "market linen" was already well established in and around Drogheda in

1 Reports and Observations of Robert Stephenson made to the Right Hon. and Honourable the Trustees of the

Linen Manufacture (Dublin, 1762-5). 2 See Table 1.

3 ibid. 4 ibid.

5 ibid.; Letter John Blacker to John Foster, 27 Nov. 1810 (P.R.O.N.I., Foster/Massereene papers, D562/7257). 6 See Table 2. 7 P. Besnard, Minutes of the Trustees of the Linen Industry and the Report of a Tour of Inspection through Leinster,

Munster and Connaught by Peter Besnard (Dublin, 1817). 8 See Table 1.

9 It was also called ktDrogheda's" and, in the 1760s, "unbleached Dowlas".

36



The Drogheda Textile Industry, 1780-1820 37

the 1760s.10 Even then it accounted for the majority of all cloth produced. Most of the growth in

output in the 1760s and early 1770s took place in the manufacture of "market linen". It

continued to grow right up to 1808, accounting for a large proportion of the growth in total

output. The manufacture of sheeting became significant in the 1770s and 1780s, and grew up to

1790. From then on, manufacture of this kind of cloth grew only slightly. The figures for output indicate a fall in production in this period, but they are unreliable, owing to the small amount of this kind of cloth sold in the open market. The number of new merchants who involved themselves in manufacture of this kind of cloth in the period after 1790 indicates that it

remained a significant part of the town's linen industry.11 Output of both kinds of cloth fell

heavily during the war years. In the years immediately after the war, the output of market linen

recovered much of the ground it had lost, coarse linen suffering less from the post-war

depression than the better quality sheeting and the linen produced in northern Ireland.12 There was some recovery in the production of bleached linen too, but the depression prevented any

major growth. When the demand for coarse, poor-quality linen fell very considerably from 1823

onwards, the industry in Drogheda was very seriously affected, the manufacture of sheeting

being too small to compensate for these losses.

The output of cotton was much smaller than that of sheeting. This industry was first

established in the town in the 1780s, when a number of firms were set up. However, most of these were unsuccessful and from 1790 onwards the quantity produced was very small. Because of its

small scale, and the fact that the industry was run by only one or two families, it was very

irregular, with output varying considerably from year to year, and even falling to zero in one

year.13 Thus, while cotton was produced in the town until around 1820, it was of little impor tance after the 1780s.

The "market linen" produced in Drogheda was largely destined for the British market,

though a certain amount also went to Spain. It was used for, among other things, cheap clothes. Demand for it was, therefore, fairly closely related to fluctuations in the British economy. Thus, with the fast growth generally in England, and parts of Scotland in the last twenty years of the

eighteenth century, it was to be expected that the demand for the cloth would rise too.14 The

depression after 1808 was caused by a shortage of raw material due to the war which also

affected what markets there were for the town's cloth in Spain and Portugal. Little Drogheda linen went to America and when a Drogheda merchant on one occasion embarked on a venture

in linen in the American market, the linen was bought in Dublin rather than locally.15 Output was thus less affected by the sluggish American demand and fared better in the immediate

post-war years than did the industry in northern Ireland.16 The major depression in Drogheda in

the 1820s was caused by increased competition especially due to technical improvements, and to

the growth in the use of cotton. The linen industry of the North did not suffer in the same way,

being more dependent on better-quality linen which was less hit by these factors.17

Having examined the trends in output over the period the next question to be examined is

the organisation of the industry, and how it was affected by the growth in output. As early as 1760, the Drogheda linen industry was no longer able to obtain sufficient yarn

10 Stephenson, op. cit.

11 Ledger of E. Hardman, 1790-1815 (T.C.D., Mss. 4810-1). 12 Besnard, op. cit. 13 See Table 1.

14 Deane and Cole, British Economic Growth, 1688-1954 (Cambridge, 1962). 15 Papers of F. Brodigan (N.L.I., Piltown House papers, Ms. PC 635). 16 Besnard, op. cit. 17 Report from Assistant Handloom Weavers Commissioners, H.C., 1840, XXIII.



38 County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal

from its immediate hinterland. The demand for yarn locally was considerably raised by the large exports of this commodity from the port of Drogheda.18 This had been an important export of the town from early in the century,19 and only began to decline in the 1780s. It was only after

1809 that exports of yarn ceased to be of importance. The acreage of flax grown in Counties Meath and Louth grew little over this period. In

1789, the total amount grown in the two counties was about 1,000 acres.20 It rose to 1,600 acres

in 179621 and remained at this level till the post-war years when it rose further.22 This was

sufficient only to supply between a quarter and a half of the output of cloth in these years, without allowing for the quantities of yarn exported.23 As a result, from at least 1760 consider able quantities of yarn had been imported from outside Louth and Meath, and even that which did come from these counties came from markets and fairs spread throughout them and was not

confined to the immediate area around Drogheda.24 In 1760, a large part of the yarn used in the town was brought from as far away as Longford

and Connaught.25 This trade in yarn later extended to the whole of the midlands and south Ulster.26 The local shortage of yarn was so great that even with the decline in exports of yarn the

Drogheda industry continued to import large quantities from the midlands and west of Ireland in the years after the Napoleonic wars.27 Even the rise in importance of mill-spun yarn in the 1820s and 1830s failed to stop this trade,28 though it was considerably reduced from its peak at the turn of the century.

Some of this yarn was bought in the Dublin yarn market by Drogheda merchants and manufacturers.29 However, throughout the period, much of the yarn came direct from these areas.30 It was frequently bought by the Drogheda manufacturers from small merchants in the

yarn-producing areas and brought directly to them without appearing in any market.31 It was

also retailed in Drogheda through the small shops.32 The production of the yarn in and around Drogheda was closely linked to agriculture. As

well as being widely dispersed throughout the county, flax was normally grown in small

quantities.33 Frequently, it was woven by the farmer's family and in many cases it was sold at

local fairs or markets, the job of weaving being left to others. It was only in the areas in and

around Drogheda where the weaving was centralised that spinning and weaving were combined.

18 See Table 3.

19 L. M. Cullen, An Economic History of Ireland from 1660 (London, 1972). 20 Number of acres for which flax bounties were claimed, 1789 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/5458). 21 Trustees of the Linen and Hempen Manufacture, A list of persons to whom premiums for sowing flaxseed have

been adjudged in 1796 (Dublin). 22 Minutes of the Proceedings of the Trustees of the Linen Board, 1814-26. 23 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/5788), this document says that an acre of flax would produce roughly 1275 yards of linen.

This gives a rough idea of the quantity of linen produced from flax grown locally. However, the figures for

acreage of flax grown are probably overestimates as they are for the acreage for which bounties were claimed. Thus there were a number of frauds which would cause these figures to be too high (Linen Board Minutes).

24 Petition to the Linen Board by weavers and manufacturers of Drogheda Linens, 26 Sep. 1763 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/1593).


26 J. Arbuthnot, To the right honourable and honourable the Trustees of the Linen Industry, the Report of John

Arbuthnot, esq., Inspector General (Dublin, 1783); Report on alleged fraud in Drogheda, 1788 (P.R.O.N.I.,

D562/8878); Linen Board Minutes, 4 Mar. 1794 and 6 Feb. 1798. 27 Besnard, op. cit.

28 Second Report of the Railway Commissioners, Ireland, H.C. 1837-8, XXXV.

29 Linen Board Minutes, 4 Nov. 1817, 4 Aug. 1818, 1 Sept. 1818, appendix 1818. 30 ibid.; Report on alleged fraud in Drogheda, 1788 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/8878). 31 ibid.

32 Day book of F. Brodigan, 1797-1802 (N.L.I., Ms. 9919). 33 Trustees of the Linen and Hempen Manufacturers, Premiums, 1796.




Throughout most of the period under consideration the weavers of "market linen" bought the yarn themselves in shops or the market, or spun it themselves. In many cases, the yarn was

bought unbleached and was bleached by the weavers. They were thus totally independent, working on their own account, using their own working capital.

When the cloth was woven the weavers took it to the Drogheda linen market to sell it. It was

measured and stamped in the market and sold to the linen buyers. The growth of the linen

industry resulted in the building of the Linen Hall in 1770.34 However, by the mid-1780s the Linen Hall had to be expanded owing to the futher growth of trade ,35 This remained the centre of most of the trade in "market linen" till after 1820. It was one of the two or three biggest linen

markets in the country throughout the whole of the period, from 1780 to 1820.36 It played a very similar role to the brown linen markets of Ulster. It was only with the decline of the linen

industry in the town from the mid-1820s, and the culmination in that decade of changes in structure which had begun to appear earlier, that the market lost this pre-eminent position.

From the 1790s onwards, a number of "manufacturers" of "market linen" began to appear. These were generally small men who operated on a small scale. Many of them had begun as

weavers themselves, having two or three looms operated by members of their families. They

began to expand their activity, employing one or two other individuals with looms, providing

working capital to finance them. They bought the yarn themselves and bleached it at home or in a small bleachyard. In a petition from linen manufacturers in 1814, a number of the signatories described themselves as both yarn bleachers and manufacturers.37 They gave out the bleached

yarn to the weavers often paying them in advance for their work. By 1820 they had come to

control a significant part of the manufacture of "market linen". However, it was not till the

1820s that they came to dominate it. In the beginning they sold much of their output in the

market, but in the years up to 1820 they began to sell increasing quantities through other

channels.

The manufacture of sheeting and other bleached cloth was organised in a very different manner. Unlike the manufacture of "market linen", as early as 1780 most of the output was

produced by a number of "manufacturers". These men were, in general, considerably larger than the "manufacturers" who appeared later in the production of "market linen". Many of them were local merchants who had other activities. In 1783, there were seven major manufac turers of bleached linen who employed on average ninety looms each.38 From 1780 onwards,

many of the bigger merchants in the town embarked in this branch of the industry at some stage of their careers. Most of them did so on their own account, though one merchant entered into a

partnership to manufacture linen in 1786.39

Edward Hardman who began manufacturing sheeting in 1795 is a good illustration of how

the "manufacturers" organised the industry.40 He bought his yarn from other merchants, rarely

venturing into the market. He gave the yarn out to weavers, some of whom he paid in advance,

though the majority of them were paid on completion of the work. When completed, he took

back the cloth and sent it to be bleached on his own account. He paid the bleacher a rate of a

certain amount per yard bleached. He then sold it, often to one of the linen buyers in the town.

34 Drogheda Corporation Assembly Book.

35 ibid., 14 July 1786.

36 Stephenson, op. cit.; Report of the Select Committee on the Irish Linen Industry, H.C., 1825, V.

37 Petition of manufacturers of linen for the Drogheda market to the Trustees of the Linen Industry, 10 Sept. 1814

(P.R.O.N.I., D562/1990). 38 J. Arbuthnot, op. cit.

39 Registry of Deeds, 383 253845. 40 Cash book of E. Hardman, 1787-9 (T.C.D., Ms. 4800); Ledger of E. Hardman, 1780-1815 (T.C.D., Mss.

4810-1).




He also sold the cloth directly to British merchants or had it sold for him in Dublin by a linen

factor. Bleached cloth was rarely sold in Drogheda linen market.

This branch of the linen industry required considerable amounts of capital. The fact that the cloth was bleached meant that the initial outlay was somewhat higher than with "market linen".

In Hardman's case the cost of bleaching amounted to about an eighth of the total cost.41 More

important, it meant that there was a much slower turnover of cloth. The bleaching of cloth took much longer than that of yarn. As well as this, the bleaching season was confined to the late

spring, the summer and the early autumn. The weaving on the other hand continued throughout the year. Thus, the "manufacturer" had to carry very considerable stocks of cloth. Finally, the

arrangements for selling the cloth, which have been outlined above, meant that there was often a

considerable delay before sale could be effected. Hardman, who engaged in this industry for a

short period, at one stage had stocks of ?3,500 worth of linen42 and this was not untypical of other "manufacturers".

This helps to explain why this part of the linen industry was organised by large "manufac turers" . Few if any of those engaged in the production of "market linen" could have afforded the

expense of producing bleached linen. As a result, the "manufacturers" themselves were often

large general merchants like Edward Hardman. There were one or two big linen "manufactur ers" who devoted most of their resources to this industry.

The third kind of cloth produced was cotton. This was the least important of all the products of the Drogheda textile industry. Production of this cloth began in the town around 1780. From the beginning the spinning of cotton yarn was organised on a factory basis. This necessitated the

outlay of a considerable amount of capital. The amount involved in each factory was at least

?2,500 and probably nearer twice that sum.43 This cost of entering the industry was the most

important factor affecting its organisation. At least three factories were established in the town in the 1780s.44 Two of them were

established by a number of individuals in partnership.45 In this way the problem of tht large amount of capital required was overcome.

The firms bought the raw cotton in Dublin, Liverpool and Glasgow. As well as this ihey used linen yarn bought in the normal way. The cotton was spun in the factories in the town and then given out to weavers to be made up into cloth. The cloth was then bleached locally.

Generally it was sent to Dublin to be sold, in at least one case on the account of the manufac turer.46 These three concerns ceased operations around 1790. One of the factories was sold to a

local man, Patrick Magrane, who continued manufacturing cotton in the factory in the 1790s.

However, he went bankrupt in 1801 though his family continued to manufacture cotton until

around 1820.47 There was some production of cotton using yarn brought in from outside the

town, but this was never very important. Thus, during the cotton industry's peak period in the

town, it was the most highly organised of all the branches of the textile industry, but even then, it was far less important than the linen industry.

It was in the purchase of the linen and the organisation of its export that the Drogheda industry was different from that of Ulster.

41 ibid.

42 ibid.

43 Registry of Deeds, Anonymous Partnership 18; Letter book of E. Hardman, 1780-3 and Ledger, 1779-90

(T.C.D. Mss. 4812 and 4809). 44 ibid.; Memorial of Edward Cheshire, 1791 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/7360). 45 ibid. 46 Letter book of E. Hardman, 1780-3 (T.C.D., Ms. 4812). 47 Drogheda Newsletter, 4 June 1801; Registry of Deeds, 729 497694.




Five or six big linen buyers grew up in the town in the period after 1780.48 These men

bought most of the "market linen" sold in the Drogheda linen market. Most of these purchases were made on commission for English merchants. The linen buyers shipped most of the linen

directly to Liverpool, sometimes in their own ships. The British buyers for whom they were

acting, came from Liverpool, Manchester, and some from London.

In the earlier part of the period, Dublin linen merchants were of considerable importance in

the Drogheda linen market. However, they lost ground to the resident buyers, and by the end of

the period, they accounted for a small part of the trade.

However, the dominance of the big linen buyers was short lived. The failure of the linen

industry to recover fully from the war-time depression injured them, and a number of them went

bankrupt from 1816 onwards. As well as this, the rise of the small manufacturers threatened

their domination of the industry's organisation. By the mid-1830s these manufacturers of "market linen" controlled most of the industry in the town.

Throughout the period, sheeting and other bleached linen was sold through a number of

different channels. A considerable amount of it was sold to the Drogheda linen buyers. Some of these men were also participating in this branch of the industry on their own account. However, from 1780 onwards, a considerable part of this kind of linen was sent to Dublin merchants to be sold on the account of the Drogheda "manufacturers". Finally, quantities of linen were sold

directly by the "manufacturers" to the British merchants.49 This was not surprising, since a

number of them were general merchants who had already many contacts in Britain. Even

those who specialised in the manufacture of bleached linen did so on such a scale that it was

practical for them to develop such contacts too. The "manufacturers" of "market linen" were

too small till the end of the period to by-pass the drapers in such a manner.

Thus, most of the trade in "market linen" was undertaken on the account of British

merchants, the drapers acting as their agents, and receiving commission for their services.50 The trade in sheeting and bleached linen, on the other hand, was more often undertaken on the account of the "manufacturers" themselves.

As a result of the growing importance of the Drogheda linen buyers in the trade in general, there was a considerable growth in the proportion of output which was exported directly from the port of Drogheda. In 1783, approximately one third of output was exported (see Tables 1 and 2). While the figures for output from 1790 to 1810 are somewhat unreliable as to

magnitude, they are more reliable as to trend and when they are compared to the export figures,

they indicate some increase in the proportion of output exported directly in these years. The

years after the war saw a considerable growth in the importance of direct exports, though the

figure for output is probably still an underestimate.51 This tendency for the proportion of linen

exported directly to rise was similar to a trend which had begun in Ulster as early as 1780.52 The chief difference between the organisation of the linen industry in Ulster and that of

Drogheda, lay in the differing role of the bleacher in each of them.

Thoughout the period 1780-1820 there were only five major bleachgreens around

Drogheda, three in County Louth and two in County Meath.53 They were relatively small in size.

48 Besnard, op. cit.

49 Ledger of E. Hardman, 1790-1815 (T.C.D., Mss. 4810-1). 50 Linen Board Minutes, 5 Nov. 1811 ; Memorial of linen manufacturers of Louth and Meath to the Trustees of the

Linen Industry, 1811 (P.R.O.N.I., D562/5623); Besnard, op. cit. 51 See appendix. 52 C. Gill, The Rise of the Irish Linen Industry (Oxford, 1925). 53 Arbuthnot, op. cit.; Besnard, op. cit.




As well as these five, there were a large number of very small bleachgreens which bleached only

yarn. Some of these small greens were owned by "manufacturers" who bleached their own

yarn.54 In addition, many weavers bleached their yarn at their own homes. Thus while there was

a considerable number of bleachyards they were mostly very small and did little bleaching of

cloth.55

The bleachers themselves did not command large amounts of capital. One of the

bleachyards was even owned by a partnership of a number of Drogheda linen merchants and

manufacturers. All the bleaching of cloth, with one minor exception, was done by the bleachers on a commission basis. The one exception to this was George Armstrong, who owned a

bleachyard in County Meath and manufactured some sheeting on his own account.56 Thus the

bleachers of the Drogheda region,unlike their Northern counterparts, showed no inclination to

become major manufacturers or drapers. They lacked the capital for such a development, and

the fact thaWhey bleached cloth on commission gave them little opportunity to extend their role.

The minor role of the bleacher was obviously linked closely with the structure of the

industry as a whole, and especially with the predominance of "market linen" in the amount of

linen produced. Because this cloth was sold unbleached, there was no demand for sophisticated bleach yards, for most of the town's production. The output of sheeting provided employment for only a small number of bleachers operating on a fairly small scale.

However, the lack of importance locally, of bleaching was probably a cause, as well as an

effect, of the relatively unimportant position of bleached cloth in the industry. The region around Drogheda was not well suited to bleaching. Unlike the Upper Bann57 and Upper

Lagan,58 centres of bleaching in the North, the country was fairly flat and there were no

mountain streams which could supply large falls of water to operate machinery. The region was

also a very important grain growing area situated fairly near Dublin. There was thus a very considerable demand for water power to operate flour and other grain mills. The Boyne, owing to the Boyne Navigation, was fully employed as far upstream as Navan and even above it, and on

the major tributaries there was little scope for big bleachyards owing to the number of flour

mills. What advertisements there were in the Drogheda Newsletter, between 1801 and 1807, for

places suitable for bleaching, referred only to places suitable for very small enterprises bleaching

yarn. As a result of all this, there was little scope for increasing the amount of bleaching done

locally. While this did not necessarily prevent increased production of sheeting and other linens

requiring bleaching, it is one factor which helps to explain the predominant importance of

"market linen" in Drogheda.

By contrast, in the northern part of County Louth there was a number of bleachyards on the

mountain streams. From a very early date the industry here showed a similar form of organisa tion to that of Ulster. As early as 1760, the bleachers there were buying linen in Newry to bleach on their own account.59 Thus, the northern part of Louth showed signs of following the Ulster

pattern of the growing predominance of the bleachers in the organisation of the industry as a

whole.

The Drogheda industry was also unlike the Ulster industry in being very much more

centralised geographically. Firstly, the town itself was very unusual in having such an extensive

54 Petition of manufacturers of linen cloth for the Drogheda linen market to the Trustees of the Linen Industry (P.R.O.N.I., D562/1990, 10 Sept. 1814).

55 Drogheda Newsletter, 1801-7, advertisements for bleach yards. 56 Arbuthnot, op. cit.

57 Gill, op. cit.

58 E. R. R. Green, The Lagan Valley, 1800-50 (London, 1949). 59 Stephenson, op. cit.




domestic linen industry concentrated within it. In Ulster the industry was predominantly rural in

character. Belfast was thus the only Ulster town which was in any way comparable to Drogheda.

Secondly, apart from the industry in the town itself, the weaving of linen cloth was confined to

the parts of Louth and Meath close to Drogheda. There were considerable numbers of weavers

in the villages and in the countryside within ten or fifteen miles of Drogheda. This centralisation was closely linked to the pre-eminence of the Drogheda market in

counties Meath and Louth. There were no significant sales of linen at any market other than that

of Drogheda.60 The small quantities manufactured elsewhere in Louth and Meath were largely for domestic consumption. However, even if anyone in the more distant parts of these counties

had wanted to produce linen commercially, they would have been faced with the problem of

transporting the linen to the Drogheda market. Such a problem was of considerable significance to a small weaver manufacturing on his own account, as the pieces of cloth were very heavy and

posed problems when being transported any distance.

Gill, in his book on the linen industry, suggests that the Drogheda industry was unlike that

of Ulster in that substantial manufacturers organised production.61 However, as I have indi

cated, this was only true of the manufacture of bleached cloth and in fact throughout most of the

period 1780-1820, the majority of the output was produced by weavers on their own account.

The Drogheda linen market was thus similar in character to the brown linen markets of Ulster.

The major difference between the organisation of the Drogheda industry and that of Ulster

lay in the role of the bleachers. In Ulster they came to dominate the industry, whereas they were

relatively unimportant in Drogheda throughout the forty years. The linen buyers were dominant

in this industry in Drogheda and it was only with the bankruptcy of a number of these men from

1816 onwards that they began to disappear from the organisation of the industry. They were

replaced by small linen manufacturers who had grown slowly in importance since 1780, and it

was not until after 1820 that they came to control most of the industry. Overall, the industry was of very great importance to the town and its hinterland. Drogheda

in its dependence on this industry was like north-east Ulster and when the industry began to

decline in the town, the whole region and especially Drogheda itself, suffered greatly.

APPENDIX

A DISCUSSION OF THE RELIABILITY OF THE FIGURES FOR OUTPUT OF LINEN IN DROGHEDA

There are two major series of figures relating to the linen industry in Drogheda. The first of

these is the continuous series of figures which cover the years 1771-1823.62 These are, in

general, the most reliable series of figures. The second series of figures is derived from a number of different sources, chief among

them the Linen Board.63 These figures do not form a continuous series except for the years 1791-1809 and the years after 1820. These figures also vary considerably in their reliability.

Therefore, special consideration must be given to each figure. Robert Stephenson, an inspector of the Linen Board, gave a figure of ?50,000 for the sales

of linen in Drogheda in 1761.64 In 1771 he gave a figure of ?100,000 for linen brought to market

60 Besnard, op. cit.

61 Gill, op. cit.

62 See Table 2.

63 See Table 1.





from co Louth and a figure of ?40,000 for linen brought to market from co Meath.65 Since most

of the linen produced in these two counties was produced around Drogheda and sold at the

town's market this figure implies an output of between ?100,000 and ?120,000 in the Drogheda

region. Compared with the figure for sales in 1761 this implies an increase in output over the

period of approximately 100%. A second figure for sales in the Drogheda market is given in a

survey undertaken in preparation for building the Boyne Navigation. This gives a figure for sales

in the Drogheda market in 1771 of ?50,000.66 The best indicator as to the accuracy of these figures is the series of figures for exports from

Drogheda over the period. When compared with these figures Stephenson's estimate implies that approximately one third of all output was exported directly from Drogheda. That of the

Boyne Navigation survey implies that about two thirds of all linen sold in Drogheda was

exported directly. In 1783 another inspector of the Linen Board, J. Arbuthnot, estimated that

total output in the Drogheda region was around ?130,000.67 This figure, like Stephenson's for

1770, implies that approximately one third of all linen produced was exported.68 As there was

certainly no decrease in the proportion of linen exported directly from Drogheda over the

period 1770-83, it would appear that Stephenson's figure is much nearer the truth than that of

the Boyne Navigation survey. The next figure for output of linen in or around Drogheda is that obtained from the returns

of the Linen Board inspectors from 1791 onwards.69 These figures are described as covering sales of linen in the Drogheda market together with exports from Drogheda, the exports covered

presumably being those of cloth not sold in the market. Thus, this series of figures omits linen

which was produced in Drogheda but was not sold in the town's market but rather in the Dublin

Linen Hall. As a result, this series of figures somewhat underestimates the output of the

Drogheda industry. Since it was the general practice to sell a considerable proportion of better

quality linen at the Dublin market the statistics for output of this kind of linen are especially inaccurate.

As we mentioned earlier, the 1783 figure for output suggests that one third of linen

produced in Drogheda was exported from the town. The figure for 1791 implies that about two

fifths of output was exported directly. This marginal increase is not surprising since linen buyers,

buying for British merchants, first began to appear in Drogheda around this time. As these

buyers increased in importance in the years up to 1810 so too the proportion of output exported

directly rose.

In the case of the better quality bleached linens, a considerable proportion of which was

exported through Dublin, there is evidence that the figures quoted in Table 1 underestimate

output. Over the period a large number of Drogheda merchants became involved in this branch

65 Report from the Committee to Enquire into the Present State of the Linen Trade in Great Britain and Ireland,

H.C., 1773. 66 Minutes and Proceedings of the Commissioners for the Boyne Navigation, 1771-96 (N.L.I., Ms. 7352). 67 Arbuthnot, op. cit.

68 The Arbuthnot report only gives figures for the number of pieces produced and their value. In order to make

them comparable to the export figures, which are given in yards, it has been necessary to convert pieces into

yards. The figures given for average lengths of pieces of cloth of different kinds in P.R.O.N.I. D562/5617 have

been used for this conversion. This document gives the official Linen Board estimates for 1791 which were : a

piece of sheeting or dowlas =105 yards; a piece of market linen = 75 yards and a piece of cotton = 64 yards. These figures for the different types of cloth are similar to those found in the records of E. Hardman and F.

Brodigan. 69 The figures for output between 1791 and 1809 are drawn from P.R.O.N.L, D562/5617, 5409, 5620, 6829;

Linen Board Minutes, 1792, 1799, 1806, 1807, 1809, 1810. These are all figures drawn from official Linen

Board sources.




of the industry.70 When this fact is taken into account it appears that the figures in Table 1

underestimate output and that production of better quality linen may have risen rather than

fallen in the years before 1809.

The proportion of the linen produced in the Drogheda region which was sold in the town's

market tended to fall over the period due to the increasing importance of the manufacturers.

These men tended to bypass the market selling directly to the linen buyers in Drogheda or to

merchants in Dublin or in Britain. As a result the figures for output are increasingly unreliable as

the period progresses. In 1817 another inspector of the Linen Board gave a figure of ?230,000 for the output of

linen in the Drogheda region.71 When compared with the figures for exports this implies that about three quarters of total output was exported directly from Drogheda. Even allowing for the

increased importance of the linen buyers this still seems an improbably big change from the

situation in 1808. Certainly the Drummond Report implies that production was around twice

the figure given by Besnard, the inspector of the Linen Board.72 This latter figure, given nearly

twenty years after the event, is in all probability an overestimate. However, in view of the

decreasing importance of the market it seems that Besnard underestimated the true output; the

real figure was somewhere between these two figures. The last series of figures covers linen sold in the Drogheda market from 1821 onwards.73 As

the Drummond Report later pointed out these figures are a poor indicator of output as the

market was rapidly supplanted as the centre of the industry in the 1820s. However, these figures are still useful as an indicator of the trend in output over the period.

70 Papers of E. Hardman (T.C.D.); Papers of F. Brodigan (N.L.I.); Deeds relating to the Hanlon and Powderly families (Registry of Deeds); Linen Board Minutes.

71 Besnard, op. cit. 72 Second Report of the Railway Commissioners, Ireland, H.C., 1837/8, XXXV. 73 ibid.; Report from the Select Committee on the Linen Trade of Ireland, H.C., 1825, V.




TABLE 1A LINEN OUTPUT IN DROGHEDA

Year Yards Pieces Value

1760 1770 1771 1783

1817

1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830

1,288,000 24,800

61,866 61,246 50,603 41,944 43,573 32,795 25,244 20,018 16,645 20,659

?50,000 ?120,000

?49,000 ?129,950

?217,000

?204,000 ?226,000 ?137,000 ?123,000

See Appendix for a discussion of the reliability of these

figures.

TABLE 3 EXPORT OF LINEN YARN FROM DROGHEDA

Year Linen yarn Year Linen yarn cwt

Linen yarn cwt

Source : Dublin Customs Records, N.L.I., Mss. 353-376; H.C. 1837/8, XXXV.

1782/3 1783/4 1784/5 1785/6 1786/7 1787/8 1788/9 1789/90 1790/1 1791/2 1792/3 1793/4 1794/5 1795/6 1796/7 1797/8 1798/9 1799/1800 1800/1 1801/2 1802/3

4,848 5,532 4,093 4,779 4,164 3,156 3,434 4,618 5,853 4,134 3,493 3,555 4,219 3,272 2,841 3,337 3,071 2,258 2,187 2,101 2,016

1803/4 1804/5 1805/6 1806/7 1807/8 1808/9 1809/10 1810/1 1811/2 1812/3 1813/4 1814/5 1815/6 1816/7 1817/8 1818/9 1819/20 1820/1 1821/2 1822/3

2,515 2,295 2,914 2,513 2,180 3,028

766 211

2,046 1,960

882 767

1,966 1,392

43 32

775 652

55 182



TABLE IB DROGHEDA TEXTILE OUTPUT 1791-1809

SHEETING

Pieces Value

?

54,573

1

61,740

1 38,255

52,479

43,260 44,100 46,032 50,560 49,608

59,594 47,508

31,016 27,048 39,294 62,985 65,698

10,286 10,290 5,465 7,497 6,180 6,300 6,576 6,482 5,512 7,011 5,689 3,877 3,381 4,366 6,630 6,769

Yards ,080,030 ,080,450 573,825 787,185 648,900 661,500 690,480 680,610 578,760 736,155 597,345 407,085 355,005 458,430 696,150 710,745

MARKET LINEN

8,639 88,102 907,095 4,229 48,913 444,045

Pieces 40,373 42,490 36,923 43,899 44,160 43,960 45,945 47,229 44,789 42,280 42,074 52,843

64,122 68,079 62,632

60,451 62,107 64,226 51,086

Value ? 110,970 127,470 110,769 131,697 143,520 153,860 160,807 184,193 190,353 169,120 168,296 211,372 256,488 272,316 266,186 241,828 256,007 256,904 204,344

Yards 3,027,975 3,186,750 2,769,225 3,292,425 3,312,000

3,297,000

3,445,875 3,542,175 3,359,175

3,171,000

3,155,550 3,963,225

4,809,150

5,105,925 4,697,400 4,534,275 4,816,950 4,816,950 3,831,450

DOWLAS Pieces Value Yards ?

3,919 5,577 5,020

6,791

7,630

6,301 5,229

6,539

3,467 2,775 2,737 2,986 1,771 1,755

18,615 27,855 27,310 38,383 45,106 34,217 37,247 37,496

19,128

16,442 15,487 18,780

11,512

10,849

411,495 585,585

527,100

713,055 801,150 661,605 549,045 686,595 364,035 289,275 287,385 313,530 185,955 184,275

TOTAL LINEN

2,410 15,531 253,050 1,496 9,679 157,080

Pieces 50,659

52,780

46,307 56,973 55,360 57,051 60,151 60,012 55,530 55,830 51,230 59,475 70,240 75,431 71,033

68,975

72,421 75,275 56,811

Value ? 170,543 189,210 167,639 212,031 214,090 236,343 251,945 268,970 277,208 266,210 234,932 258,830 299,023 330,390 340,683 318,375 322,802 360,537 262,936

Yards

4,108,005

4,267,200 3,754,545 4,665,195 4,488,000 4,671,555 4,937,505 4,884,390 4,486,980 4,593,750 4,116,930 4,659,585 5,451,540 5,877,"885 5,579,505 5,429,295 5,977,095 4,432,575

Year 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809

COTTON Pieces Value

?

3,152 12,608

1,486 5,201 2,008 8,000 12,000 48,000 7,000 28,000 6,560 26,240 5,229 20,916 7,800 35,100 6,000 30,000

2,268 11,881 7,500 8,460

9,799 51,484 33,750 38,070

3,003 22,422

3 3 SX OS Oo i

See Appendix for a discussion of the reliability of these figures.




TABLE 2

EXPORT OF PLAIN LINEN CLOTH FROM MAJOR IRISH CENTRES, 1771-1823

Year Dublin Belfast Newry Drogheda

YARDS 1771/2 4,375,820 837,674 1772/3 3,802,267 738,188 1773/4 4,319,463 741,537 1774/5 4,699,674 774,933 1775/6 5,473,558 940,890 1776/7 4,960,963 975,917

1777/8 9,779,984 3,679,052 7,175,788 847,974 1778/9 8,135,000 3,909,875 4,972,319 1,169,376 1779/80 8,054,850 3,762,282 4,950,576 1,343,603 1780/1 7,199,437 4,214,000 1,737,221 1,230,939 1781/2 15,777,161 4,197,000 2,944,575 1,242,939 1782/3 7,126,084 3,960,000 2,914,042 1,162,229 1783/4 9,809,000 4,163,000 6,026,508 1,136,353 1784/5 11,540,000 6,834,000 5,667,683 1,254,614 1785/6 11,723,800 7,347,000 5,829,772 1,510,010 1786/7 14,944,200 6,608,000 5,845,288 1,419,440 1787/8 17,881,600 8,812,000 5,598,310 1,282,243 1788/9 13,408,000 7,626,000 5,336,187 1,289,285 1789/90 18,580,000 8,637,000 6,271,972 1,515,487 1790/1 19,735,600 10,647,000 5,001,274 1,699,138 1791/2 22,178,343 12,722,000 5,696,706 1,752,639 1792/3 19,027,000 13,251,000 4,781,605 1,727,138

1793/4 18.724,000 13,515,000 6,443,444 1,285,970 1794/5 21,213,702 11,262,000 4,702,197 1,533,165 1795/6 27,794,108 13,235,000 5,780,299 1,395,752 1796/7 15,471,000 11,288,000 4,606,414 1,663,562 1797/8 13,847,000 9,505,000 3,624,226 2,075,339 1798/9 15,882,000 11,064,000 3,568,524 2,553,725 1799/1800 12,954,000 12,182,000 3,344,098 2,855,214 1800/1 20,195,000 11,118,000 2,416,250 2,428,060 1801/2 17,106,000 10,125,000 3,164,351 2,581,595 1802/3 15,897,000 10,586,000 2,395,045 2,948,442 1803/4 17,786,000 11,193,000 1,728,934 2,838,556 1804/5 17,509,000 15,097,000 2,404,777 3,263,264 1805/6 16,492,000 16,813,000 2,527,699 2,974,051 1806/7 14,122,000 14,506,000 2,634,445 2,924,634 1807/8 12.919,000 16,720,000 3,048,969 3,186,759 1808/9 15,345,000 15,908,000 4,045,591 2,903,153 1809/10 13,949,000 14,793,000 2,653,176 2,001,090 1810/1 13,090,000 15,086,000 3,359,000 2,099,091 1811/2 8,292,000 13,749,000 3,449,057 1,885,898 1812/3 9,646,000 15,225,000 4,821,215 1,992,294 1813/4 10,337,000 16,876,000 4,223,775 2,164,216 1814/5 10,781,000 19,259,000 4,644,000 3,095,156 1815/6 11,226,000 17,405,000 6,154,013 2,902,995 1816/7 10,066,000 17,334,000 8,852,216 4,037,413 1817/8 13,818,000 21,076,000 10,415,878 4,299,453 1818/9 11,693,000 20,647,000 8,364,909 4,135,750 1819/20 8,137,000 14,298,000 5,944,528 3,412,513 1820/1 10,263,000 15,887,000 7,499,605 3,317,155 1821/2 10,327,000 22,598,000 6,147,156 3,804,507 1822/3 10,053,000 20,415,000 5,219,380 3,526,382

TOTAL

20,599,179

18,450,701 16,916,674

20,205,087 20,502,587 19,714,638

21,945,729 18,836,042

18,746,902 14,947,265

24,970,303 16,039,705

24,961,898 26,677,647

28,168,666 30,728,728 35,487,691 29,344,633

37,322,125 39,718,706

45,581,667 43,312,057 43,257,764 42,780,840

52,895,841

36,559,746 33,497,171 38,466,289 35,676,908

40,328,238 37,767,077 35,491,131

37,432,315 42,988,621 43,270,370 39,049,727 40,901,442 43,904,382

37,067,859 36,846,971 31,392,845 35,787,671

38,994,381

42,964,064 43,383,782 45,617,854 56,084,495 50,805,586 37,464,277 43,507,928

49,414,725 46,464,363

Source : Dublin Customs Records, N.L.I., Mss. 353-376.



Documents

The Drogheda Textile Industry, 1780-1820