The linen industry

One of the biggest industries in Ulster in the 18th century was the linen industry. Linen is a fabric made from a plant called "flax". The stem of the flax plant contains fibres which are soft, strong and flexible. These fibres are extracted from the plant and woven to create fabric.

The use of flax to make linen goes back at least 5000 years. Though linen had been produced in Ireland for many years it was not until the late 17th century that it began to be produced on a large scale. Huguenot immigrants to Ulster brought with them the skills to turn it into an industry.

Towns across Cavan held fairs and markets on different days of the year. These fairs and markets became important trading occasions for the linen industry.

By the end of the 18th century Cootehill had emerged as the most important market in the country. Buyers came from as far afield as Belfast, Dublin and even London. As a result, the town attracted the most skilled flax spinners and weavers from across Ulster.

Most of the farmers in the county were tenants with small plots of land. Growing flax and spinning and weaving it was more profitable than other forms of farming. Most farmers were involved in the linen trade.

Until the 1830s the linen industry in Cavan was a cottage industry. In the 1830s spinning and weaving were transferred to the big linen mills in the Lagan Valley. Farmers turned to tillage and dairy farming and many skilled spinners and weavers emigrated. The great linen markets in Cootehill and other towns were replaced with cattle and corn markets.