A Brief History of Belleek Pottery by V.W. Bro. Jim Wilson

Belleek Pottery

Major Bloomfield of Redwood, Tipperary married one of the daughters of the second Sir John Caldwell of Castlecaldwell Estate in which the village of Belleek lies.

Castlecaldwell

Castlecaldwell

Therefore Major Bloomfield inherited the estate, and on his death, his son John Caldwell Bloomfield took over the estate. J. C. Bloomfield was an amateur mineralogist and he ordered a geological survey of his land.

He had noticed the lustre of the whitewashed cottages in the area. On investigation, he discovered that the householders used a mixture of a local rock substance known as feldspar and china clay. The survey he had ordered discovered that the land he owned could also provide other raw materials such as Kaolin, flint, shale which could be used to make pottery. This discovery delighted him, as he had seen the effects of the famine on his tenants and he wanted to find an alternative form of employment.

Whitewashed cottage

Whitewashed Cottage

It is thought that J.C. Bloomfield brought a bag of Castlecaldwell clay to a china shop in Dublin to have it analysed. The shop was owned by a Mr W.H Kerr, an Irishman of the Royal Porcelain works in Worchester, England. Kerr employed an architect called Robert Williams Armstrong who was also a self-taught ceramics expert and inventor.

Armstrong encouraged Kerr by making trial pieces, in the meantime, J.C. Bloomfield had the ambition to found a pottery around Belleek, so he attended the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. He was impressed by what he saw there. He also lobbied to have a railway track to Belleek.

J. C. Bloomfield

J. C. Bloomfield

However Bloomfield and Armstrong must have met at sometime and it was Armstrong who interested David McBirnie, a wealthy Dublin merchant in pottery making. The two of them went to Worchester, where W.H. Keer helped in evaluating the Castlecaldwell materials by making trial pieces, which must have been successful.

It would appear that Bloomfield, Armstrong & McBirnie discussed the project, which resulted in McBirnie providing most of the capital, -£60,000, with Bloomfield investing £4700. It is reputed that neither men got any return on their capital.

R. W. Armstrong

R. W. Armstrong

Bloomfield then chose an area of land known as Rose Isle in Belleek close to the river to build the factory, as the river could be harnessed to power the water wheel. This wheel had to be large enough to give power to the machines to grind the raw materials into slip - liquid potter's clay. The water wheel, known as a Fairbairn wheel was installed by Mortimer Bros, wheelwrights of Derrylin Co. Fermanagh.

Fairbairn wheel

Fairbairn wheel

The foundation stone for Belleek Pottery was laid by Mrs J.C. Bloomfield on Thursday 18th Nov 1858, and on that day the gentry, workmen and inhabitants adjourned to a substantial dinner. During the evening the celebration continued with lighted tar barrels.

Mrs Annie Armstrong

Mrs Annie Armstrong

Even though capable men and apprentices were recruited locally, Armstrong knew that the success of the pottery would depend on talented and experienced potters.

In view of this he travelled to England and offered high wages to 14 craftsmen to join the company. Houses were built for them and today are known as Rathmore Terrace. In the early years, Belleek Pottery made high quality domestic ware such as wash stands, hospital pans, floor tiles, table ware etc. However Armstrong & McBirnie wanted to make Parian. Their early attempts failed. It was not until 1863 that a small amount of Parian was produced.

In 1865 the Pottery had established a growing market throughout Ireland, England and began exporting pieces to the United States of America, Canada and Australia. Orders were received from Queen Victoria, The Prince of Wales and the nobility. A display of china was for the first time displayed it Dublin, which was the largest ever seen.

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