The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-04-29
THE WOMEN OF IRELAND.
A Glimpse of Them at Work in Their
Own Green Isle.

1t has been said that life in Ireland.
barring the famine and poverty, which
are not always prevalent everywhere, is
as nearly ideal as-it is possible to find
| in this world. That is perhaps why the
heart of the Irish emigrant, no matter
where he makes his home or how pros
porous he finds the world, goes back
with such passionate yearning to the
dear green isle where he spent his child
| hood days.
Persons in this country have little
knowledge at most of the life of Irish
women in their native isle and what
| idea they do have is not an attractive
| one; yet the life of Irish women is real
| ly very picturesque, and although they
are poor they are not often in want,
! and they lead happy, contented lives,
working at something always and joy
Gus over life itself.
Nowadays all Irish girls are .edu-
Gated; even the poorest attend school
! long enough to learn to read and write,
there being two school terms-one from
! May till Sept. l., and the other from
! November till March-and for this rea-
| son the young Irish woman is an intel
| ligent person. and reads and broadens
! her knowledge of the world as eagerly
as do girls of other races.
! Ireland is such green. sweet spot
that one could not be a native-born
there and not rejoice in the loveliness
of the land, and the girls and young
women are frequently as beautiful as
their native moors. They are fresh
and blooming, with shining eyes and
strong, white teeth. They live out of
doors three-quarters of the year, and
are strong and healthy in consequence.
There are many industries which oc
cupE the time of the modern Irish
woman, and let it be said to her credit
that whatever she does she does ex-
ceedingly well. and whatever is sent to
the worlds markets by the daughter
of ireland is the best of its sort.
The most charming industry is that
of sprigging.' This is embroidering
on linen and cotton in the most deli
cate and beautiful fashion, for lin
gerie. handkerchiefs and gowns. The
girls learn "sprigging in the converts
and are as skillful at it as the French.
Although "sprfgging" is the most
difficult hand work, the pay is exceed |
ing small, from IS to 25 cents a day
being the return for their labOrS. And
this is not all. for the worker, has to /
travel miles usually to get the work to !
do, and to return itwhen finished; but |
the young Irish woman is accustomed I
to walking many miles, and she never !
thinks of complaining about the dis
tanCe to the village
Although girls and women. "sprig' !
ali summer if they have nothing else |
10 do. it is usually looked upon as a !
winter industry, for then nothing can
be done out of doors Much enjoyment |
is got out of this work in winter for
instead of working at home, each by i
herself, the "spriggers" gather at one
anotheT's houses. and these gatherings
are called "sprigging camps" After
supper the girls and young women from
all about gather at certain house, car
rying their work and stools with them.
There is much fun and jollity, for the
Irish women is always merry and her
wit is famous the world over.
At II O'Clock the 'spriggers' fold up
their work and go to their homes. each
having some young man call for her to
shoulder her stool and to see her safely
home, and many happy marriage is
the result of winters "sprigging
camp
The spinning wheel and the fax
wheel are still found in the Irish cot
tages, and many a girl has her we'd
ding dowry of linen and homespun
made at home, and, although it is a
task pursued more by the older Irish
women, there are girls who still do
their spinning stint and lay by a GER
tain amount for their wedding outfit.
1t ssa pleasant sight to see elderly
Irish women outside their cottage doors
spinning flax or wool, for as long as
the weather is warm the Irish woman,
old or young, -scorns a roof except to
sleep under: the free air and sunshine
are her choice.
There is still an excellent market in
Dublin and London for homespun and
woven goods, and many women of the
nobility of late have done much to re-
store the industries of Ireland to their 1
former place and they wear gowns of
homespun wool and lingerie made in
the cottages of Ireland.
When the spring time comes or
ware" the "shinetilne." as they put
il in the Irish tongue. many of the girls
and young women go into the fields and
hslp with the planting, task in which +
they delight as they do only the light ,
est part of the work, and they are out
II the glorious ware" weather which is
so much to them. /
Later, the haying time takes these
same girls into the fields and they, rake J
and stack the hay, tasks in which the
children assist if they are not in school,
and the hay days are happy days which !
irish maidens hail with delight, for the
midday meal is eaten in the field and {
he whole day spent there /
Some of the girls cut the corn and ! |
use the sickle with great skill, and the
corn harvest comes later than the hay |
and the soft July and August t
lays find many a blooming Irish lass {
IN the fields. ,
The older Irish women still go to !
market with the vegetables in baskets !
1n their backs to sell the produce of ]
heir little farms. and they look ex- t
-remely picturesque with their merry, /
Iuizzical old faces and fresh clean /
aprons. :
The fisherwomen, too, are to be seen i
With their baskets full of the catch of /
he men folk. if they live by the ssa. /
But these are of the generation that /
s passing, and they still scorn hats and /
year shawls and short skirts, while the g
younger women and the girls dress in h
he mode of other women of the world e
aking pride in having their gowns cut '
md fashioned in modern style. c
To see the girls with their baskets of