Dressing Dublin: Made in Blackrock

An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Jim Gildea launched a new film and exhibition exploring an often-overlooked part of Dublin’s dress and social history.

Dressing Dublin: Made in Blackrock, focuses on Brookfield Terrace and Carysfort Avenue and its former clothing and textile industry. From Glen Abbey Textiles to “The Rock” hosiery factory, the fascinating stories of this local industry are told through the memories of former employees in an exhibition in dlr LexIcon (14-23 February) and Blackrock Library (24 February-9 March). A new 30-minute film on the evolution of the factories, with interviews and archival footage, is available on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Couty Council’s Youtube channel. The project, led by historian, Laura Fitzachary, also explores how this former hub of Irish clothing production was a microcosm of a wider national and international tale of how the clothing industry developed in Ireland from the 1930s until its decline in the 1980s.  

An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Jim Gildea said:

“The great project exploring a lesser-known part of the County’s industrial and social heritage is an outcome of the dlr County Heritage Plan’s ambition to platform untold local stories, support creative approaches to heritage and the learning of traditional skills.”

The project has been funded by the Heritage Council, Creative Ireland and the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and also included free sewing machine workshops for adults and children led by Barbara Connolly.