Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, and Kate Middleton all wore Carrickmacross Lace. Will Irish American US star Markle?
The Irish connection with royal weddings has been a long and distinguished one with Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, and more recently Kate Middleton all using Carrickmacross Lace in their wedding dresses. The big question on everyone's lips seems to be whether Megan Markle, who is set to marry Prince Harry, will follow in the footsteps of her predecessors and use the much-vaunted Irish lace?
Kate Middleton's fabulous wedding dress.
The lace itself originates from the border town of Carrickmacross, in County Monaghan, and was first crafted in 1820. Legend has it that the lace was established by a lady called Mrs Grey Porter who was the wife of the rector of Donaghmoyne. Traditionally, it was said that the lace was made by poor people for rich people but with the passage of time things have changed with the embroidered fabric being available to people from all classes and creeds.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles on their wedding day.
The unique style of the lace is passed on from one generation to the next, with some people taking up to a lifetime to master the craft. In recent years some of the most pre-eminent designers in the world have begun using the Irish technique, designers such as the late Alexander McQueen.
During the making of Kate Middleton’s dress the people making it had to change the needles every three minutes and the wash their hands every 30 minutes to prevent any discoloring of the dress. The arduous process is time consuming and lengthy but obviously the standard is so high that its fit for royalty.
Queen Victoria and Princess Victoria.
In Kate Middleton’s dress individual flowers where hand cut into the dress and then incorporated into a design that included, the shamrock, the rose, a thistle and a daffodil.
Whether Megan Markle uses Carrickmacross Lace remains to be seen but would you really want to bet against the royal tradition of using the master Irish lace making technique?
Read more: Turns out Prince Harry’s Meghan Markle is a Galway girl after all
You can read more from Seamus Hanratty at www.secretireland.ie/secretireland and contentwriterireland.ie.
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