I have bitten the bullet and started a gmail account. I was hoping not to complicate my life with more email accounts, but instead it seems that I have complicated other people's lives, so that isn't really fair. Brenda writes<< Irish crochet only developed in the mid nineteenth century - to loosely imitate other laces and to provide a small income to those who had not starved to death or emigrated because of the potato famine. It�s a fairly recent tradition in just one area of the �Celtic� region, though it may, or may not, have been introduced to Ireland bu nuns from Spain.>> I would suggest that many or most of the folkloric activities at US ethnic festivals have their origins in the 19th century. For instance, Irish step dancing which is present in abundance in US Celtic festivals is thus described in Wikepedia. <<Professor Margaret Scanlan, author of *Culture and customs of Ireland*, points out that the earliest *feis* or stepdancing competition dates no earlier than 1897, and states: "Although the *feis* rhetoric suggests that the rules [for international stepdancing competitions] derive from an ancient past, set dances are a product of modern times".[2] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stepdance#cite_note-2> There are many styles of stepdancing in Ireland (such as the Connemara style stepdancing), but the style most familiar is the Munster, or southern, form, which has been formalised by An Coimisiún le Rincà Gaelacha (English: The Gaelic Dancing Commission), which first met in 1930. The Commission (abbreviated as CLRG), was formed from a directorate of the Gaelic League <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_League> that was formed during the Gaelic Revival <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_Revival> and codified the modern rules.>> Also, although Sally specifically asked about non-Irish Celtic laces (so my suggestion of Irish crochet it off point) there is not a large immigrant population of Spanish Celts or Celts from Brittany in the US turning out at heritage festivals. Said Irish potato famine, and the disappointing profitability of Irish crochet as a livelihood resulted in a huge number of Irish immigrants in the US and their numerous descendants are about to dye their beer green and take to the streets in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. (My husband's grandmother was almost a third Irish.) Interestingly, people from Ireland travel to New York to attend the St. Patrick's Day parade because, as I am told, it is a more festive parade than those held in Ireland. Maire Treanor makes frequent sweeps through the US visiting Crochet groups and Irish heritage groups in equal number to teach Irish crochet and my understanding is that she is well-received as a transmitter of an important cultural heritage. So, I think a demo of Irish crochet would probably be well aligned with the spirit of a US Celtic festival. But, again, authenticity is not the only criteria for outdoors lace demonstration. My suspicion is that Sally was asking about bobbin lace in other Celtic regions because she specifically does not want to be crocheting a shamrock in the hot sun. It is nice to work with bobbins in field conditions because the hand sweating problem which can discolor the lace is not an issue. Whatever she decides to do, I hope Sally will send me a picture of her demonstration for the IOLI facebook page! Devon
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