>>> The art >>> of wire-drawing does not appear to have been known until the 14th >>> century, >>> and it was not introduced into England before the second half of the >>> 17th
This may be true, but that doesn't say anything about Ireland, and even if there is documentation about how and when it all happened in England, that doesn't mean that it didn't happen somewhere else, possibly using different techniques. Plus, if Ireland, or anywhere else for that matter, was primarily an oral culture, and/or the operation was considered sacred or secret or reserved for any reason (or unimportant or common knowledge), that could explain why no documentation has been found. Anyway, besides a certain anglo-centric point of view, the key point in this passage, for me, is "does not appear", which is a much more concise way of saying what I've just said... To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
