SNIPPET: Though Ireland has long been famous for the quality of her fine linen, it was really Sybil CONNOLLY, who first put it on the map of 20th century fashion when Jackie KENNEDY posed for White House portrait wearing one of CONNOLLY's famous pleated linen skirts. Years later, Paul COSTELLOE was to take household linen teaclothes (completeowith stripes down the side) and common Irish handkerchief material, and turn them into alluring dresses that women across the world wanted to buy. He became known for his delicate dresses, tailored jackets, beautifully cut blouses, a very sophisticated homespun look. Princess Diana was one of his regular customers. Working closely with Irish weavers, COSTELLOE's pioneering and skilful use of linen has set him alongside some of the world leaders of the fashion industry. Some background -- Wallace CLARK is the author of "Linen on the Green, an Irish Mill Village, 1738-1982," published in 1983. It is the history of his CLARK family's linen business, Upperlands, near Maghera, Co. Londonderry. CLARK is also the author of books on sailing, the Ulster Special Constabulary, etc. In the July-Aug 1989 issue of Dubln's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine, CLARK wrote, "Linen is the oldest and most beautiful of all fabrics. Traces of it have been found in 8,000 year-old Swiss lake dwellings, and 5,000 years ago the mummies of Egyptian rulers were wrapped in linen as sheer as any cloth produced today. The samples that survive are like gossamer - an astounding 200 threads per inch - you can see your hand through it. The early inhabitants of Ireland were growing flax long before the birth of Christ. And while their cousins across the water itched and scratched at work in coarse woollen shirts, Irishmen were quietly enjoying the luxury of linen next to the skin. For the next millennium or two, the Irish had the good sense to keep linen to themselves, and in the meantime, learn a bit about producing wool. It was not until 1700, when the export of wool to England was banned, that the Irish set about selling their secret overseas. They invented beetling! engines to flatten linen and produce its prized sheen. By harnessing the dashing Irish streams to drive them, they gained a 600% lead in productivity. And they used the soft Irish atmosphere to put a finish on linen that has never yet been matched." Pictured in the article are beautiful swatches in a variety of colours and textures, samples form the Belfast company, Spence BRYSON, which had been producing linen for over a century at the time of the article. Shown also is one of a series of fine engravings by William HINCKS, entitled 'Spinning, Reeling with the Cotton Reel and Boiling the yarn,' in Co. Down in 1783. Per Mr. CLARK -- "As the know-how about linen-weaving flowed out from Ireland, the Irish were shrewd enough to learn the techniques from others. Before long, they had learned about weaving damask patterns from French Huguenots - the original idea came from Damascus. At the same time, big-handed Irish weavers sailed to Holland 'to train,' and pinch from the Dutch the secrets of bleaching, but not of power processing. The Low Countries were so flat that their rivers had scarcely enough fall to drive water-wheels. Quality control was draconian. Death was the penalty for anyone caught bleaching linen by using lime - it might weaken the cloth and spoil the good name of the trade. Exports soared from 500,000 yards in 1705 to 40 million by 1810 - all of it spun and woven by hand. Already, there were 150,000 handloom weavers in Ireland - it took four spinners (spinsters if you like ) to keep a weaver supplied. So if you count those those who 'wrought' at digging the turf that was needed to boil all that cloth before bleaching, as well as the beetlers, carters and general labourers, linen kept well over a million souls employed. After 1820, times grew leaner, as cotton came in to replace linen in some markets. And then, mechanical spinning and weaving of linen slowly and cruelly made it impossible for cottage workers to compete. Those who tried to, worked longer and longer hours, for less and less reward. Many simply died in the attempt. Looking back it was inevitable." Per the author, writing in 1989 -- "In 1865, when the Americans became too busy fighting each other in the Civil War to make any cotton, Ireland exported her heart out -- 250 million yards of apparel linen, a figure never since matched. There has never been enough flax grown in Ireland to supply the trade. But nor, if it comes to that, have you ever seen cotton growing in Lancashire. Even the Scots now weave much of their tartan from cotton grown on the bonny, bonny banks of the Nile. So now we let the French and Belgians do the dirty work, pulling the plant up by the roots (the best fibre is near the bottom) and steeping it in water for a fortnight to rot the outer husk (oh, how it stinks), allowing them to get at the fibre inside the thin green stems. They then ship it to us to be spun, woven, bleached and dyed in the unpolluted Irish air. 1914 was high noon for Irish linen in size and influence. Of 100,000 linen craftsmen in the UK, 70,000 were in Ireland driving a million spindles and 37,000 looms. Belfast handled a third of the world's flax - the mood of its buyers could make or break world prices. Between the wars, though, and particularly after 1945, artificial fibres arrived to capture huge chunks of the market." Of the 250 Irish linen houses that were trading in 1920, scarcely 20 were in business in 1989. "Happily, some of the oldest have survived - CLARKS of Upperlands, bleaching since 1736, and ANDREWS of Comber, spinning for over 200 years, each of them in the hands of one family throughout ... On quality, linen is unmatched, it looks lovely, it is strong, resistant to mildew, moths and abrasion, and it won't stretch. The tiny nodes on every fibre give it a distinctive appearance and a capacity to absorb water ... without 'feeling wet' and allows it to evaporate quickly, hence its superiority for tea towels and equally for garments. Its smooth fibres caress.the skin .... " Curiously, it is also a good cold weather fabric, per Clark, weight for weight it is a highly effective insular. "Crush? Sure it crushes - it wouldn't take such a good crease if it didn't. Some people like it crumpled. It shows the world they are chic enough to wear linen ... If you mut have easy-care! fabric, go for blends or laminates. The Italians, Belgians and now even the Chinese may be producing more cloth than we do (in 1989). But the Irish linen trade, like Ireland itself, remains first in quality if not in size." Please read about developments in the last few years.