Bücher von Kathleen Rankin

The Linen Houses of County Antrim & North County Down provides an illustrated and informed commentary on the major linen families and their magnificent houses in County Antrim and north County Down. The images - exterior views of the actual houses, interior scenes of the stately rooms and portraits of their owners, many selected from private collections of the families themselves - present tantalising and poignant glimpses of a bygone age, when Belfast was justifiably known as 'Linenopolis'. By the late nineteenth century Belfast had developed into one of the great industrial cities in the British Isles. Much of this new found wealth was based on the manufacture of linen. The opulent lifestyle that came to be so characteristic of the great linen barons is reflected perhaps best of all in the houses they built. Many travelled from their imposing mansions in south east County Antrim, and in north County Down on the new railways which converged in Belfast. Others, particularly bleachers, lived in equally resplendent houses near the linen works they had already established, particularly on the Six Mile Water, and on the River Maine in County Antrim. Significant linen spinning mills existed in Comber, County Down, and Mossley, County Antrim, where their owners lived adjacent to their works.

By the late nineteenth century, Belfast had developed into one of the great industrial cities in the Empire. Much of this new-found wealth was based on the manufacture of linen, principally in both the Lagan Valley and the Bann Valley. The River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, flowing for eighty miles from the Mourne Mountains and eventually entering the sea north of Coleraine.The water power of the River Bann was a significant factor leading to the early establishment of the linen industry in the rich farmland around Banbridge and Gilford. Portadown also had a considerable linen industry, along with the famed excellence of early hand loom weaving around Lurgan. Many of the linen barons lived in resplendent houses near the linen works they had already established close to the River Bann.The Linen Houses of the Bann Valley provides an illustrated and informed commentary on the major linen families and the magnificent houses they lived in along the Bann Valley in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The images - exterior views of the actual houses, interior scenes of the stately rooms and portraits of their owners, many selected from private collections of the families themselves - present tantalising and poignant glimpses of a bygone age.

By the late 19th century, Belfast had developed into one of the great industrial cities of the Empire. Much of this new-found wealth was based on the manufacture of linen. The opulent lifestyle that came to be so characteristic of the great linen barons is reflected perhaps best of all in the houses they built. Many travelled from their imposing mansions in the Lagan Valley into the city on the new Great Northern Railway. Others lived in equally resplendent houses near the linen works they had already established on the River Lagan. This book provides an illustrated and informed commentary on the major linen families and the magnificent houses they built along the Lagan Valley. The images-exterior views of the actual houses, interior scenes of the stately rooms and portraits of the families themselves-present tantalising and poignant glimpses of a bygone age, when Belfast was justifiable know as "Linenopolis."