Kerry Linen

The chief manufacture, that of coarse linens, is nearly confined to the barony of Corkaguiney, where it was formerly much more extensive than at present; and the word "Dingle," impressed upon the cloth, procured for it a ready sale at foreign markets. The flax is uniformly raised on potatoe soil, and yields abundantly; latterly, since attention has been paid to saving the seed, half the quantity of imported seed is found to be sufficient. The kind of linen most in demand was known by the name of "Box-and-trip," and owed its character to the careful method of preparing the yarn; but the sale has latterly declined, in consequence of the inferior method of manufacture: it is wrought in pieces from 140 to 200 yards in length. Another kind of linen is also made here, called Bandle linen, from being of the width of fourteen inches, which makes the measure called a bandle: both sorts were in much demand, as well for domestic consumption as for the army and navy. The woollen manufacture is carried on for domestic purposes only; all the wool being sent to Cork or Limerick, where it is purchased and made up into cloth. The Coomduffe mountains form an exception to this remark, for the tenants there pay their rent by flannels, which are sold at the markets of Tralee and Dingle.