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The Linen Hall

Clonakilty
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This building was Clonakilty's Linen Hall. The linen industry flourished in Clonakilty form the 1740's and considerable quantities of coarse linen yarn were sold at the Friday markets. The Earl of Shannon erected this spacious linen hall to accommodate the dealers. It is recorded that on Friday January 31st 1817, Peter Besnard, Inspector General for Trade and Manufacture of Linen and Hemp, visited the linen market at Clonakilty and laid out a place for this linen hall. It was attended by a sworn salesman and three deputies by whom all the cloth brought to the hall was measured and marked. From the early 1829's the industry increased considerable and upwards of ten thousand persons were employed in the various processes of the manufacture in the town and surrounding district. The linens were then brought for sale at the public market