Belleek Pottery facts for kids
Belleek Pottery Ltd is a famous company that makes beautiful porcelain items. It started way back in 1884. The company is located in a town called Belleek in County Fermanagh, which is now part of Northern Ireland. Belleek Pottery is known for making a special type of porcelain called Parian ware. This pottery is very thin and has a shiny, almost rainbow-like surface.
The Story of Belleek Pottery
The idea for pottery in the Belleek area began around 1849. A man named John Caldwell Bloomfield took over his family's land. He wanted to help the people living there find jobs. Many had been affected by the Great Famine, a time of great hunger in Ireland.
John Bloomfield was also interested in minerals. He had his land checked for valuable rocks. They found that the area had many useful minerals. So, Bloomfield teamed up with Robert Williams Armstrong, an architect from London, and David McBirney, a merchant from Dublin.
To help the pottery business, Bloomfield even arranged for a railway line to be built to Belleek. This made it easy to bring in coal to heat the kilns, which are like big ovens for firing pottery.
Building the pottery factory started in 1858. At first, they made everyday items for homes. But by 1863, they successfully created small amounts of the special Parian ware. This is the pottery Belleek is still famous for today. By 1865, the company was very well-known. They sold their pottery in places like Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, and the United States. Even important people like the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria, and other nobility bought their beautiful pieces.
An artist and poet named Eugene Sheerin worked at Belleek Pottery in the late 1800s. One of his paintings, "Innocence" (from 1879), was reproduced on a Belleek dish. You can see this dish at the Royal Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
New Owners and Challenges
By 1884, the original owners of Belleek Pottery had all passed away. A group of local investors bought the company. They renamed it Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltd. In 1893, a skilled craftsman named Frederick Slater moved from England to Belleek. By 1920, making high-quality porcelain became the main focus of the business.
The company faced tough times during the First World War and the Second World War. During these periods, they focused on making earthenware, which is a simpler type of pottery.
After the Second World War, Belleek Pottery stopped making earthenware. From 1952 onwards, they started changing their kilns from coal-fired to electric-powered. This was a big step forward!
In 1983, a group called the Industrial Development Board helped the company with money. They also brought in Roger Troughton as the new Managing Director. The next year, Troughton successfully bought the company himself. In 1988, a company called Powerscreen International, based in Dungannon, bought Belleek Pottery. They opened a visitor centre the following year, where people could come and see how the pottery was made.
Belleek Pottery Today
The company changed owners again in 1990. Today, George G. Moore, who was born in Dundalk but lives in the US, owns the company. However, it is managed locally by four directors.
Since 1990, Belleek Pottery has grown a lot. They have made their factory bigger and bought other companies. These include Galway Crystal, Aynsley China, and Donegal Parian China. The company now employs more than six hundred people. They also have a yearly income of about £30 million.
According to their own website, Belleek Pottery makes over 100,000 pieces of pottery every year!
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