Dun Emer Guild and Dun Emer Industries

Dun Emer Guild embroidery of St Patrick. Dun Emer Guild embroidery of St Patrick.

The Dun Emer Guild and the Dun Emer Industries were two Irish companies based in Dundrum, Ireland. They were at the forefront of the Celtic Revival of the early twentieth century and the use of Celtic Revival designs for embroidery. The initial company, Dun Emer Guild, was set up in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson (1855-1944) and two sisters, Lily Yeats (1866-1949) and Elizabeth Yeats (1868-1940).

The Guild was an arts and crafts co-operative, which was run by women and only employed women. At first, the Guild was divided into three sections, namely, a printing press (Dun Emer Press; managed by Elizabeth Yeats), the weaving of rugs and tapestries (run by Evelyn Gleeson), and the production of embroidery (supervised by Lily Yeats).

By 1904 the relations between Gleeson and the Yeats sisters had become strained and so it was decided to divide Dun Emer into two, namely the Dun Emer Guild (which specialised in weaving; run by Evelyn Gleeson) and the Dun Emer Industries (run by the Yeats sisters and including embroidery and printing).

In 1908 the Yeats sisters set up their own business called Cuala Industries, in nearby Churchtown. Evelyn Gleeson continued to run Dun Emer Guild until her death in 1944.

Digital sources:

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 21 March 2017).

GVE

Last modified on Tuesday, 21 March 2017 19:22
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