Killarney Furniture Industries

Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland; cabinet makers (fl.1895-1914)

By the 1870s furniture manufacturing in Killarney began a slow decline. Some new enterprises were set up, and an inlaid arbutus wood cabinet was shown in 1895 at the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland’s Exhibition in Dublin with the encouraging remark that this was an example ‘of an old industry which was showing gratifying signs of a modern revival at the same place’. One of the supporters of this revival was the Countess of Kenmare who formed a class for drawing and wood carving in the town. This developed into The Killarney School of Arts and Crafts opened in 1895. The Earl of Kenmare provided a house which was fitted up as a permanent school under a ‘master engaged from London’. Anton Lang, a German carver from Oberammergau, was invited by Lady Kenmare and stayed for ten months and subsequently taught at Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Tools donated to the School included a turning lathe and a circular saw. By 1897, 12 men and boys were regularly employed at the School and evening classes attracted an enrolment of 20. Local craftsmen were trained to produce carved screens, beds, tea trays, frames, lamp stands and tables. Goods were marketed under the name ‘Killarney Furniture Industries’. Furniture was displayed at the 1898 and 1901 Glasgow International Exhibitions and at the Cork International Exhibition in 1902. A carved crucifix was included in the arts and crafts section of the Irish International Exhibition in Dublin in 1907 and displays at the 1914 St. Louis World Fair included a carved oak bedstead, two chairs, a settee, gilt candlesticks and sconces and a fire screen and mirror. Apart from larger items, a green letter-box and casket were made for the Earl of Mayo by 1901. Lord Mayo was a founder of the Irish Society and a promoter in print ‘of useful and serviceable furniture displaying originality of design’ and ‘simplicity and excellence in construction’. 

Sources: Irish Arts Review Yearbook, Vol 12 (1996), pp. 45-55; Austen, Tunbridge Ware and Related European Woodwares (2001), pp. 185-88.