Support our work
Support the Linen Workers CIC
Northern Ireland's linen heritage nearly disappeared. The skills, the machines, the knowledge of how to turn a flax plant into finished cloth, all of it came within a generation of being lost forever.
Let's bring it back...
The machines have a story
Rescued from dereliction
In 2022, Mario Sierra of Mourne Textiles was on the hunt for looms and stumbled across a heritage wet spinning line in an old mill. The roof was falling in, Mario couldn't bear to leave the machinery to rot. With Charlie Mallon, he hired lifting gear, rescued the machines from dereliction and kept them safe in a rented warehouse.
In 2023, Mario launched the Fibre to Fabric crowdfunder. 569 people responded, raising £41,924, enough to begin conservation work on the Atherton loom and the wet spinning frame which is very close to completion. That would allow us to spin bought-in roving but to get to the full supply chain from field to fabric we have 8 more machines to restore. Recognising that collaboration is the key to bringing linen production back we formed Linen Workers CIC.
Linen Workers is a non-profit community interest company. The machines are on loan to the CIC for as long as we want to have them, so the mill will be operated by the CIC and all profits will be re-invested restoration of the machinery and skills of linen growing and processing. They are housed at Hillmount in Cullybackey, a bleach green and finishing works that has been part of the linen story since 1710, where we will continue the work of restoring them to full working order.
What we're doing now
The restoration programme
With support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we plan to finish restoring the complete processing line; from the scutcher (already working but in need of a little TLC), hecklers spreader, roving frame, doubler, wet ring spinning frame and hank winder. More importantly we will build a Living Heritage Programme so the public can see them working, learn the skills, and understand what was nearly lost.
Linen Workers CIC is a Community Interest Company. Every penny we raise goes directly into the work. We don't pay directors. We don't distribute profits. Everything is locked in for community benefit.
Your donation helps us
- Complete the machine restoration
- Train volunteers in heritage machinery skills
- Open the mill to schools, community groups and visitors
- Keep the linen story alive for future generations
Donations of any size are welcome
and genuinely make a difference
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