placenamesBorris
An Bhuiríos
A former school and the changing fortunes of Borris lace offer two views of education, skilled work and community life in the Carlow district.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Bhuiríos · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Borris · English · main form
Place & story
The school behind the library name
The building listed as Borris Library in the architectural inventory began as a school dated 1832. Its Tudor Revival design rises over a basement, with projecting porches and stone detailing. A renovation around 1899 added a dressed-stone bell tower and corner finials, showing that the conspicuous features belong to more than one building campaign. [2]
When lace became harder to sell
Historian Helen Doyle identifies the First World War as the beginning of Borris lace’s commercial decline. Materials became more expensive, labour was harder to obtain, and other jobs offered better wages. Competition from manufactured lace added another pressure. The difficulties concerned the economics of skilled domestic work as well as changing fashion, helping explain why an established local industry could struggle to sustain its makers. [3]
Attempts to pass on the craft
Doyle records unsuccessful revival efforts through Irish Countrywomen’s Association classes during the 1980s and 1990s. Another opportunity came in 2016 when Australian lacemaker Marie Laurie, who had been cataloguing the Borris House collection, offered workshops. These brought participants together as Borris Lacemakers, linking practical teaching to the study of surviving lace rather than relying solely on inherited family knowledge. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Borris. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Borris Library, record 10400827, Carlow survey search page 15 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- The story of Irish lace is adding a new chapter in Borris · Helen Doyle, Department of History, Maynooth University; originally RTÉ Brainstorm
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.