Stockings For Sale

During the late 19th Century, the Rosses were celebrated for knitting woollen stockings. Women of Doochary were deft knitters, often stitching as they walked – as this photo (above), installed in a derelict white cottage near to the bridge, demonstrates. They sold their ‘piece work’ to Kennedy of Ardara. The business owner could show them a finished garment and the women could calculate stitches and design without any need for a pattern. Kennedy of Ardara then sold the work on to USA. This skilled craft work boosted the income of local families.

Before the Gweebarra Bridge was constructed at Lettermacaward in the late nineteenth century, women of Dungloe risked their lives as they tried to make their way to the market at Glenties with their knitted goods. Every fortnight, they left their homes at dawn to make the long walk to Glenties. In his novel The Rat-Pit, author Patrick MacGill describes how the women waited for low tide before traversing Gweebarra Estuary in great terror, with their knitting held high over their heads and their skirts tucked up as they waded into the icy water.