Crafts
Connie McEvoy recalls meeting a celebrated Kindergarten teacher
A Visitor from Trinidad While relaxing and amusing myself on Facebook on Wednesday night June 9th 2021 by listening to the music of Hauser, Luka Sulic and Andre Rieu as well as the music that comes my way on a regular basis courtesy of John Low the following notice attracted my attention, it read as follows;
son Jerome, I was in a position to while away many hours on my compute didn’t involve cryptic cross words.
I have included the photo that was taken in the walled garden of Mrs Alle hostesses for that day dressed in our Sunday best with the onions and the W. W. pin plus machine embroidered handkerchiefs. Also a photo of the Mountmellick Work table mat plus pattern/design together with working instructions that I worked on then. Also a photo copy + information re (M Lily Jones), and a photo that was taken on the day of Mrs Allen’s departu from An Grianan.
I.C.A. June 7th A.C.W.W. Rural Women in action. Tomorrow June 8th is World Oceans day. At the 2019 Triennial World conference in Melbourne, A.C.W. W. members voted to accept a resolution on our shared marine environment. This resolution states ‘Be it resolved member societies of A.C.W.W. request their governments and industries to take urgent action, as appropriate, to ensure the wise use and protection of the shared marine environment, to protect the sustainability of coral reefs and fish stocks for future generations’. This is not the first resolution of its kind from A.C.W.W. members. In fact we’ve been passing resolutions on protecting and preserving the environment since 1953. Right away I found myself in a reflective mood, searched some of my old diaries and photo albums and here is the result. On Easter Monday 1962 as a live- in member of staff at An Grianan I had arrived back from home together with other staff members after our Easter holidays, as about 50 students would be arriving to start various 5 day courses that evening also between 7.30 to 9.30 pm everything would have to be organised so as things would run smoothly as expected by tutors and students. Confident that all was well after high tea was served I decided to spend some time relaxing in the drawing room listening to classical music while doing some Mountmellick work before retiring for the night having left home that day at 8am. I was feeling so relaxed and happy in my home from home though, until board member Muriel Kehoe and President of Louth ICA Federation Mrs Stafford arrived in the drawing room announcing Connie we have a pleasant surprise for you and introduced a lady I had never seen or heard of before, we would like you to meet a Kindergarten teacher Mrs Elmina Allen from Trinidad! Mrs Stafford went on to explain that this lady was going to be staying with us for five months. Mrs Allen was smiling as she shook my hand and said hello but she
was looking at the little table mat that I was working on before asking why I only used thick white thread on heavy white fabric and a motif of leaves without flowers, after giving a brief but adequate explanation I asked why she had come such a distance to stay with us. Muriel Kehoe arranged for the four of us to have tea, currant bread, freshly made country butter and blackcurrant jam for supper while I was being informed as follows; At the Ninth Triennial Conference of the Associated Country-women of the World held in Edinburgh in 1959 the Lady Aberdeen Scholarship scheme was established- its purpose, to train women in Home Economics, Nutrition and Rural Community Welfare. Subsequently the Irish Countrywomen’s Association offered hospitality and free tuition at An Grianan to a student selected by A.C.W.W. under this scheme, Mrs Almina Allen was that student and through invitations from I.C.A. members she would also be meeting Irish people in their homes from time to time while based in Termonfeckin. She sometimes spoke afterwards of attending as a guest of Mrs. Lloyd, the Folk School Week at Inch Co. Wexford so that visit must have impressed her.
After breakfast on Tuesday morning she was invited to the sewing room where Miss Lily Jones would be directing a dressmaking class of 10 students each day for the rest of the week, but due to the fact that Mrs Allen preferred to work on small projects so as to facilitate luggage weight restrictions on her return to Trinidad Miss Jones decided to let her design and work machine embroidered handkerchiefs on lawn fabric. All classes ended at 4.pm in those days so students and tutors had a cup of tea and some biscuits before walking to the strand or to the village for exercise before high tea at 6.pm, afterwards all were free to do as they pleased but Mrs Allen always went to the sewing room to make hankies and work on a sampler of the Mountmellick Work stitches I used in the table mat under my supervision until supper time at 10 PM. All students departed for home on Saturday mornings and all An Grianan staff got a half day on Saturdays, live-in staff ten in number catered for themselves until Monday except for Sunday dinner which was served at 1.pm as usual but a
Senior Times l January - February 2022 l www.seniortimes.ie 87
