History & The Arts
The Belfast linen industry
...social and economic development of Belfast. The manufacture of linen was the catalyst that allowed it to grow from a town into the region's pre-eminent city. It grew most rapidly during the 1860s – by the end of the 19th century Belfast was the linen capital of the world. [Spinning wheel, spinning linen.] During the 18th and early 19th centuries, linen production in...