Cassandra More Hand

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Cassandra Hand Instituted and promoted the practice of crotchet lacemaking at Clones (County Monaghan), in order to raise funds for famine relief and the building of a school. The lacemaking tradition - in the style known as Clones Lace - still flourishes there and is growing in popularity world-wide.

The school building begun in 1859 with the proceeds from local lacemakers now houses the Clones community's Cassandra Hand Centre.

Mother of seven children.

linked to Geograph entry

Cassandra Hand Centre (With image of her)

"Cassandra was the 9th child of James More Molyneux (c.1760-1823) and Anne (nee Merriot, d.1843). Loseley Park, Surrey. Cassandra was a family name, borne by her great aunt and great great grandmother. Cassandra's husband attended Trinity College Oxford, so was possibly a friend of her brother James More Molyneux (1805-1874) who was the same age and at the same college. Thomas Hand, born 1806, first son of John Staples Hand of Billericay, Essex; was reactor of Bulphan, Essex, 1830-1847, then of Clones. Cassandra married Thomas Hand at Compton on 17th May 1831 and they had five children, three boys and two girls.
Cassandra came to Clones in September 1847 at the height of the Great Irish Famine. Life in Clones contrasted sharply to Cassandra’s upbringing in Surrey and she was moved by the extreme poverty in and around her adopted town. She decided to promote crochet as a famine relief measure and set up a lace making school in her home at Bishopscourt just outside Clones. The profits from the lace enabled her to finance the construction of this building which was originally used as a school for infants and young girls. The school house was opened in 1859 for the reception of sixty pupils by the rector of the parish. The architect was R. Gray Esq. CE Enniskillen and the builder was Mr Jonathan Fleming of Clones.
Cassandra died in 1868 and is buried along with her husband in the Church of Ireland graveyard at Clough near Roslea, Co. Fermanagh".

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Irish crochet lace is a style of Irish lace which is generally considered allied to rather than a true lace. It was originally developed in mid-nineteenth century Ireland as a method of imitating expensive Venetian point laces

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Dec 22 2019, 7:07:29 UTC