Pour the Tea, and I'll Tell Ya 'bout Maewyn and Belleek

You've probably never heard of Maewyn Succat.  Like many celebrities, his name was changed.  He grew up in a wealthy family in England.  His Dad was a church Deacon, and the family was devoutly religious.  Maewyn wasn't.  At least, not until he was kidnapped at age 16, and taken to another country, where he was forced to work as a farmhand.  While tending sheep, he had a lot of time to think - to contemplate life.  He began praying.  He prayed for mercy, for freedom from slavery. Six years later, he made his daring escape by land and sea, on a kind of missionary's journey that would take him many more years to reach his homeland.

Back home in England, he studied theology, and fifteen years after his escape, he returned to the very country where he'd been enslaved.  He worked among the common people, and was outspoken in his condemnation of slavery.  He taught lessons about the Holy Trinity, using the leaves of the wild Shamrock as a teaching tool to talk about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Maewyn died at age 75, in Saul, County Down, Northern Ireland.  It was March 17th, 461AD.  Much loved, Maewyn was made a Saint.  He is celebrated each year on this day.  His day.  St. Patrick's Day.

Ireland is also famous for the transluscent, irridescent porcelain known as Belleek pottery.  It is so fine, that you can see right through it.      

The Belleek Pottery Works Company is 160 years old this year, however, the origins go back to 1849, when founder John Caldwell Bloomfield inherited his Father's estate.  The Castlecaldwell estate encompassed the village of Belleek, in what is now Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.  

Belleek is from the Gaelic words beal leice, meaning flagstone ford.  Flagstone, the kind you make stepping stones with, is made of feldspar.  In the midst of the Irish Potato Famine, during which one million Irish starved to death, Bloomfield worried how he could provide work for his tenants...and wondered what else besides feldspar was buried on his property. An amateur mineralogist, he had a geological survey made of the land, and discovered that in addition to feldspar, it was rich in kaolin, flint, clay and shale - perfect for pottery!    

Rose Isle, a small island within the village of Belleek, was on the Erne River.  Bloomfield decided it would be the ideal location for his pottery, with the mineral-crushing millwheel being powered by the River Erne.

He went into partnership with a London-based Architect who had a fondness for porcelain, and a Dublin Merchant with clientele and connections.  Bloomfield then moved heaven and earth to get a railway line to Belleek, so that coal could be brought in for the kilns, and finished pottery could be shipped out to buyers throughout the British Commonwealth.

He made good on his intention to provide work for the local people, hiring young apprentices and workmen.  He also ensured the high quality of the pieces, by bringing over 14 experienced craftsmen from Stoke-on-Trent, England.  Unlike St. Patrick, Bloomfield and his partners kept tight controls on the workers, fearing trade secrets would be leaked if workers left to go elsewhere.  Many of the Englishmen did just that, and what later became Lenox china was a beneficiary.

In 1893, the company hired Master Craftsman Frederick Slater (another Stoke-on-Trent craftsman) to lead their design department. It is believed that he modelled the 71cm (28 inch) International Centrepiece which won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1900.  The company recently discovered the original molds, and has been using them to recreate this work of art.

A lovely beginning to St. Patrick's Day:  a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea in a Belleek teacup.  Just what is Irish Breakfast Tea? Is it just another name for English Breakfast?  Although it varies from teamaker to teamaker, the general rule is that English Breakfast is a full bodied, rich black tea from China, sometimes blended with Ceylon tea.  Irish Breakfast is made with India's Assam tea.  It is more robust, and has a malty flavour.  It is also reddish in colour.  The heartiest of all, is Scottish Breakfast, which is a blend of China, Assam and Ceylon teas. 

This morning, raise a cup of tea (or mug of coffee) to Ireland's Patron Saint, St. Patrick!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Photograph of the International Centrepiece courtesy of the Belleek Pottery Works Company.
Parrot Tulips, Daffodils, white Freesia and blue Hyacinth from Florigens Design, Toronto.
My Irish Grandma's Belleek teapot and teacup in the traditional basketweave and shamrock design.