Linenopolis

Linenopolis was a nickname applied to the city of Belfast in the 19th century.

Jennymount Mill off Belfast's York Road. The former linen mill is now used as an office block

During the American Civil War there were disruptions to the supply of cotton reaching Europe, and during this period Irish linen experienced somewhat of a revival. There was a shortage of cotton goods on the world market. This was known as the Cotton Famine, and much of the slack was taken up by Irish linen. There was significant expansion in the industry, and many mill owners made enormous profits. Even after the end of the Civil War in 1865, the momentum was maintained and companies continued to flourish until the mid-1870s. Belfast, Ireland was by then the largest linen producing area in the world, and this continued to be the case up until World War I; the city greatly earned the nickname of Linenopolis.^[1] Manchester was the cotton capital of the British Empire; Belfast was the linen capital.

See also

• Cottonopolis

References

1. Fergusons History of Irish linen http://www.fergusonsirishlinen.com/aboutLinen/?ID=2