4 Edw. IV., Harl MSS. No. 1419. b.-g. 494.
That lace ruffs soon appeared in Ireland may be proved by the effigy on a tomb still extant in the Abbey of Clonard, in which the Dillon arms are conspicuous, and also by paintings of the St. Lawrence family, circ. 1511, preserved at Howth Castle.
In the portrait at Muckruss of the Countess of Desmond she is represented with a lace collar. It was taken, as stated at the back of the portrait, "as she appeared at the court of King James, 1614, and in ye 140th year of her age." Thither she went to endeavour to reverse the attainder of her house.
At the end of the last century there lived at Creaden, near Waterford, a lady of the name of Power, lineal descendant of the kings of Munster, and called the Queen of Creaden. She affected the dress of the ancient Irish. The border of her coif was of the finest Irish-made Brussels lace; her jacket of the finest brown cloth trimmed with gold lace; her petticoat of the finest scarlet cloth bordered with a row of broad gold lace; all her dress was of Irish manufacture.
Gentleman's and Citizen's Almanack, by G. Watson. Dublin, 1757.
"The freedom of the city of Dublin was also conferred upon her, presented in due form in a silver box as a mark of esteem for her great charities and constant care of the Foundling children in the city workhouse."—Dublin Freeman's Journal, July 30th, 1765.