The Limerick needlework exhibition that captivated Europe

ON March 13, 1807 a notice in the Limerick Chronicle informed the public that ‘Miss Linwood’s Gallery of Pictures, in Needlework’ would be exhibited at G. Black’s large house on Brunswick Place (Sarsfield Street), next to Swinburne’s Hotel.

The notice included details of the entrance fee which stood at 2s and 2d for general admittance and 5s and 5d for perpetual tickets. The gallery was open from 10.00am ‘until one hour before dusk’. Highlights on display included a picture of Lady Jane Grey which measured ‘9 feet by 7 – the figures are as large as life’. Other subjects included Napoleon Bonaparte, thought to have been created from real life, and Sir Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘The Shepherd’s Boy.

In addition to the main exhibition, Miss Linwood also advertised a ‘promenade and ball’ to take place on Thursday 23rd of April in which the room will be ‘splendidly illuminated… the promenade commencing at 8.00pm.’ A promenade and ball referred to a formal social evening that combined public display, polite walking, music and dancing and was usually aimed at the upper echelons of society.

READ MORE: Limerick poet Desmond O’Grady - rooted in Ireland, nourished by the world
A native of Birmingham, Mary Linwood (1755-1845) was a pioneering needlewoman, famous for her detailed copies – “needle paintings” of contemporary oil paintings by artists including Gainsborough and Reynolds. Linwood, who took up to ten years to create her embroidered masterpieces, toured her creations across London, Edinburgh, Moscow, Paris, Dublin, and Limerick. She lived in Leicester where she produced all her work. She opened a gallery in Leicester Square, London in 1809, the first woman to own a gallery in the city. The gallery remained open until 1845 and attracted a well-heeled clientele.
On the occasion of the centenary of her death, the director of the Leicester City Museum and Art Gallery stated that her name was known in ‘Russia, France and all over Europe, the Royal Family had her pictures in Windsor Castle; Napoleon asked for her presence; the Empress of Russia wished to purchase all her works for the sum of £40,000.’
By day, Linwood was the mistress of a boarding school in Leicester which had been founded by her mother in 1766, while at night she laboured long hours to create her tapestries. In all, she created over 60 needlework pictures based on the works of the great masters of painting. While some artists struggle in their lifetimes to sell pictures; Linwood refused to accept money for her creations. It was widely reported that she refused an astounding three thousand guineas for her most famous work, Carlo Dolci’s “Salvator Mundi” instead she bequeathed it to Queen Victoria. It has remained part of the art collection of Windsor Castle ever since.
Mary Linwood died 2nd March 1845 at her residence, Belgrave Gate, Leicester. She had taken ill some weeks earlier while taking her annual visit to the exhibition of her needlework in London. Her estate was valued at over £10,000. Linwood’s works were displayed in London for over forty years. Her death was widely reported including in Limerick newspapers.
Linwood’s travelling exhibition suggests that cultural events were very much part of Georgian Limerick from its nascent days. While Mary Linwood’s artistic creations were exhibited in a private house, the success of the initiative must have inspired Anthony Swinburne who operated the Limerick Hotel next door. Over the course of the next few decades, the Swinburnes hosted travelling libraries, artists and musicians in their large ballroom on Sarsfield Street, one of the original Georgian avenues in Limerick.

READ MORE: The Limerick born detective turned notorious highwayman of the 19th century
Another internationally famous artist, Limerick’s Catherine Hayes (1818-1861) also performed at Swinburne’s Hotel in 1840. The full story of Hayes’ recitals at Swinburnes along with an account of the performances of Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) in the same venue will be discussed at the lecture below:
Members of the public are invited to Mary Immaculate College on Wednesday 25 March 2026 at 7.30pm in Room T.118 for a highly illustrated lecture about the history of Sarsfield Street by Paul O'Brien. Come along and meet new and old friends while we share stories and reminisce about Sarsfield Street. Free event. No booking required.
Dr Paul O’Brien, assistant professor in Pedagogy of History, Faculty of Education, Mary Immaculate College