The Belleek Archive Collection: Celebrating 150 Years of Fine Irish Artistry, 1857 – 2007

The scene on this collector plate is borrowed from an engraved print that originally graced Belleek Earthenware teapot stands. Over the years, the landscape has changed dramatically, including the removal of flagstones along the river from which the name Belleek is derived (Irish "beal atha leice" which literally means the mouth of the ford of flagstones.) The bridge built in the 17th Century by the Caldwell’s was replaced in the 1950s with a new one. The Belleek Pottery has undergone changes, as well. Its bottle kilns being replaced by electric ones in the 1960s. However the engraving’s focal point, the Pottery itself, built by Robert Armstrong, remains the dominant feature of the landscape today.