BY NUALA MCALOON
"Firstly, this event is a Belleek Convention, and no subject of conversation other than 'Belleek' can be discussed. Forget about the weather, politics or the price of food, the next few days are strictly for Belleek conversations only!"
Just a short and light-hearted snippet taken from the rough guide to the 2007 Belleek Conventioneers but, perhaps an apt, if not quirky quotation that signifies the thinking behind a 'totally dedicated Belleeker'.
One such couple is Roy and Rosaleen Hollihead who live in Belcoo. A native of Mullaghdun, Rosaleen Doherty moved to England 40 years ago to work as a nurse before meeting husband, Roy. They moved back to Belcoo in 1994, 17 miles from the craftmanship they adore.
Along with Lady Marion Langham, a Belleek Honouree, they initially formed a collectors' society in England. From the UK society, groups were later formed world-wide, including the USA, Australia and Canada. Every two years, these groups continue to meet up at a convention, the first of which was held in Los Angeles in 1993.
What started out as a gift situation for the Holliheads, the 'Belleek disease' has evolved into a fully-fledged obsession and the couple, who have been collectors since 1988 have a pottery decorated house.
The instigation of the craze they blame on Rosaleen's mother.
"When we used to come over on holidays, people would always smuggle pieces out of the Pottery and get the cheap price," Roy explains.
"When it came round to us going, Rosaleen's mother invariably had a piece of Belleek for us. And she used to say: if you ever see a piece of blackmark Belleek, (because what she was giving us was sixth period), to make sure you buy it, so that's what started the disease, the obsession."
Such is the couple's collection now, that their house is coming down with pottery spread out in cabinets and boxes.
"The Belleek collection we have now is like the story of your life. You can tell every piece, and where it was born," suggests Roy.
"He will just walk into an antique fare or a market and he will spot a piece a mile off and he leaves you, he's just away off," laughs Rosaleen.
Their biggest gathering came about after a chance encounter at one such fare.
"One day a man came up to me and said: do you buy Belleek?" says Roy, "So, I said yes, and usually it was an odd cup and saucer that I would buy. He said I have a dinner set for sale and I said, oh that's unusual. He said yes, and that it was made from the Ninth Marquis of Donegal and I said I'd love to see it, thinking it was a bit of a wind-up. He was a traveller and he was going away for a few weeks but when he came back he said he would give me a ring. So, this particular evening the phone goes, and he said do you want to come and see this Belleek.
"It was an old Victorian house in the South of Manchester. He brought me down to the cellar where he had a milk bottle tray decorated with plants on it. And there, was all this Belleek with the Ninth Marquis of Donegal, there was soup ladles, soup plates, dinner plates, muffin dishes, you name it, it had everything."
Thinking he was out of his depth, Roy asked how much it would cost to purchase.
"He said £120 and I said what? He said 'I know, it's a bit much, I'll take a £100'. I couldn't believe it. I walked out with five boxes, plates, tureens, the lot."
Roy recalls another funny story when he discovered a missing piece after almost 30 years.
"My daughter used to come out with me to collect Belleek years ago and we used to get up at the crack of dawn to go to Leeds. One day she came across the room and said, look at this piece.
"It was a teapot with a missing lid. It was £6 and was a painted cherub. I had that on display for 25-30 years and, just before Beatrice McElroy (a fellow collector) died, I went round to her house. Would you believe, she had an ordinary teapot and there sat on the teapot was this lid belonging to this piece that I had." Having gone years without the missing lid, a delighted Roy, after some haggling and negotiation, bought the lid of Beatrice for £30. Roy is currently on the look out to complete an early period Belleek set of cups and saucers. Having got 26 of the 27 various patterns, the last one was up for sale this week at the Killyhevlin Hotel for no less than £450. But Rosaleen was hoping her husband wouldn't succumb to temptation. Asked why the couple are so attached to the pottery, Rosaleen explained that good craftmanship had always been the attraction.
"It's ironic that we have travelled to Oregon and Seattle. We have been everywhere and, now we are back living within 12 miles of the factory. It's unreal really."
