Kerry Woollen Mill Barcheck Blanket

Last updated: 9 November 2026

Where the pattern comes from

Bar check is a heavy, strong blanketing cloth, and the mill is direct about what it was for. The cloth was originally used to line horse collars, which is a job that punishes anything weak: constant friction, weight, sweat and weather. That is why it is woven dense and why it has outlasted its original purpose.

What survives from that is a plain windowpane grid, a fine coloured line ruled across a cream ground at regular intervals. It is not a tartan and it is not a plaid. There is no design history to explain, just a functional cloth that happens to look extremely good on a sofa.

The mill, and the claim about its age

Kerry Woollen Mills sits at Beaufort, outside Killarney. The mill describes itself as a 300-year-old mill. Labour and Wait's listing says the business was established over 300 years ago. It is now run by the fourth generation of the family who came to the mill in 1904, and many of the original buildings are still in use.

No founding year is published anywhere the mill controls, so none is given here. What the mill does certify is narrower and more useful. The place of manufacture is Kerry. The wool is pure new wool, which means it has been through the production process once rather than being reclaimed. They select washed fleece from lowland wools including Irish fleece, sorted for fibre length, colour, crimp and micron. Then they dye the raw fleece before blending and spinning the yarn on site.

Dyeing at the fleece stage rather than after weaving is the detail that shows. Colour blended into the fibre before it becomes yarn gives a check with depth in it. It does not sit on the surface waiting to fade.

Size, and what 254 by 228cm means in a room

Labour and Wait give the size as 254 by 228cm and describe it as comfortably covering a double bed or a sofa. At the mill the closest equivalent is the Queen/King, listed there at 250 by 225cm. Their range runs from a Single at 180 by 225cm up to a King and Super King at 275 by 225cm.

So this is a large blanket. Over a double bed it hangs properly on both sides instead of stopping at the mattress. Across a three-seat sofa it covers the whole thing with enough left to fold over the back. Anyone picturing a throw for an armchair is picturing something smaller than what arrives.

Buying it at £165

Labour and Wait list it at £165, which clears their £150 free-postage line, so it arrives without a delivery charge on top. They also carry it in a red check. On 6 September 2026 the shop stock read low at Covent Garden, Marylebone and Shoreditch, and sold out at the Workroom. Those are per-shop figures rather than the online position.

Kerry Woollen Mills sell the same bar check blankets themselves, priced in euros from €185 to €240 depending on size. That route adds shipping from Ireland and prices in a different currency. For a UK buyer the Labour and Wait price is the straightforward one.

Buy the Barcheck blanket at Labour and Wait, £165

Living with it, honestly

Weight. This is blanketing cloth, not a lightweight throw. It is warm because it is heavy. A heavy wool blanket is a different object from a wool-mix throw at a third of the price, and anybody who overheats in bed should treat that as a warning rather than a selling point.

Wool care. Pure new wool wants airing rather than washing, and a specialist clean when it genuinely needs one. It is not a machine-wash item and treating it as one is how a £165 blanket becomes a £165 mistake.

Moths. Undyed and naturally dyed wool in a cupboard is a moth's idea of a good week. Store it with something they dislike and check it in spring.

Barcheck blanket FAQs

How big is the Barcheck blanket?

254 by 228cm, which comfortably covers a double bed or a three-seat sofa. At the mill the closest equivalent is the Queen/King size at 250 by 225cm.

What is it made of?

100 per cent pure new wool. The mill selects washed fleece from lowland wools including Irish fleece, dyes the raw fleece, then blends and spins the yarn on site.

Where is it woven?

At Kerry Woollen Mills in Beaufort, near Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. The mill certifies the place of manufacture.

How old is the mill?

Both the mill and Labour and Wait describe it as around 300 years old, with many of the original buildings still in use. The present family arrived in 1904 and the fourth generation now runs it. No exact founding year is published, so none is claimed here.

What is bar check?

A heavy blanketing cloth in a windowpane grid, a fine coloured line ruled at intervals across a cream ground. The mill originally wove it to line horse collars.

How much does it cost?

£165 at Labour and Wait, checked on 6 September 2026, with free UK postage because it is over their £150 threshold.

Can it go in the washing machine?

No. Pure new wool at this weight wants airing between uses and a specialist clean when it needs one.

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Prices, stock and terms change. Everything here was checked on 6 September 2026, from Labour and Wait's listing and Kerry Woollen Mills' own site.

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