Archive (237 life histories found)
'On the day we decided to close down forever, my father and I went into the Northern Bank in Strabane and told the teller we were closing down.'
Banking was different in the 60s, very much based on trust and reputation. When you made a lodgement the cash was available to you at once although it took 3-4 days for the cheque to find its way back to the drawer. The Foyle had an overdraft of…
'A cash flow crisis continued to dog us in spite of this limited source of quick money'
My father and I met in Strabane every Sunday night, we were now looking for someone to take half our production for his own use (100 dozen a week on CMT) and allow us sell the other half (100 dozen). This would give us cash flow, sufficient to stay…
Tags: cash flow, cash flow crisis, clothing, CMT, Factory
'This was 1965/6 when Carnaby Street and the Beatles were getting into stride, a whole new idea of menswear was looming'
'The Foyle' was languishing already in 1961 and continued on this downwards trajectory until finally going bankrupt in November 1967. Uncle Jack took ill in 1965 leaving only my father and me (and two widows, non-executive and one widow, mother of …
Tags: export, Family Business, Fashion, pop fashion, trade agreement
'Selling into any customer was precarious as any disagreement would exclude the customer for life and there were no alternatives to go to'
Business accounts were usually a year or two after year end when they were of little use to anyone from a management point of view. I remember my father saying once, to everyone's horror, that it was suggested to him that accounts should be done a…
'Selling in small towns to family drapers had etiquette'
In 1964 I was given a mini minor and asked to go and sell around the country. This was very hard as every shop in Ireland had dedicated suppliers and travellers calling. We had no innovation to offer other than the personality of the salesman. …
Tags: Sales work, selling, small town
'The hands of the customs men would be 'greased' at Christmas and they would always be good for the odd shirt if requested'
Being on the border was of considerable advantage and having factories on both sides of the border facilitated greatly. (Foylewear Ltd at Main Street Strabane was still in existence but non-trading). Willie Gallagher stationed himself in the old…
Tags: board meetings, border, Customs, liquidation, smuggling
'...picked, packed and delivered about Dublin in the back of the uncle's car (Morris Oxford)'
Leaving school in 1961 it was deemed that I should join the sales office of Foyle Shirt & Collar Co Ltd, Lifford, Co Donegal which was run from 51 Wellington Quay in Dublin beside the Halfpenny Bridge. It was an upstairs office of two rooms, one…
Tags: Customs, Irish fabric, Sales work, Trade
'There was no music in the workplace and talking was forbidden, hence the girls worked very hard for an hour and then went to the toilets for a smoke'
In the 1921 the Gallagher family set up a shirt factory in Lifford (Donegal), having had an involvement in shirt-making in Strabane from about 1888. The Strabane business had petered out, lost by grandfather Paul Gallagher in the late 1920s as he…
'Computers were introduced to the department in 1981'
I got married in 1959. My late husband owned a grocers shop,off the Crumlin Road. I helped in the shop,keeping books and running a very busy grocery shop until his death in 1971. I then started working in the Royal Victoria Hospital,Bacteriology…
'My first job was to make appointments for my young patients, also looking after them at the dental clinic'
After a few years,I applied to the Antrim County Health Committee,as a Dental Attendant to the County Dental Officer. His name was Mr Sheen,B.D.S. He was the dentist for school children in Co. Antrim. My first job was to make appointments for my…