Archive (1372 life histories found)
'We said prayers in the way a machine gun dispenses rounds of ammunition'
We were absolutely certain that all 'non Catholics' were damned, that Jews were thugs and that atheists were the scum of all the scums. We said prayers in the way a machine gun dispenses rounds of ammunition and as altar boys we gave out the Latin…
Tags: altar boys, Catholicism, collection, dogma, offerings, Priest, religion, sin
'...not so much the love of God and certainly not the love of our neighbour but the avoidance of Hell'
The biggest item on the agenda for us growing up in the 1940s and 1950s was religion, not so much the love of God and certainly not the love of our neighbour but the avoidance of Hell. In first class (8 year olds) Fr Hearn came in one day to enquire…
Tags: catechism, Catholicism, dogma, Education, punishment, religion, sin
'Yarns from the Trade'
Once as a promotional tool I decided to employ someone to write up 'Yarns from the Trade'. This was to be stories about some of our customers and how they came to be in the menswear business. This was inspired by Logan Knott from Boyle, Co…
Tags: clothing trade, memory, shirt trade, stories
'I retired willingly, but was anxious to keep working somehow. I saw this as a health issue'
June 2009 I retired willingly but anxious to keep working somehow. I saw this as a health issue. As there is no possibility of a new career, with the focus now on certification and documentation rather than life experience, the only possibility was…
Tags: Health, Retirement, volunteering
'...the criminal justice system is set up by the middle classes to protect themselves from the working classes'
In 1999 the Gallagher clothing industry died for the last time. It was possible to get a job if 'you knew someone who knew someone'. I managed to get a job looking after prisoners after release from prison. The employment was in an agency that…
Tags: addiction, crime, drugs, justice, probation, rehabilitation, social class
'Leonard went back and was his own manager thereafter, aided and abetted by Aggie Bonnar, a decidedly undainty lady from half way up a mountain'
The most interesting part of the shirt manufacturing career was the relationship with the Solo Shirt Co. This was run by a big thick farmer, Leonard McGuckan. Leonard had had a heart attack in 1959 and was confined to bed for life. After a year…
'Clubs are frequented mostly by bachelors, widowers, the unattached and a large contingent of poets, musicians, politicians and freaks'
While selling in London I stayed at The Irish Club in Eaton Square. This was a significantly dignified address, probably the most exclusive address in London. It was a dreadful place. Clubs are frequented mostly by bachelors, widowers, the…
Tags: bachelors, Clubs, Irish club, mad
'My only guide to London shops was the Sunday Times newspaper where they would do a feature on these new crazy men's shops in and around Carnaby Street'
Having found a foothold in business in London I commuted there with increasing regularity for the next 30 years. On the first trip I had no idea where to stay so I phoned Fr Paddy Walsh, who was living with the Vincentian community in Strawberry…
Tags: business, design, men's fashion, selling, shirts
'Having lost everything there were still a lot of mouths to feed '
I had been disappointed in 1967 when the Foyle factory closed and the family humbled. For reasons not connected to logic I bought ( £176K) a factory in Galway in 1979 and succeeded in losing everything I ever made almost instantly (employing 120…
Tags: business, profit, waistcoats
'I was making noise rather than money but had momentum from the constant flow of commission cheque'
Austin Reed had a large factory in Omagh (also one that our family established and made a balls of) but it was modern and shambolic, employing 250 people and English management. The English management was most objectionable, they seemed to think…
Tags: commission, Factory, shirts