'...picked, packed and delivered about Dublin in the back of the uncle's car (Morris Oxford)'

'...picked, packed and delivered about Dublin in the back of the uncle's car (Morris Oxford)'

Billy Gallagher remembers his first job after leaving school. He worked in the sales office of his family's shirt making business.

Billy Gallagher

Trinity College Dublin

1960

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Billy Gallagher

Work and employment

Life Story

Dublin, Wellington Quay

1960's

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 occupied by Jack Gallagher (Uncle) and the other by Tony Jennings (decidedly effeminate) and myself. All the stock, perhaps 300 dozen shirts were stocked and distributed from here. Not alone stocked but picked, packed and delivered about Dublin in the back of the uncle's car (Morris Oxford). The customers were 100% Irish as were the shirts which had to use Irish fabric (80% approx), Irish buttons, thread, linings, boxes, bags etc. Imports were by licence only and these were issued on a quota basis. If you could show that you bought 1000 yds of fabric in Ireland the Department of Industry and Commerce would give you a licence to import between 100 and 200 yds from abroad (varied according to content of cotton/wool etc). This meant that every shirt manufactured in the Republic (there were 28 factories) had essentially the same fabric. Only three mills in Ireland made fabric. All thread came from Irish Sewing Cotton of Mayo, buttons from Smallwares of Cavan etc. In other words we all depended on each other and there were practically no imports of shirts from anywhere.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)