'Had we been found out we would have been instantly dismissed, and possibly charged with criminal damage '

'Had we been found out we would have been instantly dismissed, and possibly charged with criminal damage '

Harry Browne describes the antics he and his colleagues got up to in the kitchens of the Shelbourne Hotel.

Harry Browne

Trinity College Dublin

1961

This item is protected by original copyright

This content may be downloaded and used (with attribution) for research, teaching or private study. It may not be used for commercial purposes without permission.

Harry Browne

Work and Employment

Life Story

Shelbourne Hotel, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin

1960's

There was, as in other walks of life a rigid class system in catering. Managers were at the top of the tree, Chefs were often next and waiters were lower down. We were paid much better than waiters but they had the advantage of the gratuities or tips. Their take home was, in all likelihood much better than ours, we fiercely resented this and took every opportunity to diminish them. Chefs are very territorial and do not take kindly to anyone entering their kitchen and common practice was that if anyone wanted to enter he asked the head chef's permission. There was a Catering Manager employed in The Shelbourne who chose not to recognise this protocol, his name escapes me at the moment, the head chef made no objections to this trespass but we lower ranks were very annoyed by it. His practice was to go into the head chef's office and put on a white dust coat to cover his broadcloth morning coat in case it might get splashed. It was next to impossible to clean one of these coats if they got soiled. We waited until the coast was clear and dusted the inside of the sleeves of the dust coat with flour. After he had used the dust coat and removed it he found that his good broadcloth coat was ruined. He was not impressed. Had we been found out we would have been instantly dismissed, and possibly charged with criminal damage.

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

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)