Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 12 December 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Thomas O’Gorman and the Shandon Brand

A few weeks ago, this column highlighted the initial growth of Sunbeam Knitwear Company at the historic Butter Exchange Building in 1928. After Sunbeam moved to Millfield in 1933, Thomas O’Gorman made the exchange building space into a factory manufacturing caps and accessories.

Thomas O’Gorman was well known for his business activities. The founder of the firm of T O’Gorman and Son, manufacturers of the “Shandon” brand of hats, caps and braces, An obituary for on 13 August 1947 in the Cork Examiner notes that Thomas was born near Thurles, County Tipperary. He served his apprenticeship time with a Galway drapery firm. On coming to Cork in 1904 he opened a drapery shop in MacCurtain Street, which was damaged during the War of Independence. Circa 1920-1921 he started the manufacture of caps and braces at premises on Pope’s Quay and later moved to a larger premises at the historic Butter Exchange. At the time of his death in 1947, Thomas lived at 4 Landscape Terrace, Sunday’s Well.

The Cork Examiner also reveals that in his younger days Thomas O’Gorman was an enthusiastic member of the Gaelic League and was an ardent supporter of everything Irish. He was an all-round sportsman and took a particular interest in swimming. A popular member of the Cork Catholic Young Men’s Society, he was highly respected by the members for his attention to and work for the Society.

Only a handful of stories exist in the public realm that can be used to assemble the story of Thomas O’Gorman’s factory through the decades. There is no shortage of advertisements for the company in newspapers such as the Cork Examiner throughout the company’s existence. The son of the original founder Thomas was also called Thomas. He was educated at Christian College, Cork and at Clongowes Wood in Dublin. Shortly after finishing his schooling Thomas (Junior) joined his father’s business. He was a keen rowing man, a member of the Cork Boat Club and was also very active in sailing circles, being a member of the Royal Munster Yacht Club.

An interesting note in the Evening Echo on 17 January 1961 highlights that Messrs T O Gorman and Son Ltd had associated with Messrs Christy and Company, London. At that point the factory was one of the oldest hat-making firm in Ireland, with at least sixty years’ experience behind them. The famous Christy firm was 189 years old. The association of the two firms was pursued in order to promote the sale of hats in Ireland. The British firm was one of the biggest hat and cap units in the world. The Cork Examiner reveals that part of the manufacturing process would be carried out in England while the finishing stages would be undertaken at O’Gorman’s in Shandon. The Associated British Hat (Christy) products were manufactured under licence at the Cork factory.

As the 1960s and 1970s progressed the firm began successfully manufacturing hats and caps for tourists and golfers. The traditional styles have been selling very well abroad. Following their participation in the Imbrex International Menswear Show at Earls Court in London, T O’Gorman & Son Ltd. negotiated a major deal with a Japanese market.

By 1976 T O’Gorman & Son manufactured men’s hats, caps, belts and braces. It employed about 80 people during the peak production months.  The grandsons of the original founder, Tony, John and Gregory O’Gorman were now running the business.

Tragedy struck on 30 December 1976 when an early morning fire broke out. The Evening Echo describes the destruction of the Shandon factory. Three units of Cork Fire Brigade fought to contain a fire, which was discovered shortly after 7.30am when the factory caretaker arrived to open up. Employees who reported in for work after the Christmas holidays watched as firemen hosed down the wreckage inside.

Chief Fire Officer Captain C Garvey, described the blaze as “massive” and said that the inside of the building was completely gutted. Firemen kept crowds back because of the flying glass and explosions inside as the fire swept through the factory. The job of bringing the blaze under control was made more difficult because of the age of the building and the combustible material inside.

The Evening Echo also describes that as the early days of January 1977 progressed, the factory premises was a blackened ruin with steel girders buckled and twisted by the fierce fire. Arrangements were made to keep valued employees on full pay during the re-organisation period. Temporary offices were set up at Bradbury House, 38/39 Washington Street.

Warm-hearted offers of help continued to be received by the stricken makers of hats, caps, braces and belts. From the other end of the country came an offer of all possible help in getting the Cork firm into production again. Mr Howard Temple, owner and managing director of the famous Magee firm in Donegal, got through by phone to offer a full range of samples of his famous Donegal tweed. Mr Temple instructed his factory manager to list all surplus machinery not in use and to offer it to Messrs T O’Gorman & Son for as long as the Cork firm needed it, all without charge. Needless to say the offer was been accepted gratefully.

T O’Gorman & Son eventually got up and running again at a new premises in Churchfield. Today it exists online in the hands of Gregory O’Gorman.

As for the historic Butter Market Exchange in the late 1970s Cork Corporation published a plan designed to revitalise the Shandon area of the city. This plan identified the historic Butter Exchange building as a possible centre for craft retail and production. In 1984 the IDA decided to act on this proposal and it took over the building, which it refurbished and converted into self-contained craft units with the aim of fostering the growth and prosperity of the wide craft base in the Cork region.

The new centre, which opened its doors in 1986, had 18 units, including a restaurant, and it enjoyed a close 90% occupancy rate when it opened. Today, the historic Butter Exchange awaits development as the Enterprise Exchange that will offer a space for young companies involved in technology and innovation.

Caption:

1283a. Historic Cork Butter Exchange, c.1900 (source: Cork Public Museum)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 5 December 2024

Kieran’s Cork Books for Christmas

It’s only a few weeks to Christmas. There are three publications of mine, which readers of the column might be interested in to buy as Christmas gifts. All were published in the past two years and are available in Waterstones, Vibes and Scribes, and Easons.

Cork: A Potted History (2024)  is published by Amberely Publishing. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. Cork: A Potted History builds upon my other book from Amberley, Secret Cork, but this time it takes the viewer on a walking trail of over forty sites. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool.

Starting at The Lough – a Cork gem – which once hosted everything from duels to ice skating and its own tree nursery, the trail then rambles to hidden moats, ancient hospital sites, lost meeting houses, legacies of medieval remnants, across ancient streetscapes to exploring forgotten industrial urban spaces. The book reveals the city’s lesser-known heritage and hidden urban and cultural heritage features.

Places matter in Cork. The city’s urban landscape is filled with stories about its past. With some sites, you might stop and contemplate as you’re passing by, and many others might not be given a second look. But a second and even a third look can reveal some interesting historical nuggets and curiosities about Cork’s development. In Cork it always pays to look above the ground floor to shop and house level.

Last year’s publication, The A-Z of Curious County Cork (2023),published by History Press UK (2023) is still selling well. It has been born out of my own personal curiosity for many years now to venture off the main roads of County Cork to explore the curiosities of cultural heritage in County Cork. There are approximately 120 stories from different corners of County Cork. From the A-listing of Apparition to the Z listing of Zeal.

The added task of picking over one hundred curiosities of County Cork was also going to be a challenge. It is difficult to define what a curiosity is. Such a distinction varies from one person to another. The importance of a curiosity in one locale may also not be a curiosity to another locale. The stories within this book, and which I have chosen and noted as curiosities are ones, which have lingered in my mind long after I found them or brought me down further ‘rabbit holes’ of research.  

Being the largest county in Ireland, Cork has the advantage of also having the largest number of cultural heritage nuggets. However, with that accolade comes the conundrum of what nuggets to pick from. With any A-Z of anything it does not cover every single aspect of a particular history but this book does provides brief insights into and showcases the nuggets and narratives of cultural interest that are really embedded in local areas. It also draws upon stories from across the county’s geography.

Much has been written on the histories of County Cork. There is much written down and lots more still to be researched and written up. The County is also blessed with active guardians of its past. In particular, there is a notable myriad of local historians and historical societies, which mind the county’s past and also celebrate and even commemorate it through penning stories in newspaper articles, journals, books and providing regular fieldtrips for the general public. There is also the impressive heritage book series on County Cork, published by the Heritage Unit of Cork County Council.

Celebrating Cork (2022) is published by Amberley Publishing and explores some of the reasons why Cork is so special in the hearts of Corkonians and its many visitors. It takes the reader through the familiar and lesser-known layers of Cork’s importance in Atlantic Europe. Different chapters focus on the history of its port; the documents and maps which defined the city’s sense of identity; the Arts and Crafts movements, which can be viewed within the cityscape; its key institutions and charities; its engineering feats; and perhaps why Cork is known for its rebel nature. Illustrated throughout, Celebrating Cork will be of great appeal to residents, visitors and all those with connections to the city. It will be a source of civic pride as well as a valuable contribution to local history.

Celebrating Cork builds on my previous publications – notably Cork In 50 Buildings, Secret Cork, and Cork City Centre Tour – all published by Amberley Publishing. This book focuses on different topics again of Cork’s past and places more focus on elements I have not had a chance to write upon and reflect about in the past.

With more and more archival material being digitised, it is easier to access original source material in antiquarian books or to search through old newspapers to find the voices championing steps in Cork’s progression in infrastructure, community life or in its cultural development.

More and more I am drawn to a number of themes, which I continue to explore in publications. As a city on the very edge of western Europe, and as a port city, Cork has always been open to influences, from Europe and the world at large. Cork’s Atlantic-ness and that influence whether that be location, light or trade is significant.

Corkonians of the past were aware of the shouts of dockers and noise from dropping anchors – the sea water causing masts to creak, and the hulls of timber ships knocking against its wall, as if to say: ‘we are here’, and the multitudes of informal international conversations happening just at the edge of a small city centre.

Cork’s ruralness and its connections to the region around it especially the River Lee and Cork Harbour is a theme which I have been actively writing about for over a decade. There are certainly many stories along the river and estuary, which have been lost to time and Cork’s collective memory.

Cork’s place as a second city in Ireland and its second city engine is an important influencer of the city’s development in the past and for the future.

Captions:

1282a. Front cover of Cork A Potted History by Kieran McCarthy

1282b. Front cover of The A-Z of Curious County Cork by Kieran McCarthy

1282c. Front cover of Celebrating Cork by Kieran McCarthy

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 28 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam Wolsey and the Nylon Evolution

In an article in the Journal of the Association of Chambers of Ireland in July 1953, a write up on Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd reveals the company’s foray into the production of nylon stockings.

When the big American firm of Du Pont announced that they were about to produce a new synthetic fibre, nylon, in commercial quantities, the world took little notice in the late 1930s. For another thing, war (second World War) was imminent. When nylon came it surpassed all expectations and claims and it more than repaid for the ten years of research work and expenditure of many millions of dollars that produced it.

When the concept of nylon appeared on the market, Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd was one of the first to see the possibilities of the new filament. Although wool was the main product of Sunbeam Wolsey, they had ample room for expansion. The company sent its technicians America to study it in all aspects of nylon’s production and manufacture. They returned to Cork enthusiastic about its future. The result was that as soon as nylon became freely available just after the war, in 1947, Sunbeam installed the latest American machinery and began to make nylons.

There was the choice of having the operators trained at home or by practical demonstration and experience in the United States. A group of workers was sent to study the methods used at the famous Berkshire Mills in Reading, Pennsylvania. They worked there for periods ranging from six to twelve months, side by side with the skilled American technicians.

The nylon yarn used in the Cork mill was imported from Du Pont and from British Nylon Spinners. Using American methods and processes throughout, Sunbeam learned to produce nylons identical in quality and appearance with the best American product. Indeed, the first quality Sunbeam stockings retailed at a lower price than similar American stockings did in their home market.

In the Cork mill yarn for nylon was wound onto bobbins or pirns, which were mounted on fully-fashioned hosiery machines. The whole section of the factory was not only self-contained, but sealed off by double doors from the other sections. The delicacy of the yarns used and their response to the slightest alteration in temperature or humidity made it essential that both these factors had to be maintained at a constant level. For this reason an air conditioning system guarded against any deviation from 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the department and a relative humidity of 50 per cent.

Before it could be knit in the machines, the yarn had to be strengthened by receiving a coating of size. This in turn created more difficulties because of the roughness of the treated yarn, which had to be given a certain degree of malleability by immersion in another solution before it became tough enough to withstand the rigours of the knitting and supple enough to link in the form of the stitches without fraying. The Journal noted of the machinery used:

“Stretching a full 53 feet from end to end, the hosiery knitting machine is one of the marvels of the modern world. Unerringly, once set in motion, it performs amazing feats of skill starting the stocking at the top or welt in heavily reinforced material, doubling the welt over and picking up all the stitches again simultaneously, changing down to the finest of yarn, and knitting the almost invisible web of stocking, dropping stitches to shape the knee, calf and ankle, drawing in more yarn to reinforce the heel, and finishing the stocking by dropping more and more stitches until the foot ends at the toe”.

With 12,000 needles working to regular clock-like rhythm, the machine knitted 30 stockings at a time, each run took about 45 minutes; Its movements were pre-determined through an electronic brain, which counted the stitches, casted off, drew in the extra yarn for reinforcing and guided the flashing needles.

Not only is the yarn dependent on strict air and temperature conditioning of the department; the machines were delicate too. If the temperature were to vary by only a few degrees, the consequent expansion of the steel bars that ran the whole 53 feet length of the unit would throw the needles far out of alignment.

The stockings were knitted in the flat opened-out form and of un-dyed yarn. These blanks were very susceptible to snags, and to increase their resistance they were first placed in a conditioning chamber where they are submitted to a temperature of 164 degrees and a relative humidity of 70 per cent for a period of half an hour. Afterwards they were dried and taken to the seamers. The formed stockings were then tested and examined on an expanding tube; “The depression of a foot pedal by the operator exerts a pressure of about 30 lbs, stretching the stocking to more than twice its normal diameter. Any faults will show immediately under such a test, and faulty stockings are discarded”.

The next process was that of pre-boarding. The stockings were drawn over flat leg-shaped metals and placed in a steam oven at about 30 lbs pressure for five minutes to set the stitches, which afterwards would never lose their shape. They were then scoured in a large washing machine to remove the “size still coating the yarn”. After drying the bags were placed in a rotating drying machine and subsequently dried in centrifugal hydro-extractor.

The final manufacturing process involved the stocking once again drawn over leg shaped flat metal pieces, which carry them through another oven chamber in which the shape of the stockings is fixed permanently. They were then laid in heaps of one dozen and moved away by conveyor belt to the packing department, which they were checked for faults and then onto the packers.

All the cardboard boxes used for Sunbeam products were made at the factory, where a complete box-making plant was installed, operators and all, some years previously. There was also a huge dispatch department, from which the many products were sent to the wholesale warehouse in Dublin, from where the entire country, except Cork City and County, was served. Sunbeam was selling more and more goods abroad. Twice a year, buyers from New York’s largest stores travel to Europe seeking the best goods available to bring home to their customers.

Caption:

1281a. Employee at Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd working on nylon stockings, 1953 (source: Journal of the Association of Chambers of Ireland, July 1953; British Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam Wolsey’s War Years

The Thirteenth Ordinary General Meeting of Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd was held on 12 September, 1941. It revealed methods of circumventing challenges posed by the Second World War. In particular, during the summer of 1941, a complete embargo was placed by the Westminister government on the export of Australian wool to Ireland. As a result it was initially feared that only half of the Combing Plant could be utilised. So Irish wool was used. A closer study  found that Irish wool was of infinitely better quality than had been anticipated and that it could be processed on the finest of the factory combs.

William Dwyer much regretted the reduction of £23,000 in stock. It was partly due to the difficulty in obtaining raw materials and it was also due to the much greater demand for the goods manufactured by the Company.

However, against that context in 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd published a promotional booklet, which set out in brief the first 14 years of the Company since 1928 and an overview of the Company in that year. It was highlighted that the entire Company was managed by Mr Declan Dwyer, who was also a Director and a son of the founder. The initial pages focussed in on the processes of scouring, combing, and carding that took place in a long and grey single-storey building at Blackpool.

Focus was placed on the fact that a large proportion of the hosiery yarns used in this country were dyed at Blackpool, including commissioned work for outside spinners and manufacturers. At Millfield one of the best-equipped machinery dyehouses in Ireland was sited. The booklet noted that the dyeing transformation scene was like a scene in a pantomime; “The products are changed in the dyehouse into riotous colours-every colour imaginable, from the browns of the Silk Hosiery to the blues, crimsons To this portion of the factory come the yarns to and greens of the wool yarns…The dyer’s job is not merely to produce beautiful shades though. He has to make the colours proof against light. washing, perspiration and sea water. To do this, he must have ample supplies of good water, and at Millfield a big filtering plant and the ‘Permutit’ process purifies and softens the water to zero degrees hardness”.

The booklet continued to describe that down in the bowels of the factory was the boiler house with its three 38-foot boilers, each capable of generating 10,000 lbs of steam per hour. Here too was a huge steam accumulator that kept the supply of steam heat to the factory, dyehouse and humidifiers constant – even though the boiler output varied. Finally, the water softening plant ensured that the water used for cleaning and dyeing was of the exact nature required. Pumped through filters to free it from impurities, the water went to the Permutit softening plant at the rate of 5,000 gallons hourly.

There was an interesting section in the booklet dealing with the heat within the factory in the silk thrower section. The whole process of spinning and knitting silk hosiery was carried out at a tropical temperature. Traversing the ceiling at regular intervals were big white humidifiers, which kept the atmosphere at a set warm temperature. If that did not occur, the silk thread would become hard, brittle and unworkable. As the silk arrived from China or Japan, the silk was in long hanks and had to be steeped in special oils and chemicals for a number of hours to give it elasticity.

Throughout the promotional booklet, there were nods as one would expect to the skilled workers and the importance of efficient management; “The Sunbeam Wolsey equipment is the finest procurable. The Sunbeam Wolsey workers are second to none in skill and the materials used are the best that money can buy. Everyone at Sunbeam Wolsey, from the management right down to the latest joined junior, is united in a firm resolve that every Sunbeam Wolsey garment will be all that the most critical wearer could desire. It will give satisfaction, not only when new, but through long and strenuous wear”.

Through graphic illustrations in the booklet, some interesting facts about Sunbeam Wolsey production were highlighted, especially on yarn production and payroll; “In only one day enough wool yarn to stretch twice around the world is produced while the number of employees has increased thirteen times. The weekly payroll has increased twenty times and up to 1940 the production of silk hosiery had grown eightfold. Perhaps the most surprising thing that emerges from those figures is that the production per employee is practically doubled since 1928. The reasons for this are increased efficiency, experience, and the most up-to-date plant obtainable”.

A section in the promotional booklet was also given over to the social services given to employees. A dispensary and surgery at the Blackpool plant was properly staffed and equipped by the management. Workers could have free medical attention. The brochure denoted a contentness in a great reduction in the number of days lost through illness. Other social services were the canteen, the recreation grounds and the football teams. In the canteen employees could purchase hot meals, cigarettes and chocolate. If they wished to bring their own meals with them, they could also eat them in comfort in the canteen along with their fellow-workers.

The booklet also denoted that when the (Second World) War broke out the firm immediately provided proper Air Raid Protection for the staff through building and equipping huge underground shelters. Fully-trained Air Raid Squads and a fully-equipped fire service were always ready to deal with an impending emergency.

To be continued…

Caption:

1280a. A representative pictured in the 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd promotional booklet of nearly a thousand Sunbeam Wolsey workers. This girl is operating a flatlock seaming machine for making flat-seamed underwear (source: Cork City Library).