M&P O'Sullivan 100 years by M&P O'Sullivan

E d i t e d

b y

K i e r a n

M c C a r t h y

Contents:

1 2 3 4 5 6

Reflections, 1905-Beyond 2005

Setting the Scene, Cork c.1905

Early Origins - Paddy O’Sullivan and the Tobacco Industry

Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork

Mid Twentieth Century Consolidation Expansion and Growth, c.1970-c.2005

Editor: Kieran McCarthy has written extensively on the history of Cork City in Inside Cork- Cork Independent over the last six years. He has published five books on the general history of the city including Discover Cork (2003, O’Brien Press) and Voices of Cork, The Knitting Map Speaks (2005, Nonsuch Publishing). For walking tours or consultancy on Cork’s rich past, contact: Kieran McCarthy 087 655 33 89 or email mccarthy_kieran@yahoo.com

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Acknowledgements Thanks to Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Deirdre Clune, James O’Sullivan, Pat O’Sullivan, Nancy O’Sullivan, Frank Barry, Brendan Kenneally, Mairead McCarthy, Pat O’Mahony, Tom Gately, Pat Herlihy, George Coburn, Paddy Tierney, Pat Casey, Leila Cotter, O’Sullivan Family, Bishopstown and the staff of M.&P. O’Sullivan. A special thanks to: the family of James O’Sullivan, Cathy, Emma and Eoin; the family of Pat O’Sullivan, Berna, Linda, David, Patrick and Colette; the family of Frank Barry, Madeleine, Mark, Ciara and Aoife and the Walsh family, Paddy, Mary, Patrick, Rory and Sinéad. Pictures: M&P O’Sullivan Company Archive, Cork City Library, Kieran McCarthy, Niall Kelleher and Billy MacGill Graphic Design: Leila Cotter, SWS Marketing Services

1 Reflections, 1905-beyond 2005 “In the year 2005, M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd. celebrates one hundred years, which creates a significant milestone in the company’s history. As a thriving and established third generation cash and carry with an excellent reputation, the company has played and will continue to play an integral part in the wholesale-grocery history of Cork. The Company has not only been a partnership between directors and staff but also with the people of Cork and Munster. We have seen great support from customers over the last century. We still have an association in the retail sector of the tobacco industry. Grocery trade is now ninety per cent of our trade but the tobacco shop, established in 1905, has survived but has left its Princes Street home to Academy Street. With increased sales, we are going forward in a positive way. We are delighted to be part of the Stonehouse Group, which has helped in no small way in sustaining our reputation for high quality products, especially with the introduction of Homestead and Caterer’s Kitchen Ranges.

James and Pat O’Sullivan receiving the Checkout and Stonehouse Awards, 2003

With close connections in Cork business circle, we are very proud of Cork at this particular point in time. Buildings and streetscapes are improving for the better. Cork has become a better place to live and work in, hence creating a proper atmosphere for businesses like M.& P. O’Sullivan to thrive. We must keep Cork and our company as places of vibrancy and to sustain the energy and enthusiasm that has brought the company to celebrate one hundred years”. James O’Sullivan Pat O’Sullivan Frank Barry

M. & P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

2 Setting the scene, Cork circa 1905 It was against a backdrop of extensive social and cultural transformation that inspired the formation of M.& P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan. By 1900, the present day townscape of the city centre had emerged. The population by the year 1881 had reached 80,124 and through emigration this had dropped to 76,122 by the year 1901. In the late nineteenth century, the concerns of the poorer classes were the slum conditions, which existed in and around Shandon Street on the northside, Barrack Street on the southside and the Middle Parish, now the area of Grattan Street in the city centre. In the late 1800s, over 11,000 families were living in slum conditions. A report in 1896 by the labouring classes described that there were 1,800 tenement houses with high rents, a tenth of which had no backyards and on average, nearly thirteen people lived in one house. Healthy and sanitary conditions did not exist with untreated and impure water common-place. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 brought a new energy into local government. County councils, urban district councils and rural district councils were formed and prospective members of these bodies had to be elected by the people. In Irish towns, the councils and existing Corporations became more fully representative of all classes. In Cork City, there was a very progressive spirit. New water and sewerage schemes were undertaken as well as new housing built for the working classes. Economically, there was also a distinct decline in the financial fortunes of the city. The profits of the export provision trade of agricultural products such as butter and beef declined. In 1858, 428,000 firkins of butter were been exported per annum and by 1891, this was reduced to 170,000 firkins. Competitive European prices out-competed the prices set by the butter market at Cork. In addition, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best consumer, the British citizen favoured neater packaging, smaller more exact weights, improved colour, texture and taste; qualities that Cork butter did not possess. The quantity of butter exported decreased and decreased and eventually, the Cork butter Market closed in 1924. The early nineteenth century had seen Blackpool emerge as an industrial nodal point for the city. By the late 1800s, the area set in the valley of the River Kiln was in decline due to competing foreign markets.

Cornmarket Street, Cork c.1880

Lavittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Quay, Cork,. c.1900

M. & P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

View of Cork from present day Gurranabraher, c.1900

View of Cork International Exhibition Grounds, Mardyke, 1902 / 1903

In particular, the location was renowned for its tanyards. In 1845, sixty tanyards existed but by the closing decade of the 1800s, only sixteen yards remained. This was due largely to the introduction of cheap machine-made boots and shoes. Indeed, the only profitable commodities were corn and wool. In 1883, the city possessed twelve woollen factories with the most profitable mills located at Donnybrook in Douglas.

The unstable political nature within the country continued from the late 1800s into the 1900s. Indeed, the quest for Home Rule became very strong especially among the Irish Parliamentary Party, which represented the Irish public in Westminster and which was led by Charles Stewart Parnell up to 1890. There was also a cultural re-awakening in attempting to preserve the Irish culture. The Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) was established in Thurles in 1884 and its aspirations to preserve the old Irish sporting customs in Ireland spread to the ‘four corners’ of Ireland. Indeed the second meeting of the G.A.A. was held in Cork on 27 December 1884 at the Victoria Hotel. A national Gaelic League known as Conradh na Gaeilge was established in 1893 to further preserve aspects of Irish culture and branches were established in County Cork and Cork City. A significant change within Cork Corporation was the changing of the title Mayor to Lord Mayor in 1900. In the latter year, the elected mayor was Daniel J. Hegarty. On the 3rd April 1900, Queen Victoria sailed into Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) on an Irish tour. The Mayor and Sheriff of Cork were invited to the celebrations in Dublin. To mark the occasion, on the eve of her return to London, Queen Victoria conferred the honour of baronetcy on the Lord Mayors of Dublin and Belfast. She also announced henceforth the First Citizen of the City of Cork would hold the honourable title of Lord Mayor. Perhaps the key cultural event of the first five years of the twentieth century in Cork was the Cork International Exhibition, which took place over two seasons in 1902 and 1903. Large-scale exhibitions were not new to the City. The first major Exhibition was held in 1852 and the second in 1883. These large exhibitions were hallmark events in the development of the cultural life of the city and also put the city on the global map. The ‘brain child’s’ of the social elites in nineteenth century Cork, the exhibitions were marketing strategies where spectacle and culture merged. Aesthetics of architecture, colour, decoration and lighting were all added to the sense of spectacle and in a tone of moral and educational improvement. The exhibition concept enchanted and diverted the masses from more serious matters. The exhibitions were not merchandise marts but promoted ideas about Cork’s relations between nations, the spread of education, the advancement of science, the nature of domestic life and the place of art in Cork society. Several scientific achievements of the day were on exhibition, including an electric light, a wireless telegraph apparatus, a complete e-ray plant and a specimen of the newly discovered metal and radium.

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

3 Early Origins Paddy O’Sullivan and the Tobacco Industry Born in 1885, Paddy O’Sullivan was one of nine brothers and two sisters who were born into rural background in Clondrohid, near Macroom, Co. Cork. The story behind Paddy’s impetus to start his own business in 1905 is an interesting one and worth recounting. Paddy had been working as a grocery boy and his boss had promised one day that he could leave the store early to attend a wedding. Always a conscientious worker, he had come early to get as much work completed as possible. However, at the appointed hour he was told he could not leave. Choosing to leave and finding himself unemployed, he began to traverse the city of Cork endeavouring to develop his own wholesale and delivery service. Over time he built up credibility and a steady trade. Months later in 1905, he saw a shop with a to let sign in the window on Princes Street and established a wholesale base from which to work from. Circa 1910, Paddy’s brother Michael left the drapery trade to form the partnership that is known as M.& P. O’Sullivan. Michael also had a public house called the Oak Bar at 29 Princes Street. Indeed, the spirit of enterprise was at the heart of the O’Sullivan family. Jeremiah had a grocery shop on Great Georges Street (now Washington St.), Daniel, a cycle business in Cook Street and James who had a pharmacy in the Winthrop Arcade. The family had a long association with the GAA. Michael served as treasurer of the Cork County Board for twelve years Pádraig Ó Caoimh who was secretary-general of the GAA, served for some years as secretary to M. & P. O’Sullivan Ltd. prior to taking up that appointment. However, Michael due to ill health had to step down from management of M.&P. and Paddy became the principal director. Paddy O’Sullivan, founder member of M.&P.O’Sullivan, c.1940; Managing Director, 1905-1963

Paddy O’Sullivan was a member of the Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Cork Rotary Club, the Munster Agricultural Society and of the Catholic Young Men’s Society. He had a life-long

interest in sports such as G.A.A., coursing and road bowling. He was the Chairman of the Cork Athletic Grounds Committee and went with the Kerry footballers to America in 1933. He was also President of the Northern Coursing Club for a time. Paddy O’Sullivan, keen to develop his business, diversified into tobacco manufacture. Between 1800 and 1914, the importation, production and marketing of tobacco in Ireland, was increasingly dominated by a few large firms. The production of tobacco and snuff was one of the oldest industries in the city. It was in Cork that the second tobacco factory in Ireland was established, the first being in Dublin. Circa 1770, Messrs. Lambkin Bros founded their tobacco and snuff factory, behind their retail premises overlooking the Great Canal, now known as St. Patrick’s Street. In Cork, it was in the year 1832 at 69 and 70 South Main Street that Mr. William Clarke, founder of the firm of William Clarke & Son, began the manufacture of tobacco and snuff. After thirty years, the firm moved to Rocksavage, Cork and in 1872, the firm established works in Liverpool amongst the Irish population. Up to 1850, roll tobacco and snuff were the only local manufactures, but in the early decades of the 1900s, the home demand turned towards Plug tobacco. In addition to the plug and Irish roll, smoking mixtures, cigarettes, and other tobaccos, also gave extensive employment. Messrs. Dobbin Ogilvie & Co.’s Cordangan mixture, which was a blend of Irish grown tobacco from Lord Barrymore’s estate at Cordangan, Co. Tipperary, with American and other growths was in popular favour, not only in Ireland as far away as India. Lambkin’s Tipperary and Exhibition Mixtures obtained a wide popularity. Tobacco was also grown in select areas in West Cork. In the early twentieth century, there were about seventeen specialised tobacconists in operation in the city. Though the chief market for the Cork tobaccos was of course, the south of Ireland, there was a considerable trade with all parts of the country. During World War I, Cork factories exported large quantities of mixtures and plug tobacco for the War Office, to the various expeditionary forces. The Irish tobacco industry processed twelve per cent of UK output at a time when Irish population was under ten per cent of the UK total. Practically all the leaf for the tobacco manufactured in Cork came from America. The spring frost in Ireland meant that tobacco could not be grown in the country. The tobacco leaf was imported in 100lb Hessian Bales mainly from Malawi, Brazil and Kentucky. M. & P. had a rep called Bill Sommers in Malawi who bought the year’s requirements at the annual auctions. It was shipped to Ireland and stored at Cork Bonded Warehouse and duty paid as required.

Producers and Staff in Mary Street, Cork, c.1930

M.&P Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan Price List, 1935

4 Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork Paddy O’Sullivan, who proved himself to be an early-day shrewd and astute entrepreneur, travelled to America to study the techniques of growing and processing tobacco. It proved to be a profitable crop for farmers who participated in it in the late 1920s and early 1930s. There was no duty on Irish grown tobacco and the duty became the profit. In 1927, Paddy O’Sullivan investigated the idea of establishing a tobacco factory in Cork and built a tobacco and snuff manufacturing plant in Mary Street. A year later, The Irish Times on the 30th September 1928 carried the following news on the visit to the factory of President of Ireland W.T. Cosgrave, who was a representative in the Dáil of the Borough of Cork from 1927 to 1944;

New Industry in Cork Tobacco Factory Opened “The occasion was a luncheon given by Messrs. M. and P. O’Sullivan to mark the opening of their new industry in Cork, the Red Abbey Tobacco Factory. The function was presided over by Mr. Sean French T.D. and the attendance, which represented the shades of opinion, included Mr. Barry Egan, T.D.; Mr. R.S. Anthony, T.D.; Senator Haughton, Mr. Frank J. Daly, Chairman, Cork Harbour Baoard; Mr. T.P. Dowdall, brother of Senator Dowdall, and several other well-known business men in the city. A letter of apology for non-attendance was received from President Cosgrave. Mr. Egan proposed the toast of ‘The Trade and Commerce of Cork’. Having congratulated Mr. O’Sullivan on the enterprise and courage that he has shown in starting his new business at the present period of depression. Mr. Egan said what the whole country was suffering from at the present time, was under production. Too much attention, he said, had been paid to the distributive side of the business, and not sufficient to the manufacturing side. It was only by the introduction of such enterprises as Mr. O’Sullivan’s that they would see the transformation of Cork and the gradual lessening and disappearance of unemployment in their midst.

Guests at the opening of M.&P. O’Sullivan Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork, 7 May 1927; Top row l-r: P.O’Sullivan (Jun), P.J.O’Keeffe (secretary), D. Kenneally, J.Connell, J.O’Callaghan, J. Buckley, E.D. O’Sullivan, W.F.O’Connor, B.A. Solr., T.Foley, and D. Doherty (works manager); Second row l-r: J. Buckley, D.T. O’Sullivan, H.A. Pelly, Commissioner P.Monahan, G.Bride, R. Anthony, T.D., Senator Haughton, D. Scanlan, J.J. Barry, J.T. O’Sullivan (Chemist) and Jeremiah O’Sullivan; Seated l-r: R. Kelleher, M.O’Sullivan, F. Daly (Chairman Harbour Board), P.O’Sullivan (proprietor), Lord Mayor S. French, T.D. Rev. P. McSweeney, T.F. Dowdall and J.G. McCarthy

Paddy O’Sullivan (left) oversees President Cosgrave (centre) and guests including Mr. P. Mcgilligan, Minister for Industry and Commerce during a visit to M.&P. O’Sullivan Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork, 30th September 1928.

Mr. H.A. Pelley, manager, Hibernian Bank, Cork, in supporting the sentiment, paid tribute to Mr. O’Sullivan’s courage in entering into a business of that description, faced as he was by the big opposition from powerful combines in that industry. It was indicative of a true national spirit, and he hoped that the newly-elected deputies of Dáil Éireann would join in that spirit, and work together for the increasing of exports and the decreasing of imports, for the reduction of unemployment, and the lessening of emigration. Those were the subjects, which required immediate attention in the Free State. He hoped that the new Dáil would work together for the improvement of the industry, enterprises, and living of the Free State. The toast was supported by Mr. Anthony, Senator Haughton and Mr. W.F. O’Connor, Solicitor, and Mr.O’Sullivan briefly replied. Before the luncheon the party were conducted over the new factory, which was formally declared open by the Lord Mayor”. With the advent and duration of World War II in the late thirties and early forties, tobacco was in short supply and Paddy O’Sullivan, who became affectionately known as “Paddy Coupon” decided it was time to consolidate and build upon the company’s reputation. Paddy O’Sullivan and Gerry O’Mahony, a long serving and key member of the Company traversed the country from Clonakilty to Wexford buying up and selling as much tobacco as financially possible. Gerry O’Mahony was also a good friend of Paddy Senior and was associated with three generations of M.&P. O’Sullivan. In towns such as Courtown and Gorey in Co. Wexford, it was announced at mass that the buyers for M.&P. O’Sullivan would be available after mass. The store on Mary Street was filled up to the ceiling with tobacco. Hence in 1939, the company bought the premises of the Victoria Palace Dance Hall at Victoria Cross as an additional storehouse. Shortly afterwards the company closed their Mary Street operation. Dan O’Doherty, Danny Kenneally and Bernard Foran were managers of the Tobacco factory at Victoria Cross for several years. The last manager Pat Howe took over

Gerry O’Mahony, long serving staff member and former director

the management of the Victoria Cross premises until 1982 when it was converted fully for cash and carry use. James O’Sullivan recalls of later years in the tobacco industry: “As a young fellow in the sixties, I remember going to the tobacco factory with my father. As a seven year old, I remember being in that building and thinking that was the biggest building I had ever been in. The smell of tobacco being manufactured has an everlasting memory in your mind. At that time, there were around thirty people working in the factory doing manual work and packaging.

M. & P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

We had the government contracts for tobacco supply. I remember the process: placing dry tobacco leaves into a baking tin adding a certain amount of moisture, putting a steel plate put on top of the leave and, then another layer of tobacco leaves on top of it. The cake was then pressed in steam pressers and put in ovens and baked. When baked, the cake was cut into plugs and then into individual wrappers. We also manufactured snuff, High Toast and Cork snuff. The leaf was stripped by hand from the stems. The leaf was used to manufacture Plug and twist (often used for chewing). The stems were then toasted for a full day in front of an open fire, crushed in a snuff mill to either a coarse or fine finish. Trading tobacco in our shop on Princes Street was an integral part of that street. As time went on, it became the last key tobacco shop to survive in the cityâ&#x20AC;?.

Staff at the Tobacco Factory, 1927

Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Illustrated View, c.1930

Tobacco Advertisement, c.1940

M. & P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Early marketing techniques, c. 1940 - bilingual advertisement

5 Mid Twentieth Century Consolidation The other M.&P. O’Sullivan premises, the Princes Street building, was an early nineteenth century structure and three storeys high. The picture of the shopfront of M.& P. O’Sullivan in the 1920s shows staff members Mick O’Sullivan (left) and Johnny Kenneally (right). A staff member and manager at M.P. O’Sullivan for many years, Johnny Kenneally was also one of the greatest Cork hurling forwards in the 1920s and 1930s. He combined coolness, speed, positional sense and skill with an outstanding knowledge of all the finer points of the game. In 1929 he won a Munster minor championship with Cork and he travelled to Dublin to play on the All-Ireland minor final. Sean Óg Murphy recognising his skill got him withdrawn from the minor final and he played instead on the winning Cork senior side. Indeed, Johnny gave his 1931 medal to the clergy of St. Francis Church who needed gold to make the tabernacle. Despite leaving school in his teens like many others of his generation, it was the school of life that made Paddy O’Sullivan very tuned into marketing M.& P. O’Sullivan. He was ahead of his time in terms many of his marketing ideas. As early as 1909, Paddy O’Sullivan had developed an interest in discounts and developed a gift scheme. One could redeem them for gifts such tobacco knives and pouches, tea pots and butter dishes. The company added wholesale grocery to its tobacco business in 1933. Paddy O’Sullivan’s son also called Paddy (born in 1923) was claimed as a quiet giver who was a resilient and capable administrator. At the age of 15, Paddy was a commerce student at UCC and three years later he finished his degree. However, because of his age, he had to wait a further year before being conferred. He went on to take on an apprenticeship as a commercial traveller for the firm he would inherit. During those years on the road he developed lasting friendships and a reputation as a sharp wit and lively companion. In his private life, Paddy (junior) was a consummate family man, a friend to his beloved children, Madeleine, Mary, Pat and James and lifelong companion of Nancy. Long before his entry to UCC, Paddy had developed a passionate love of sport that would remain with him for the rest of his life. His interests

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

were wide ranging, embracing all disciplines and his understanding intuitive. He reserved a special place for the national games, maintained a close association with the GAA throughout most of his 67 years, and was one of the few who could recall in detail the Cork, Munster and All Ireland campaigns going back to the thirties. Paddy O’Keeffe, his close friend, after whom Pairc Uí Chaoimh was later named, was secretary of M.&P O’Sullivan prior to his appointment as general secretary of the GAA. Having joined the family company in 1944, Paddy O’Sullivan (junior) helped lead and guide the business through several important stages of expansion, especially the overseeing of the growth of the grocery trade. In the fifties and sixties, the company went into tea blending and sold the famous brand Silver Pot Tea. The tea was delivered to Princes Street in 100lb chests by cart and drey. The tea was then hauled up to the first floor for blending and packing. The company produced different blends signified by the colour of the packet under the watchful eye of Paddy Hyde. Paddy O’Sullivan was advised on tea

Paddy O’Sullivan (Junior), Managing Director, 1963-1990

blends by his good friend and tea expert, Bill Beamish. Originally, most teas

were imported from Africa, Ceylon and India. Kenya was the first country to modernise production and produced cut torn curled tea, which is still the main basis for modern teas. These were all blended to different formulae, depending on the required quality of the finished product. Each wholesale call for M.&P. from west Waterford and south west Kerry included a parcel or two of tea. There were coupons on the tea for so many labels so you could claim a gift. From 1964, the ground floor of the Princes street shop was divided in two distinct sections with retail and wholesale. Despite the poor Irish economic climate and very few opportunities for employment, there were fifteen staff employed circa 1960 in the wholesale department and two in the retail side. During this time, Paddy’s (Junior) brothers, Michael, Barry and Teddy O’Sullivan worked in the company. Joan Murphy (nee O’Sullivan) was also involved in the company in the sixties and early seventies.

Frank Barry, now financial controller of the company, joined the Princes Street shop in 1963. He notes of the early days; “It is an extraordinary story in the sense of how we survived in Princes Street and how the business endured there for so long…a lot of it was down to Paddy who had been on the road for years and who had built up great contacts and a personal rapport with many of the customers…the family continued the ties from that…the firm still is built on a personal basis. In the early days, the absence of computers meant all orders were written in triplicate and totted up. Stock-taking was originally maintained via hand written notes, which was a long process with stock priced at various pounds, shillings and pence. Goods were stored on three levels and hauled up by a hand operated lift. Heavy canned goods were kept on ground floor. Business was labour intensive with breaking cases and assembling and weighing being the order of the day. In the grocery trade, there were no pre-packed goods. There was a special way of hand sealing various products such as tea and sugar. CIE had a contract to supply large containers of food via the delivery of goods by drey horses pulling large carts.”

Frank Barry, Company Financial Controller, 2005

Pat O’Sullivan also recalls; “In the 1960s, it was a far more personal business when I came at fourteen years of age to work with my father on Princes Street during my school holidays. My first memory and one of my first jobs was the ‘block laying’ of biscuit tins. It was an art. The tins were stacked ten and twelve high. It was all manual handling... there was a manual lift but there were parts of the building that you had to climb three flights of stairs. Every wholesaler was working under similar conditions. We had a bench inside where orders were assembled, where cases were often split into dozens and half-dozens...my father was on the road a lot of the time. He especially travelled to west Waterford to places such as Lismore and Midelton in East Cork. People shared their business with three or four wholesalers at that time”. Pat O’Sullivan, Company Director, 2005

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Mairéad McCarthy recalls her time with the company fondly: “The setting was an old fashioned shop in Princes Street. There was a fair amount of learning to do. For instance, there were so many different types of pipes, tobaccos, snuffs, not to mention all the other goods, the different qualities, quantities and prices. The twist or chewing tobacco was very popular. Some people asked for a quarter, half, or ounce, which ever was suited to their needs. The tobacco was kept rolled in a coil and kept under the counter for convenience. The twist tobacco was made in the firm’s factory, then distributed round the country from the wholesale department, to the different retail outlets. Where the retail end of it was concerned, a little block of wood was placed on the counter. Then with a knife the amount asked for was cut to suit each persons’s taste. Popular though it was in those days. In later years, it disappeared off the market completely. Cutting the plug tobacco was a new experience for me. There was a right and a wrong way to cut it. When it was cut with the grain it was easy to rub out or tease it out. Mairéad McCarthy, former staff member

I worked for M.&P. until 1987 when I retired”. Another long term employee in the retail department was Margaret O’Donovan, who was

well respected and extremely popular with the customers. Madeline Barry (nee O’Sullivan) worked for 8 years in the accounts department and Mary Walsh (nee O’Sullivan) also worked in the shop during this period.

Past staff members c. 1980. l-r, Sonnie French, Ted O’Connor and Christy O’Donoghue

M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd, one of the proud sponsors of Cork 2005. l-r: Nigel O’Mahony (Cork 2005), Pat O’Sullivan, Frank Barry and James O’Sullivan

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

6 Expansion and Growth, c.1970-c.2005: James O’Sullivan recalls spending his summer holidays from school working in Princes Street in the early seventies; “I remember the vibrancy of the street –Paul Dillon the Grocer, Dennehy’s Butcher Shop, Olden’s Butchers and O’Donavan’s Butchers, Mackey’s Butchers, Quains and Mortells Fish Shop, Finner’s Jewellers, Water’s Hardware, Murphy’s, the County Shop Con’s American Bar,Clancy’s Bar, Lily’s Café, Bacarra Café, Thompson’s Cafe, Barry’s Tea, Farmhouse Confectionary, Gerard Goldberg, Solicitor and former Lord Mayor, Cummins’ Sports and Norvan’s Grocer… that landscape has all changed now…all that’s left of that era is the English Market. Princes Street was a lead into the Market...I remember my father, Jerry O’Sullivan (Clancy’s) and Donal Mackey were very active in the Princes Street Traders Association.”

James O’Sullivan, Company Director, 2005

There were great characters working for the company. Christy O’Donoghue, a Kinsale man, began his career as a gardener for Paddy O’Sullivan Senior. He worked for the company for over fifty years and in later years, he drove the van for the company and was known the length and breadth of the country. James O’Sullivan can remember going on the truck with Christy and delivering on the Ring of Kerry with great memories stopping off at Kenmare, Portmagee and Valentia Island serving customers. Irish was also major source of communication amongst reps. Tom Culhane was on the road for the Company for years. Another long serving and loyal member of the Company was Tommy Brennan. He worked for Gills, Jam and Confectionary Manufacturers on Princes Street. He came to work for the company but then branched out in a partnership called Cummins and Brennan. He came back to M.&P. and even when he retired he came in on a Saturday to help out. Redmond Walsh worked as a sales rep for M.&P. O’Sullivan for many years. He was a lifelong friend of

the O’Sullivan family and with his wife Betsy shared many a social and sporting occasion with Paddy (junior) and his wife Nancy. Redmond later became the national sales manager with the John Hinde Group (the famous postcard manufacturing company). Sonnie French was a man with a great sense of humour. There was a drill to christen, in a sense, any new employee to the company. Sonnie would walk around ghost like with his two hands out in front of him on Princes Street. When the new employee would ask what was the story, he was told that it was the full moon- and that Sonnie goes off the rails! The Princes Street shop maintained a good turnover but the advent of the Cash and Carry business had a detrimental effect on every traditional wholesaler in Cork. With the preser-

Redmond Walsh, Former Sales Rep with M&P O’Sullivan Ltd.

vation of his business in mind, Paddy O’Sullivan oversaw the significant development of his company from a traditional wholesaler where everything was on different levels to moving into a large warehouse Cash and Carry business. In 1977, Paddy O’Sullivan initiated a major expansion and move to Victoria Cross. The Company quickly expanded and was soon looking for extra space. The adjacent Pope’s Garage came up for sale in 1985 and was purchased by the Company, who built as a new warehouse. The company opened in Dunmanway in 1979. The new Clonakility Road premises were initially managed by Harry Love, a Skibbereen man with a number of strong links with the town of Dunmanway. Harry began his wholesale career with R.J. Mahon of Roscrea and then moved to Atkins of Dunmanway for twenty years. The West Cork facility is now managed by Liam Deasy. The Homestead range was launched in 1983 and became a brand leader for many of its products. The majority of Homestead products are Guaranteed Irish and produced by leading manufacturers in Ireland. It was designed solely for

Harry Love, original manager, Dunmanway premises

the independent retailers. The new cash and carry business was a success story from day one. Despite the fact the company was small, valuable and positive goodwill was already in place from existing and potential customers. In 1977, there were nine cash and carry businesses or wholesalers in Cork and in excess of twelve van wholesalers operating in the city. The growth in large supermarket chains led to the decline in the wholesale grocery trade and this was evidenced by the demise in the late sixties and early seventies of such well-known companies such as Newsoms, M.D. Daly, Dwyers and T.F. Harris during the ensuing years. Of all the wholesalers, only

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

The Pope Bros premises, Victoria Cross was purchased in 1985

Opening of extension in 1987; Back Row l-r: Frank Barry, Sonnie French, Gerry Murphy, Paul Fleming, Eddie Hourigan, Pat O’Sullivan, James O’Sullivan; Front Row l-r: Pat Corrigan, Anne Kerins, Paddy O’Sullivan, Gerry O’Sullivan (Lord Mayor of Cork), Joe Cummins, Norma Cotter and Stephen Barrett.

M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Complex, Victoria Cross, c.1990

two remain today, Musgraves and M. & P. O’Sullivan. As Pat O’Sullivan notes of the early seventies; “In one sense, in the seventies one could not make a mistake in buying goods. There was an inflation boom. As soon as you bought one day, the price went up the next day. It was an era, which coincided with the development of Cash and Carry. The idea was promoted in the UK in the sixties and they appeared in Ireland in the early seventies. We were lucky we had a spare warehouse in Victoria Cross because our tobacco business had declined. Moving house is traumatic, moving business is worse. Our business was now completely on the flat with the same square footage as the Princes Street shop. The first Cash and Carry I saw was in Tuam, Co. Galway. We were members of the National Wholesale Grocers Alliance (formed in 1961). Without this group, it would have been impossible to survive in the late twentieth century. I attended a conference in Galway in 1974 promoting Cash and Carry. We still carried on the wholesale business but the Cash and Carry business grew. The trend in recent years had been going back to deliveries. In today’s busy environment time has become and issue in most businesses which has led to an increased delivery service. The big move for us was to be part of the Gala Franchise with other wholesalers in 1998. That has resulted in bringing a larger buying group together. We started with no shops, now in 2005, Gala has opened its 200th shop.

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

In 2000, the National Wholesale Group formed an alliance with Keencost establishing the Stonehouse Marketing Group, which the company became part of. We moved to Doughcloyne Industrial Estate in 1999 having purchased the warehouse of the Munster United Merchants some 30,000 square feet. In 2002, Stonehouse formed an important alliance with Superquinn establishing a group called Aontas, which has further increased our buying power. The January 1999, BW.G. (Spar) handing over the keys of the new M.&P. O’Sullivan premises at Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate; l-r, Joe McSweeney, Pat O’Sullivan, Colette O’Sullivan, Linda O’Sullivan, Berna O’Sullivan

saddest thing is that succession in the retail business is poor. Unfortunately further closures of small shops across the country are inevitable. This has been offset by the growth in the Gala franchise... also I remember when I was young the

only time I ate out was at my communion or confirmation. You never ate out outside of that. Now more people are dining out on a regular basis which has led to a dramatic increase in our foodservice business. We are very proud that in this our special year, we were awarded the prestigious title of Stonehouse Foodservice Depot of the Year. We were competing with over 56 other depots nationwide” In 2005, M.&P. O’Sullivan is a successful, Irish-owned and entrepreneurial company, which has changed and expanded with the times. It is the intention, under its current directors and operations manager Tim O’Driscoll, to continue and expand on the foresight shown by the founders and continue the personal aspect of the business in the coming years. As for the future, James O’Sullivan notes: “Despite being a third generation family business, the aggressive marketing nature of the grocery trade, one has to work hard. As a company we have always respected our employees, that they were an integral part of our business going forward. In life you must give respect to get respect. Otherwise you don’t get respect. That was the aim of my father – respecting the workers and customers…looking after the customers…because if you don’t someone else will… without the customers you don’t function. Each individual customer is important”.

Setting up the warehouse, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate building, 1999

Interior, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate building, 2005

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Management & staff at M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Premises, Dunmanway, Co. Cork, 2005

Management & staff at M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Premises, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate, Cork, celebrating the Stonehouse Foodservice Depot Award, 2005

Centenary promotion car winner, Loretta Lennox being presented with her Suzuki swift car; included l-r Pat Murray, MD, City View Wheels and from M.&P. O’Sullivan, Carl Toal, Pat O’Sullivan and James O’Sullivan.

M.&P. O’Sullivan celebrate with Cork’s sporting heroes of 2005; l-r, Valerie Mulcahy of the Cork Ladies Football team, All Ireland Winners 2005, Pat O’Sullivan, Frank Barry (both of M.&P. O’Sullivan), Dan Murray, Captain of Cork City F.C. the Eircom League Champions 2005, Cllr. Colm Burke, Deputy Lord Mayor, George O’Callaghan of Cork City F.C., Cllr. Michael Creed, Mayor of Cork County, Seán Og O’Hailpín, Captain of the Cork Hurlers, All Ireland Winners 2005, James O’Sullivan (M.&P. O’Sullivan) and Sarah O’Donovan of the Cork Camogie Team, All Ireland Winners 2005.

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Celebrating the centenary in September 2005, evening for retiree reps. and employees associated with M.&P.O’Sullivan; Back row, l-r; Tom Curtin, Reg Treacy, Sean Kelly, Barry Kelly, Kieran Garvin, Richard Fair, Frank Barry (M.&P. O’Sullivan), Tony Gaffney, Vincent Murphy, Tom Gately and Sam Strong. Middle row, l-r, Tadhg O’Halloran, George Coburn, Kieran Flynn, Harry Love (M.&P. O’Sullivan), Pat Murphy, Pat O’Sullivan (M.&P.O’Sullivan), James O’Sullivan (M.&P. O’Sullivan), Bruce Huggard, Paddy Tierney, Seamus Irwin, Eddie Hunter, Michael Owens, Paul Hassett and Mossie Murphy. Front row, l-r, Terry Walsh, Pat Herlihy, Michael Casey, Brendan O’Keeffe, Jim Aston, Sam Williams, George Spicer, Finbarr Scannell, Noel Mullen and Peter Duffy.

Celebrating the centenary at Rossinis, 34 Princes Street, the original premises of M.&P. O’Sullivan, Reps and Retiree Evening, September 2005, Jim Aston (centre) and Jim Reeves.

Pat Herlihy (former Rep. with Williams and Woods) “There is an old saying in business…the first generation make it, the second generation consolidates and the third generation blows the business…that has not happened with the O’Sullivans. The third generation has been successful in expanding the business. The old man was a tough business man. Paddy, his son was an absolute gentleman and I found in calling to the company, they were a very friendly and welcoming. The people of the present day company work very well together and are very well respected in the trade…they have worked hard in building up a rapport with their suppliers and customers”.

George Coburn (former depot manager with P.J. Carroll) “My first contact with the company occurred when I came to Cork in 1961 from Dundalk and I knew the grandfather, old Paddy as I called him. He used to play bowls with Tom Finn and used to finish up in Days pub in Waterfall. Young Paddy had a computer as a brain…it is a very go ahead company”.

Paddy Tierney (former Rep. with Beechams) “M.&P. O’Sullivan are very dear to my heart. I remember very well over forty years ago when I called to M.&P. my first call. I said my spiel and produced my goods for the manager to say no order. I was just packing my bag and very disappointed when a voice came over the partition; ‘give him an order’. It was Paddy. O’Sullivan. There is no doubt that I got the order because I was young and a Tipperary man! He had a grá for the hurling, a topic we carried on discussing for many years”.

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005

Employees of M.& P. O’Sullivan, 2005 Doughcloyne

Dunmanway

Marcin Apanowicz

Aoife Connolly

John Bowman

Ciara Connolly

Denis Cronin

Deirdre Crowley

David Crowley

Killian Crowley

Eddie Hourigan

Carmel Cullinane

Linda Kearney

Liam Deasy

Caroline Kelleher Marcin Natkowski

Breeda Galvin Ann Hayes

Samantha Nation

Michael Keohane

Maxi O’ Callaghan

Michael McCarthy

Paul O’ Donovan

Liam Murphy

Tara O’ Donovan

Declan O’ Driscoll

Tim O’ Driscoll

Edward O’ Driscoll

Denis O’ Dwyer

Brian O’ Leary

Claire O’ Keeffe

Aiden O’ Sullivan

Paul O’ Mahony Kevin O’ Sullivan Patrick F. O’ Sullivan Krzyszuk Pniewczuk

M & P O’ Sullivan Academy Street Jane O’ Callaghan

Ross Quirke

Ciara Shields

Carl Toal Przemyslaw Wilczewski Gerry Williams

M.&P.O’Sullivan Ltd. Company Synopsis 1905 - Opened Retail/Tobacco Shop 1927 - Tobacco Factory, Mary Street opened 1933 - Started Wholesale Grocery Business 1944 - Paddy (junior) commences working in Princes Street 1965 - Joined N.W.G.A (National Wholesale) 1977 - Moved Wholesale Business to Victoria Cross 1979 - Purchased Atkin’s Business in Dunmanway 1983 - Launch of Homestead range of products 1987 - Opened new Cash and Carry in Victoria Cross 1998 - Formation of Gala Group Shops 1998 - Purchased New premises on Sarsfield Road 1999 - Move from Victoria Cross to Sarsfield Road 2000 - Formation of Stonehouse Group (National Wholesale and Keencost) 2002 - Aontas Buying Group established (Stonehouse and Superquinn) 2005 - Gala opened its 200th store 2005 - M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd. celebrate their centenary

Paddy O’Sullivan (Senior) overseeing work at the M.&P. O’Sullivan tobacco factory, Mary Street, Cork, c. 1940

E7.50 PROCEEDS TO CORK CHARITIES In the year 2005, M.&P. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan Ltd. celebrates one hundred years, which creates a significant milestone in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history. As a thriving and established third generation cash and carry with an excellent reputation, the company has played and will continue to play an integral part in the wholesale-grocery history of Cork.