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Ardfinnan Woollen Mills

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Coordinates: 52°18′40″N 7°52′46″W / 52.311222°N 7.879583°W / 52.311222; -7.879583
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mulcahy Redmond was a textile company at the Ardfinnan Woollen Mills that traded as Ardfinnan on the underlying banks of Ardfinnan Castle in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, Ireland.[1] It was known for tweed and worsted cloth, knitting yarn, and tailoring ready-made suits on-site as the only Irish factory completing all stages of processing from sheep to clothing.[2] Ardfinnan continues to trade under sole proprietorship within the Mulcahy family.[3]

Watermill building built c.1885 on bridge with Ardfinnan Castle to rear.

History

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Early history

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John Mulcahy established Mulcahy, Redmond & Co. woollen mills in 1869 at the watermill of Ardfinnan Castle on the River Suir.[4]

The Suir flowed directly under the watermill, navigated by the weir and mill race, uniquely exiting under an arch of the adjoining historical 14 arch Ardfinnan bridge itself, insuring a powerful flow. It was also along the main road from Dublin to Cork. The mill was likely in this advantageous position since the construction of Ardfinnan Castle, as a source of milled flour for the knights, but the oldest surviving account is in the 17th century.[5] The earliest mill here would have adjoined the monastic site before the present castle, said to be founded by Saint Finnan (for which Ardfinnan is named) in the 6th century, with Saint Carthage laying the foundations for Lismore Abbey from here. Strong local traditions of independent hand-weaving and spinning, provided a skilled local workforce.[6] It is believed the traditions date back to the monastic settlement and cloth fulling at the mill by the Knights Templar of Ardfinnan Castle. A William le Teynturer (William the Dyer, of cloth) is recorded in the village in 1295.[7]

For the woollen mills, the large green on the opposite side of the bridge was used for tentering cloth and drying locally sourced wool, mostly produced by sheep in the Suir Valley, Galtee and Knockmealdown mountains. It advertised in the 1880s as makers of Irish tweeds, friezes, blankets and railway rugs.

In 1883 a fire destroyed the main six-story watermill building, damaging surrounding structures and Mulcahy's adjoining dwelling at Mill House. Employment numbers were estimated from 50 to 100.[8][9]

The water wheel was replaced by a water turbine by 1885, built in New Jersey by T.C. Alcott & Son, it was among only two other mills in Munster to employ this source of power, being Ashgrove Woollen Mills and Kerry Woollen Mills.[5][10] By now Mulcahy had won competitions for the quality of his fabrics judged in the capital city of Dublin.[10] Workers cottages were built by the company, growing the village, with tennis courts opened in 1926 and Ardfinnan GAA founded by workers who had played football on the green.[11] With its own gas and electrical supply predating 1921, the latter was provided to local housing and electric street lights until the ESB took over the supply in January 1953.[12][13]

Mulcahy, Redmond was selected to represent the Irish Woollen Industry along with 12 other firms at the Cork International Exhibition of 1902.[14]

Galtee Motor Cloth

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Mulcahy, Redmond c.1880s - Note monastic style bell and adjoining castellated annex with gothic door and gate (right) predating other structures and demolished by the 1990s.

In 1906 the firm patented Galtee Motor Frieze, an innovative cloth combining warmth with a waterproof-breathable functionality for the emerging motoring clothing market.[15] Named after the Galtee Mountains and evoking the inclement Irish weather, it was designed to be "the warmest cloth ever made for motoring coats". It was a layered cloth of Irish frieze and merino wool woven with mohair from the Angora goat. Slightly porous when dry, therefore breathable and thus hygienic, but when the outer surface became wet, the pores of the cloth closed due to contraction and subsequently became rainproof.[16]

In late 1906 King Edward VII commissioned lengths of Galtee Motor Frieze for his motoring coat, at which time his was the first royal household to adopt the use of the motorcar in the world.[17] It is said that he visited the mills, a familiar sight to him on his motor drives from Lismore Castle. Irish motoring pioneer Richard J. Mecredy, remarked in 1908, "We have used one of these coats for several years, and find it perfect from every point of view", highlighting that it was waterproof not only after continuous use, but also when exposed to a water hose.[18] In Great Britain and Ireland, the Galtee Motor Frieze became popular for bespoke tailored car coats. Ready-made coats were first supplied by Pim Bros.[19]

For inclement weather conditions on the road, these woollen coats were superior in their multi-purpose functionality to either fur coats, rubber Mackintosh or cotton gabardine Burberry raincoats.[16] High market demand was brief however, as the introduction of car windshields made weatherproof motoring coats obsolete.

1914 - 1960s

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The British War Office signed large contracts with Mulcahy, Redmond during the First World War to produce khaki serge for military uniforms.[20] Following this, the mills expanded to the opposite side of the road and had the largest boiler in the south of Ireland, imported from Glasgow.[13] Ardfinnan Suitings gained prestige in tailoring houses in London, Paris and New York.

John Mulcahy bought Ardfinnan Castle in 1921.[21]

Following Irish independence, the state commissioned uniform cloths for the civil service, including special commissions for the suits and overcoats for Éamon de Valera to wear representing Ireland at the League of Nations, including both as President of the Council of the League of Nations in 1932 and President of the Assembly of the League of Nations in 1938.

After the Second World War, a men's, boy's, and later a women's ready-made clothing department employing over 70 female workers was operated at the mills, making Mulcahy, Redmond the only factory within the Republic of Ireland that was completing all stages of clothing manufacture from raw fleece to a tailored garment. It was thus the most vertically-integrated woollen mills and also had a darning department for repairing customers woollens.[2][22]

Ardfinnan House, 17 Trinity Street, Dublin 2, was the address of their store, showroom and office in the capital city. The sign "Ardfinnan House" remains on this building today. A trade showroom was on South William Street in Dublin.

In both 1961 and 1962, Ardfinnan thornproof tweed won the Premier London Award and Georgian Silver Cup at international level in London.[2] The Ardfinnan brand was also known for Tipperary Tweed or Tipperary Luxury Tweed.

Tweed was designed and produced for the uniforms of the airline staff of Aer Lingus.

A Gold Medal of Industrial Excellence was awarded to Mulcahy, Redmond for their bouclé tweed at the 1965 Leipzig Trade Fair in Germany, out of 350 entries from all fields of industry.[23]

Redundancy

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Mulcahy, Redmond in the early 1970s.

With up to 500 people dependent on the mills, the remaining workforce were laid off in January 1973. The firm was strangled by competitive disadvantages following the unregulated onslaught of offshore imports and synthetics, climaxing with Ireland's admission to the EEC.[24] A large protest in Clonmel followed, as promises by the government to cover financial debt were not upheld.

Ardfinnan continues to trade under sole proprietorship within the Mulcahy family.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Worral, J. (1962). The British and Dominion Textile Industry, Excluding Lancashire & Yorkshire (1 ed.). New York: New York Public Library. p. 617.
  2. ^ a b c "Magnificent Array of Readymade Suits pg. 7". Wicklow People. 27 April 1963.
  3. ^ a b "Ardfinnan". www.ardfinnanwoollenmills.ie. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  4. ^ Journal of The Waterford & South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, Volume VII, Harvey & Co. 1901
  5. ^ a b Industrial Ireland 1750-1930: An Archaeology, Colin Rynne, Collins Press, 2006
  6. ^ Nugent, W. J. "Spinning and Weaving". Dúchas. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
  7. ^ Hodkinson, Brian (9 October 2025). "Who Was Who in Medieval Limerick; from Manuscript Sources" (PDF). Limerick.ie. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  8. ^ Exeter Times
  9. ^ "Burning of Ardfinnan Woollen Factory". Clonmel Chronicle. Clonmel. 3 October 1883. p. 2.
  10. ^ a b "Ardfinnan Woolen Factory". Cork Weekly Herald. Cork. 21 February 1885. p. 6.
  11. ^ "Club History - ardfinnan-tipperary-gaa". www.ardfinnan.tipperary.gaa.ie. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Connecting Tipperary to the national grid". 18 September 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Ardfinnan Woollen Mills". The Clonmel Chronicle. Clonmel. 14 September 1921. p. 3.
  14. ^ Cork International Exhibition 1902 The Illustrated Exhibitor. Wilson, Hartnell & Co. 1902.
  15. ^ "Dublin Motor Show, Ballsbridge, January 5th to 12th, 1907". The Irish Times. 1907.
  16. ^ a b Health's Highway, R.J. Mecredy, Yellon, Williams & Co. Ltd., 1909
  17. ^ "Dublin Motor Show, Ballsbridge, January 5th to 12th, 1907". The Irish Times. 1907.
  18. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Motoring, R.J. Mecredy, Mecredy Percy & Co. 1908
  19. ^ "Dublin Motor Show, Ballsbridge, January 5th to 12th, 1907". The Irish Times. 1907.
  20. ^ In a Time of War: Tipperary 1914-1918, John Dennehy, Merrion, 2013
  21. ^ "Death of Mr W.J. Mulcahy". Munster Tribune. 25 March 1960. p. 5.
  22. ^ "Funges New readymade Department". Wicklow People. 28 May 1960. p. 5.
  23. ^ Keane, Terry (23 September 1965). "Wool firm scored all along the line". The Irish Times. p. 13. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
  24. ^ Ó Brádaigh, Ruairí (December 1973). Our People, Our Future: What Éire Nua Means (1 ed.). Dublin: Sinn Féin. p. 28.

52°18′40″N 7°52′46″W / 52.311222°N 7.879583°W / 52.311222; -7.879583

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