From the archives: Opening of Castlebar hat factory in 1940

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By Tom Gillespie

'INDUSTRIAL progress in Castlebar - new factory goes into production'. So read the headline on page seven of The Connaught Telegraph dated Saturday, September 14, 1940.

The factory in question was the hat factory on the Newport Road and the newspaper reported:

A new era in the industrial development of Castlebar - county town of historic Mayo - will be ushered in when the magnificent new factory of Western Hats, Limited, reaches a stage of full production in the course of the next few months.

The new building, which covers a nine-acre site and stands on the main road leading to Newport and not far from Castlebar town, is a unique structure in many ways, and from many a mile away calls attention to the progress and development of a town which is affectionately referred to in our histories and patriotic songs as ‘Castlebar of the Races’.

It is some two years since a number of business and public men in the county conceived the idea of bringing to Castlebar some such industry as would enable the town keep apace with national developments and accordingly help to solve the question of unemployment and migration.

With a number of worthy ends in view they set about getting the Government interested in the project, and shortly the aid of Belgian and other foreign technical experts was successfully enlisted.

Much local financial support was also secured and soon work on the elaborate building was commenced.

About the same time a large body of boys and girls from around Castlebar were sent to Verviers, in Belgium, in order to receive technical training in the management of various machines which are used in the process of hood-making and hat-shaping.

While in Belgium these young workers were well treated and received payment. They were located in convents and other suitable buildings and received the greatest care and attention.

During their stay abroad work on the new factory in Castlebar was proceeding, but with the outbreak of war many of the plans of the directors were upset and really formidable obstacles were placed in their way because a great deal of the materials and machinery necessary had to be imported from Belgium and other lands.

Constant communications with interests in the latter-mentioned country had to be maintained, and consequently great handicaps arose when Belgium was invaded.

Nevertheless, the directors of the company worked energetically with a view to keeping the good work in progress, and though harried by upsets and drawbacks, they managed to smooth over all of these difficulties, with the result that the new industry is now in a position to commence experimental operations and, in fact, has been so engaged during the past week.

That it has been possible to make such meritorious and valuable progress against such inestimable odds has been due in the main to the active cooperation of the workers and technicians and the directorate, which includes Senator John Eddie McEllin, M. Schmolka, Senator Claessens of Belgium and the secretary, Mr. O’Dwyer, with others.

Today the factory stands as a tribute to all concerned and it is a striking testimony to Irish industry, skill and workmanship.

It would be a difficult task to attempt a description of the interior of the building, of the myriad of machines, or the number of departments from that in which the raw product enters to that in which the perfect styled hat is completed.

The main entrance to the building leads to the up-to-date offices and rooms of the directors.

Overhead there is a spacious room for the storing of wool, a compartment which can hold hundreds of tons of this product.

Underneath the storeroom is the main entrance to the working department, and a visit to this section confronts one with a battery of all kinds of unusual machines.

There are multi-rollers, carding and mixing machines, carbonising plant, dust-extracting machines, double-twisters, hydro-extractors, and dyeing machines, all located in their own departments.

There are rows of hood-shaping irons from which the style of each hat is moulded, all worked by steam raised by immense boilers which measure something like 30 feet by eight foot.

It is very hard indeed to give any impression of the colossal nature of the entire undertaking so extensive is the building and so varied the types of machines and processes.

The frontage of the factory is about 70 yards and the present depth something similar.

Later on, when production reaches a higher stage, the present building will be enlarged, and reservations for this coming progress have been amply made.

At the moment the factory is in the smaller stages of production, and a large number of these boys and girls who received technical training in Belgium are on the pay-roll.

As time goes on more hands will be engaged and gradually full production will be reached and the pay-roll enlarged.

To meet immediate demands there is in stock a full complement of South African and Australian Marino wool, the material which is necessary for hood-making.

The company can at any moment supplement these supplies as their business progresses and as contacts are made with businesses houses at home and abroad.

With the opening of this great new industry Castlebar may well feel proud of itself and look to the future with every confidence.

The factory operated for 45 years. At its height it employed 270 workers.

In the early 1960s they got the contract to produce five-gallon Stetson hats for the US market.