Mayo textile factory helped spare worst of Famine horrors

by Alan King

During the Great Famine (1841-51) the population of Castlebar Parish fell from 10,464 to 9,135, a relatively small reduction compared to other districts in both Mayo and the west of Ireland.

The fact that Castlebar was spared the horrors of Belmullet, Ballina or Westport was partly due to the successful efforts of three locals who had both energy and vision.

Henry Murphy, a merchant of Bridge Street in the town, met with two Catholic curates, Revs. Michael Curley and Peter Geraghty, in January 1848, at a time when both hunger and disease were rampant in town and rural areas.

In an effort to combat the prevailing destitution the three launched the Castlebar Trades’ Industrial Society to operate a new textile factory in the town.

The factory was located in a large building in Newtown, formerly the Rent Office for the Lucan Estate. It is believed to have been situated on the site of the present Marsh House.

The building was owned by St. Clair O’Malley, formerly agent for Lord Lucan, and the O’Malley family retained ownership until it was sold to William Sheridan in 1894 and substantially refurbished by local contractor, Richard Condon.

The business, known locally as the Newtown factory was involved in manufacturing a wide variety of both linen and woollen goods.

It was modelled on a similar business recently established in Westport by the then Marchioness of Sligo.

It had a large, mostly female workforce, recruited from the Union Workhouse in Castlebar, and was managed by a Mr. Brady, a Scot with wide experience of the fabric business.

The Newtown Factory received its first major order almost immediately from Polish born Count Paul Strzelecki (1796-1873) who was Commissioner for Relief Funds in Connaught.

The contract was to produce one thousand suits (at ten shillings a suit) for distribution to the destitute poor in Castlebar itself. Further business came from the local Workhouse with an order (worth over seven hundred pounds, a huge sum at the time) to supply blankets and sheets for the inmates.

Successful completion attracted similar contracts from the Workhouses in both Ballinrobe and Claremorris.

The number employed reached almost six hundred by the end of 1848 and the business traded successfully for several years.

A number of events then conspired to bring an end to the Newtown Factory in a relatively short time.

The Boards of Guardians in Castlebar decided to purchase their requisites from English manufacturers rather than local producers and this was followed in 1853 by a dispute over payments for goods previously received by the Workhouse.

Court proceedings over the amount ended in victory for the Society but the Board of Guardians awarded no further contracts and this (together with an end to subscription income due to the dispute and law case) meant the Newtown Factory had to close its doors.

The subsequent history of the three promoters is interesting in itself. Fr. Curley was appointed Parish Priest of Louisburgh in 1853 and used his financial fund-raising skills to build a new church in the town.

This involved the collection of over £1,500 on a ‘questing’ mission to Irish communities in the United States.

Fr. Curley remained in Louisburgh for the rest of his life, dying in 1873.

Fr. Geraghty became Parish Priest of Bekan in 1851 and died in office in 1894.

Henry Murphy, the third promoter, continued to play an active part in the community life of Castlebar for many years.

In 1853 he was instrumental in the establishment of the Sisters of Mercy in Castlebar and Mr. Murphy’s daughter was the first woman from Castlebar to join the Order.

The nearest relatives of Henry Murphy in Castlebar today are the Kilkelly family of Main Street.

The Newtown Factory had a relatively short existence 1848-1853 but a major impact in Castlebar.

This was by both enabling a large number of local families to survive the worst years of the Famine and giving several hundred individuals an occupational skill for the future.

All due to three remarkable men who deserve to be remembered in Castlebar today.

(Alan King is a member of the staff of Mayo County Library).