Making an Irish Free State City – Blarney petitions President Cosgrave

In mid-October 1926, the council of the Cork IDA unanimously decided to give publicity to a petition appealing to the safeguarding of the Free State woollen industry. The petition was made by the textile workers of the Martin O’Mahony & Brothers’ Blarney Woollen Mills. It was submitted to President William T Cosgrave of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.

The president was on a tour of Cork and took the occasion to make his first official visit to Blarney Woollen Mills. The petition was signed for and on behalf of the workers by Messrs Daniel Burns, Jeremiah Bradley, John O’Reilly, Robert Hyde and James O’Callaghan.

In Stratten and Stratten’s guide entitled ‘Dublin, Cork and the South of Ireland in 1892’, there is a write-up on the history of Blarney Mills. It had a heritage dating back to 1750. In an unbroken sequence, the business was handed down in the O’Mahony family line from father to son. The business premises was originally founded in Rochestown and then transferred to Blackpool, then to Glanmire and then in 1823 to Blarney.

In 1862, the manufacture of tweeds was the principal output by the firm. It had a high reputation in leading markets of the world including in London, Paris and New York. In Cork city, the company had offices at no.3 Camden Quay.

In 1869, disaster struck when the mills were completely destroyed by fire. The mills were reconstructed – made grander, more substantial and fitted with new and expensive machinery.

By 1892, Blarney Mills employed circa 750 people, male and female, and approximately £20,000 per annum was disbursed by the company in wages alone. The factory also invested in housing for some of their workers whilst workers created co-operative stores in the local village.

On 19 October 1926, the Cork Examiner outlined the detail of the petition by the workers. The workers’ petition begins by appreciating the interest of President Cosgrave in industrial affairs. It acknowledged the president as one who would be prepared to use government powers for the stabilisation of an important historic industry such as the woollen and worsted spinning and weaving.

The petition continued that Blarney village for its size was one of the largest village populations in Ireland. The majority of the village’s population, directly or indirectly, depended for a living on the woollen mills industry. Blarney Mills was an important part of the textiles trade in Cork and in the south of Ireland. “It was one of the oldest and largest in Ireland, and employed more workers than any other woollen mill in the State.”

The petition focussed on the idea that the craft of cloth-making had been cultivated from generation to generation, each generation adding to the knowledge of the previous one, and handing it onto the next.

“In every other centre of the woollen industry in Ireland, the present knowledge of the workers had been built up by the same slow progress. The aim of the Blarney mills had always been to keep abreast of the times; and every new discovery in relation to the manufacture of cloth had been availed of.”

The petition maintained that the mills were equipped in a manner, which could under fair competitive conditions, enable Blarney to compete successfully in all global markets.

In particular the petition outlined that the Irish woollen industry was faced by unfair competition in two ways – firstly by the prohibitive tariffs imposed by foreign countries and by the effects of a depreciated currency; secondly, there was what the petition deemed “unrestricted dumping” on the home market of the surplus stock of other countries that had lost their foreign markets.

The petition noted that workers had suffered considerably through irregular employment they and were upset by the uncertainty of employment and were thinking about emigrating. “Several of the trained members have already trained hard to seek employment in other lands, and in doing so were helping to build up the industry of other countries.”

As employees, they noted that the depression in trade was not a temporary one. It was their firm conviction that the conditions created by the imposition of tariffs in foreign countries and the unrestricted dumping of piece goods on Ireland’s home market threatened the very existence of the Irish woollen industry.

They called for immediate action: “The situation called for immediate action through fiscal means, namely, by the imposition of a tariff on foreign woollen and worsted piece goods”.

The employees maintained that they were as skilled in their various branches of the industry as workers in any other cloth producing countries. Furthermore, they were confident that the government administration through Blarney Woollen Mills would compare favourably with that of any woollen manufacturing concern in England, Scotland or elsewhere.

They noted of their actions. “Despite the fact that all of us have put forward our best endeavours, and have worked with all our energy and skill within the past two years, we find we are unable to improve the situation to any extent. From every other centre of the Irish woollen industry we learn that the experience is the same.”

Recognising the seriousness of the situation, workers in the Blarney branch of the Transport Workers Union, in a general meeting passed unanimously a resolution pledging themselves not to consider at the next general election.

“The claims of any candidate, no matter to what party he belongs, who does not pledge themselves to bring forward immediately or support in Dáil Éireann a measure for the protection of the Irish woollen and worsted piece goods industry.”

The petition concluded with the appeal to President Cosgrave to help workers and their families. “We, therefore appeal to you with confidence to help us and our families in our endeavour to secure a small measure of that material prosperity, for the historic village of Blarney, which will, undoubtedly, have the effect of securing for this young State an important quota of contented and efficient citizens, who are proud of their country and her century long struggle for freedom.”

The upshot of the petition and other petitions from local industries was the establishment by WT Cosgrave’s government of a Tarriff Commission. It examined unfair external competition. One outcome was that Cosgrave’s government did begin to place moderate tariffs on a broad range of British imported goods.