Urney Chocolates
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Fate | Original factory closed 1980, brand sold on |
| Successor | Hazelbrook Confectionery (after L.C. Confectionery) |
| Headquarters | Urney, County Tyrone (1919-1924) Tallaght, Dublin (1924-1980) Newbridge, County Kildare (1980 to date) |
Key people | Eileen Gallagher Harry Gallagher Redmond Gallagher |
Urney Chocolates was a confectionery manufacturing business founded by the Gallagher family in County Tyrone, and once operating one of the largest chocolate factories in Europe. After sales as a going concern, ultimately to what would become Unilever, the last factory closed in 1980. The brand was later operated by L.C. Confectionery Ltd., and is now handled by Hazelbrook Confectionery, based in County Kildare, Ireland.
History
Foundation and early years
Urney Chocolates was established in 1919 by Eileen Gallagher and her husband, Harry (Henry Thomas), at their home, Urney House, in the parish of Urney, County Tyrone. Harry Gallagher was employed as Crown Solicitor for County Donegal. In an effort to stem the tide of emigration from the area in the wake of WW1,[1] Eileen Gallagher started a market garden on the grounds of the estate, and organised snowdrops and ivy leaves to be bound together as posies to be sent to Covent Garden market in London.[1] The garden also supplied fruit and berries from which jams began to be made and the rectory cellar soon became the base of a thriving cottage industry.[1]
Having been refused a sugar allowance for a jam business, the only way to obtain a commercial quota was to diversity into confectionery manufacture, and as a result Gallagher began to produce small batches of raspberry fudge using the few domestic appliances available to her.[1] The business was initially based in the back garden of Urney House.[2][3] The expansion of the business picked up momentum, and within the first twelve months of operation the Gallagher's initial two helpers had risen to a staff of 20 people.[4]
In 1920, about a year into production, a fire in the basement of Urney House burnt it to the ground, bringing production to a halt.[4] In response, the Gallagher's built a bungalow and a small dedicated factory in which to resume business. An advertisement in The Irish Times dated 18 November 1921 announced the resumption of activities:
- "After an absence of nearly a year, Urney Chocolate (sic) is back again. The new Urney, of which ample supplies are now available, is better and more delicious than ever. It is as pure, as fresh, as delightful as the mountain breezes that blow over the old Irish demesne in the midst of which it is made".[4]
With the foundation of the new Irish Free State in 1922, Harry Gallagher's position as Crown Solicitor to County Donegal was dissolved and he directed his attentions to Urney Chocolates, forming a private limited company and installing himself as its chairman and managing director, while Eileen was established as director.[4]
Urney Chocolates was the only chocolate manufacturer based in Ireland in the 1920s. Sourcing most of their supplies from Ireland, the company stressed this fact in their advertisements, and as a result their sales were strongest in what would become the Republic of Ireland. The business made little impact in Northern Ireland; a consignment of Urney chocolates being returned to the factory once marked "We want no pope here" as part of the Protestant boycott of Catholic goods (the Gallaghers were Catholic).[5]
Situated on the United Kingdom side of the newly-created Northern Ireland border, the company also fell foul of the customs duty of "sixpence a pound" that was imposed by the Irish Free State on imported chocolates, which had to be paid every time the products entered the Free State at Lifford, County Donegal.[6] After a second fire on the factory premises, the Gallaghers decided to move operations to Dublin rather than rebuilding in County Tyrone again.
Move to Tallaght
In 1924, the company moved to the disused WW1-era RAF airfield of Tallaght Aerodrome in the then-rural suburb of Tallaght, Dublin. The site had been handed over to the Irish Air Service in May 1922.[7][8][9] Although ceasing to exist as a working airfield after 1924, the site was still marked as one on old maps and would receive infrequent planes landing in error up until the 1940s.[10]
The Gallaghers' offered the original staff the choice of relocating with them, which was accepted by 25 female employees, a carpenter and two maintenance men.[8] The surviving machinery was transported the 160 miles from Urney to Tallaght and new equipment acquired too.[8] The women's hostel block of the former aerodrome, as well as officer's mess, became a temporary home to the Gallagher family, before they finally moved into the former hospital building, which was rechristened Urney House.[8] For the initial six months while the factory was being established, the Irish Army remained onsite and assisted with the removal of unexploded ordnance which was still being found onsite.[8]
Attaining financial support in the initial stages proved difficult for the Gallaghers and they could not afford a freezing plant. As a result, production was shifted to night-time hours which were cooler whilst office work continued during the day.[8] Electricity was introduced to the factory in 1926 with the installation of two second-hand 50kw DC generators which had previously been used to power the town of Thurles prior to the town's connection to the national grid.[8] The generators provided the necessary power requirements until Tallaght was similarly connected, it being a small rural village.[8]
World War II
Although Ireland remained neutral during World War Two (named The Emergency in Ireland), the company had to adapt to sourcing their raw products from alternate markets. Whereas their pre-war supply of cocoa beans had come from West Africa previously, now had to come from Brazil instead, and the glucose which was previously sourced in the Netherlands had to arrive instead as a derivative of maize from Canada.[11] These transatlantic shipments could only come as far as Portugal though, as any further north would have placed them in unnecessary danger. Instead, small coasters (owned by companies such as Stafford's Wexford Steam or Limerick Steam) would collect the cargo from Lisbon and carry it back Ireland, still at the risk of attack by enemy craft.[11] Despite the dangers, the company never lost a consignment.
During WWII, Britain banned the import of chocolate and confectionery from outside the sterling area, which was a huge benefit to Urney Chocolates as the Irish Free State remained within this closed market.[11] The company began supplying chocolate crumb, couverture and fondant to British confectioners, who, unlike Ireland, did not have a plentiful supply of indigenous sugar and milk at their disposal owing to the war effort.[11]
A second-hand German production line was purchased for the manufacture of milk chocolate blocks, which was subsequently replicated to double production.[11] As Karen Nolan notes in her 2010 history of the company, Sweet Memories, the war period was a time of great expansion for the company:
- "Four second-hand wrapping machines were bought in Scotland. These were later replaced with Swiss models. For the production of chocolate crumb, the company bought whiskey stills whose use had been discontinued by Powers distillery as it moved to a new premises. These were modified for milk, fitted with vacuum pumps made by a Dublin dockyard and used as vacuum pans. Steam engines were installed to run everything and the exhaust steam was used to heat the pans. A new eight-band vacuum dryer was bought and installed in its own building while a second-hand mixer in need of some specific alteration was also sourced. In time, the production of coverture was phased out in favour of chocolate blocks and crumb".
Even as food rationing in Ireland took hold as the war progressed, Urney Chocolates was still able to function on its sugar allocation as its entitlement as a company had been based off its sugar requirement during its busiest period.[10] In 1943, the company was among several firms found guilty of contravening Emergency laws by selling their excess supply to confectioners with lesser quotas.[10]
Post-war
By the 1960s, Urney Chocolates and its subsidiaries were employing almost 1,000 workers, and the Urney facility was considered one of the largest chocolate factories in Europe.[12]
Succession and sales
Redmond Gallagher, Harry and Eileen's son, took over as chairman of the company in 1958. The New York-based company, W & R Grace, bought Urney's out in 1963; it sold it on as a going concern to Unilever in 1970. Unilever soon changed the name to HB Chocolates. They ceased production in 1980 and the former factory became a DIY store.
The brand is currently operated by L.C. Confectionery Ltd., with a factory in Newbridge, County Kildare, and a retail outlet for the Hadji Bey brand in the English Market in Cork city.
Branded products
- Catch bar
- Urney Anytime Assortment (formerly advertised as "any time is Urney time")
- Urney Two and Two
- Hadji Bey's Turkish Delight
References
- ^ a b c d Nolan 2010, p. 11.
- ^ "Urney Chocolates". Dublin. Irish Independent. 16 June 1965.
- ^ "Gallagher, Redmond | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d Nolan 2010, p. 22.
- ^ Clavin, Terry (2009). "Gallagher, Redmond". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Nolan 2010, p. 25.
- ^ "Tallaght Aerodrome photos on show". The Echo. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nolan 2010, p. 26.
- ^ "Centenary of the Handover of Baldonnel and Tallaght Aerodromes". localstudies.wordpress.com. South Dublin County Council. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Nolan 2010, p. 29.
- ^ a b c d e Nolan 2010, p. 28.
- ^ Nolan 2010, p. 36.
Sources
- Nolan, Karen (2010). Sweet Memories: The Story of Urney Chocolates. Whitestown, Drinagh, Wexford: Blue Rook Press. ISBN 978-0-9566474-0-5.