The Ó Máille family originally came from Portacarron near Oughterard which accounted for their Irish speaking background. Their landlord, Mrs Annie Nolan evicted them from their holding and they spent a number of years in temporary accommodation. When Mrs Nolan’s son wanted to run in an election, Isaac Butt, the Irish Parliamentary Party leader stipulated that his nomination would not be ratified until such time as his mother reinstated her evicted tenants and so the Ó Máille family were awarded a fine farm holding in Brackloon in the parish of Corofin, east of the Corrib.
Padraic Ó Máille did an extensive apprenticeship working in Castlebar, before he, his brothers Seán and Stiofán together with their sister Mary (known to all as Cis ) commenced trading at Number 54, Dominick Street in 1938. They used to cycle into Galway every morning and home again in the evening. They had the imagination and foresight to develop trade in home-spun yarns, hand-woven tweed and made-to-measure clothing. Pádraic was the first businessman in Ireland to buy and sell traditional hand-knitted goods.
Women who hand-knitted socks to sell at the Saturday market were encouraged to sell to Ó Máilles instead and as a result, long relationships were developed. In 1939, Pádraic travelled to Donegal and bought up large quantities of hand-woven tweed so that, throughout the war, his tailors and dressmakers were busy in the shop offering made-to-measure tailoring. They had a close bond with the Aran Islands and Conamara and made the traditional trousers, vests and coats worn by the menfolk there. Often, these tailored goods were bartered for a hand-knitted ‘geansaí’ made by the women and indeed Ó Máilles were often paid in free range eggs, country butter and fowl.
The major change for the business happened in 1951 when Lord Killanin introduced them to John Ford. Ford was here to direct the movie The Quiet Man and most of the costumes for that project were made in the shop. Members of the cast were regular visitors; on one occasion John Wayne was there when he was spotted by passing schoolchildren. A big gang of them gathered to see the film star so he took all of the change out of the till in exchange for some notes. He went to the door and threw the money across the street and then ran like hell to his car as the kids scattered to pick up the cash. Cis was often picked up by a Rolls Royce and driven to Ashford Castle to complete fittings for Maureen O’Hara.
The success of the film was a huge boost to the shop and they began to develop a mail order business as more and more tourists came to visit. John Huston became a regular customer and sent in many of his famous film friends such as Paul Newman. Then in the 1960s, the success of the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem popularised Aran sweaters and provided another boost to business, especially to mail-order sales.
Their client list was very impressive and included various Lords and Ladies, President Seán T O’Kelly, Louis Le Brocquy, Charles Lamb and Clare Sheridan who relied on Cis to acquire eye-catching tweeds to tailor and fashion her elaborate cloaks and capes. Many literary types also frequented including Liam O’Flaherty, Breandán Ó hEithir, Domhnall Mac Amhlaigh, Walter Macken and Siobhán McKenna. Claude Chevasse has his kilts made here.
The business was constantly developing, the emphasis was on traditional clothing but they always kept up with fashion trends. Everything about that shop exuded quality – they combined a commitment to hard work with charm and a devoted personal service to their customers. They also took great care of their suppliers, especially their knitters. I have no memory of Pádraic or Seán but it was always a pleasure to deal, i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge, with larger than life Stiofán, plenty of banter and craic, and then a conversation with Cis, who seemed quiet but was steeped in tradition and erudition, was almost hypnotic and always memorable.
Pádraic died in 1961, Seán in 1968, Stiofán in 1978 and Cis in 1997. For the last 50 years, the business has been run by Seán’s son Ger and his wife Anne. They have maintained the very high standards set by their predecessors. On April 25, 1999, they moved premises from Dominick Street to High Street, and now, 86 years after the shop first opened, they have decided to retire and so they will finally close the door at the end of the month. We wish Ger and Anne health and happiness in their retirement.
It is a sad day for Galway, another family name removed from a shopfront, another shop of great character and originality gone, another uniquely Irish business gone, another jewel in the retail crown of Galway gone, another great ambassador for Galway gone.
We have two images today, a lady in a Galway shawl holding a pair of socks she may have knitted herself, outside the shop in Dominick Street, dated c1950 and an image of Cis wearing a beautiful báinín, knitting and smiling in that premises.
