Stephen Faller was born in Germany and came to Galway as a young man. Our first photograph, c1890, shows him at the door of the business he set up in Dominick Street in 1879.
He specialised in clocks, and you can see a fine array of them in the window. The door to the right led into Anderson’s house and the Foundry. There is some elegant sign writing, barely legible in this image, on the first-floor façade.
Stephen became quickly well-known for selling clocks door-to-door and often went much further afield on his bicycle, with clocks wrapped up on the carrier, again going door-to-door around the county.
He would leave the clock on approval for a few weeks, and the people would get used to having it, so by the time he came back, he usually had a sale. He began making Claddagh rings, and in 1891, the initials S.F. were registered at the Assay Office as a maker’s mark for jewellery made on his premises.
He decided that the footfall on Williamsgate Street was much busier than Dominick Street, so when a building became available there in 1898, he moved the business there and expanded it. Here is how a local paper described the opening on April 15, 1898.
"The new jewellery establishment of Mr S. Faller was opened for the first time yesterday evening, and from its magnificence and brilliance created no small amount of surprise amongst our citizens; crowds of whom assembled in front of the window struck with admiration at the richness and variety of the articles displayed. The window alone, apart from the valuables with which it is furnished, has, we understand, cost Mr Faller over £300.
The interior of the window frame is fitted with plate-glass shelves, on which are displayed gold watches in trays, priced from £20 to £27. In proximity to these is another tray, also furnished with gold watches, priced from £15 to £20. On a second shelf are a number of diamond bracelets, some valued at £30, and one butterfly-shaped tray, about six inches in diameter, holding valuables valued at £350 between its wings.
There is also a splendid display of gold wedding rings, engagement rings studded with diamonds, and keepsakes. A third shelf contains a number of trays and cases, in which are arranged silver spoons, silver-handled knives and forks, and silver-mounted carvers and steels”.
The account goes on to mention just about every type of product in the shop, often with prices that show how media-savvy Stephen Faller was. He was very imaginative with his advertising. Our second illustration, dated c1905, shows the elegant façade with the aforementioned window and artistic signwriting.
In the early 1960’s, they bought the adjoining premises, a high-class drapery well-known for ladies' and children’s wear known as Forkens, thus enabling them to expand their premises and business.
They branched out into an extensive range of high-quality giftware, attracting many tourists. They also went into the export business when they set up a mail-order business, and it is still in the family. I am sure Stephen would be proud that he was followed by his son William, then by his grandson Cornelius, known as Nellus, Paul, John, and now the sixth generation is represented by Keith.
A feature of Fallers in the mid-twentieth century happened when Dermot, brother of Nellus, set up as an optician within the complex. John Faller was a family member who was very involved during the War of Independence.
Another relation, Kevin, who was Dubin-based, became a very distinguished poet. One of his poems is carved on limestone on O’Brien’s Bridge as part of the Galway Poetry Trail.
Our final image is of part of Williamsgate Street on a summer’s day, c1910. Fallers are shown on the left. Next door was Michael Costelloe, a poulterer, fishmonger and butcher who sold Irish bacon and cured ham. His son Christy later ran the business.
Frank McDonagh’s drapery shop is seen with shawls hanging outside the door. He later put in a beautiful shopfront with curved windows to allow window shopping in a sheltered area. The Corner premises were Leahy’s, importers of Havana, Mexican and Indian cigars.
