Carlow Sugar Factory

## Video - History of The Sugar Factory

Thanks to Triona Hayes for this great YouTube link to a video showing the history and ultimate demise of the Carlow Sugar Factory.

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## Video - Rare Footage - Night Shift 2002 Campaign

Rare Video Footage of the 2002 Beet Campaign, shot on the Night Shift Late October 2002 - Part 1

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Rare Video Footage of the 2002 Beet Campaign, shot on the Night Shift Late October 2002 - Part 2

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## RTE News Report Announcing the Closure of The Sugar Factory

The Sugar Factory closed on 11th March 2005 after 79 years of manufacture with the loss of 190 full time and 130 seasonal jobs. It was demolished in 2007.

Here is how RTE reported the closure **http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2005/0311/60839-greencore/**

## Origins of the Sugar industry in Carlow

The story of Carlow's sugar factory begins in 1925. The War of Independence was over and Ireland had just been established as the Free State. It was very important at this time to develop successful industries to support the young economy. If the Irish Government could create enough jobs for the people, it would prove that the country could survive as an independent state.

File:Sugarchimney.png

**above** - Tower of Carlow Sugar Factory (Courtesy of Carlow County Library)

It was decided that sugar beet was an ideal crop to grow on an industrial scale. Carlow was selected as the best county for the sugar factory, because it is situated in a rich tillage area and sugar beet was a crop well suited to the local growing conditions.

Additionally, the surrounding counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, Laois and Kildare were important agricultural centres. Carlow had good rail and waterway connections, so its produce could be conveniently transported around the country.

## The Belgian Influence

Ireland had very little expertise in the growing and processing of sugar beet, so the Irish Government entrusted the development to a Belgian company called Lippens.

Representatives from Lippens travelled to Ireland in the 1920s to investigate possible sites for a factory. After surveying the country, they were very interested in establishing a factory in Carlow. Local people were enthusiastic about how the industry would help their area.

File:FrJKillian.jpg

**above** - Rev. Fr. J. Killian (Courtesy of Examiner Group and Carlow Nationalist).

Locals regarded the factory as a great way of making jobs and supporting the people of Carlow. Edward Duggan, Chairman of the Carlow Urban District Council, was also Chairman of the Carlow Beet Factory Organising Committee. Other prominent individuals were the town clerk of Carlow, William Lawler and Very Rev. J. Killian, who was administrator of the cathedral parish. The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Rev. Dr Foley, was also a strong campaigner for the setting up of the factory.

Under the guidance of the Belgian company, the factory was set up. On 5 January 1926, Bishop Foley turned the first sod on the factory site on the Athy Road, close to the town. The company was to be known as the Irish Sugar Manufacturing Company. Local workers were trained by technicians and engineers from other parts of Europe. It took time for the native workforce to acquire the necessary skills.

## Sugar Growing expands

In the 1930s, the Government was very interested in making sure the Irish sugar industry was a success. In 1933, it set up a company called Comhlucht Siúicre Éireann to take over the original factory in Carlow. As well as this plant, sugar factories were built in the 1930s at Mallow, Co. Cork; Thurles, Co. Tipperary; and Tuam, Co. Galway.

At this time, the Irish sugar industry was seen as beneficial to the economy. However, with the onset of the Second World War, the industry experienced very difficult times. Many of the foreign workers decided to go home, so the Irish staff had to learn to run the factories by themselves. Sugar production continued, despite the wartime shortages. In the area around the Carlow factory alone, there were over 10,500 beet growers in the early 1940s.

The factory founded in Carlow in 1926 closed in 2006 after eighty years in operation. The chief reason for the closure was that sugar could be bought more cheaply from abroad.

## Carlow Sugar Factory

File:Sugarfactory01.jpg

The Irish Sugar Beet Factory in Carlow was the first of its kind in Ireland and for decades, the sugar plant was the cornerstone of the local economy.

Ireland’s first sugar beet factory was located at Mountmellick, Co Laois back in 1851 when the Royal Irish Beet Root Factory was founded. This unfortunately failed after 10 years.

A second attempt to establish an Irish sugar company took place in 1926 with the establishment of the Irish Sugar Manufacturing Company in Carlow. By 1933 the industry was however again in deep trouble. The government of the day, deciding that Ireland needed its own sugar beet industry, took the decision to try to save the Carlow factory. It established Comhlucht Siúicre Eireann to operate as a manufacturing and trading concern under the Companies Acts in the same way as private enterprise companies. The State's holding in the Company was eligible for dividends.

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**above** - sugar beet inspection at the fsctory

The Mountmellick plant produced sugar through the use of 300 tonnes of beet per campaign week. The factory paid 16/- (85p) per tonne for the beet, 3/- (15p) more than Continental Europe at the time. Sugar extraction at 7.5 per cent was half one per cent better than elsewhere in Europe. The factory cost of manufacturing at £7.25 per tonne, was £1.75 less than the Continental average.

In 1924, following a government announcement that Ireland’s first sugar beet factory was to be built, Carlow businessman Mr. Edward Duggan, chairman of Carlow’s beet factory organising committee, succeeded in winning investor and government approval for his proposal to site the factory in Carlow. For over 75 years on, and Irish Sugar is now as much a part of Carlow as the River Barrow itself.

The Irish Sugar head said the local Carlow community was not long in proving the decision to be a correct one, when they ensured that the plan to erect the factory and have it fully operational within a year was achieved. “Such a task must have called for huge commitment from the many local firms and individuals who joined the effort to work towards creating this new local industry that would bring economic security to the region.”

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**above** - Bishop Patrick Foley and Mr Neermaun on the site for the 'Beet Factory' in 1926.(Source: Carlow in old pictures volume 2 by Michael Purcell c1999)

Of course it was a sugar factory but from the beginning it has always been called the beet factory. A few months after this picture was taken Bishop Foley died, on the 24th July 1926, aged 68 years.

File:Sugarfactory04.jpg

**above** - Bishop Patrick Foley turns the first sod on the site for Carlow Sugar Factory, January 5th 1926 in the presence of Mr Edward Duggan chairman Urban Council and the managers Major Mascart and Mr. Hayek. We would like to hear from readers who can identify any of the onlookers in the photo.(Photo Source: Carlow Past & Present 1993)

It was on January 5, 1926 that Most Rev Dr Patrick Foley, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin turned the first sod on the site where today stands the huge Carlow beet processing plant, which was the lifeblood of the local community for many years and continues be a major part of the industrial fabric of Carlow Town.

Processing of that first sugar beet campaign commenced in mid-October, 1926.

File:Sugarfactory05.jpg

**above** - Christmas in 1926 in the Sugar Factory. Source: Facebook

One local firm in particular (Thomas Thompson) performed a large slice of civil work and were the employers of the late Tom O’Neill of Ballycrogue, Tinryland, the first worker sent on to the greenfield site.

A Carlow landmark for many years, the 300-foot factory chimney, was built with sand from the River Barrow beside the site.

In January 1927, at the conclusion of the first processing campaign, which lasted four months, the company produced 13,400 tonnes of sugar from 86,000 tonnes of beet at its Carlow factory. The beet was brought to the factory on horse and cart and by canal boat from farms all over the counties of Carlow and Laois.

The Carlow factory was to prove that high quality sugar could be produced economically in Ireland from home-grown natural raw material. Later, the State took over the Carlow factory, and in the mid-thirties, built others at Mallow, Thurles and Tuam. Today only Carlow and Mallow remain owing to rationalisation of the sugar industry

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**above** - Carlow Sugar Factory circa 1958

The harvesting of the sugar beet, or the "Campaign" as it is known, starts around the end of September and continues until mid-January. Once the campaign starts, it continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until all the beet is processed.

There was plenty of hard work with the beet during the "Campaign". The beet seed was sown in drills with a machine pulled by a horse. When the beet grew it had to be "thinned". That meant that one beet plant was left every 20cms. All the other plants and weeds were taken out. This was done by hand while they were crawling on hands and knees along through the drills.

File:Sugarfactory07.jpg

**above** - This picture is of the Sugar Factory and its from a calendar about late 1940 - Early 1950's.

Young children often worked thinning beet and sometimes groups of whole families worked together trying to make a few shillings. It was very hard work for them. They wore sacks tied around their legs. In some fields there were plenty of weeds such as thistles and scutch grass to be pulled and many stones were in the fields.

In the Autumn, the beet was pulled by hand and "crowned", this means that the leaves were cut off with beet knives. The beat was then taken by a horse and cart to the factory.

## A More Detailed Background and Story of the Sugar Industry in Carlow

* Carlow Sugar - Introduction - After the establishment of the Irish Free State the first major economic development undertaken was the development of a Sugar Beet Industry.

* Carlow Sugar - Site Location - The Barrow Valley was one of the most ideal and suitable places for the factory in Ireland.

* Carlow Sugar - Town Hall Meetings - The tremendous gathering of people at the public meeting held at Hay Market, Carlow on Friday, 24th July was worthy of the great occasion.

* Carlow Sugar - Laying the Foundation - It was a notable event in which a large number of spectators witnessed the first sod being turned by his Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Foley in connection with the erection of a Sugar Beet Factory in 1926.

* Carlow Sugar - The Beet Song - It's down in Graiguenamanagh, we're run off our feet, Pullin', and crownin', and loadin' the beet.

## Today

All that is left of the factory is the landmark chimney, this is the main entry gate as it looks today ...

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