Limerick's Life
History & folklore of Limerick city, Ireland
Limerick is well known and famed for its bacon production, "everything but the squeak was used". It is known that Queen Victoria's Christmas dinner was not complete without a Limerick Ham on the table.
Many of the households in areas such as the Abbey kept pigs along with the more traditional chickens although the vast majority of the pigs were imported from the local environs.
The four great bacon factories in Limerick were Matterson's, Shaw's, O'Mara's and Denny's each competing for local, national and international trade out of Limerick city during the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
The bacon industry was wrought with tragedy and some of the stories can be read here
Many of the households in areas such as the Abbey kept pigs along with the more traditional chickens although the vast majority of the pigs were imported from the local environs.
The four great bacon factories in Limerick were Matterson's, Shaw's, O'Mara's and Denny's each competing for local, national and international trade out of Limerick city during the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
The bacon industry was wrought with tragedy and some of the stories can be read here
Matterson's
J Matterson & Sons operated out of Roches Street. It was established in 1816 by John Russell and J Matterson, these men married a Mary and Eleanor Mossop (sisters).
Sections of the inside of Matterson's, from Measom's Guide, 1866.
The following are Matterson family obituaries and coat of arms courtesy of Pat Mossop:
matterson Mary obit.pdf matterson joseph pic obit.pdf matterson obit mrs 5 1886.pdf matterson family arms.pdf
The following also courtesy of Pat Mossop is a wonderful letter written by a Limerick lady in 1873:
McGhie letter.pdf an article based on the letter is here
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Sections of the inside of Matterson's, from Measom's Guide, 1866.
The following are Matterson family obituaries and coat of arms courtesy of Pat Mossop:
matterson Mary obit.pdf matterson joseph pic obit.pdf matterson obit mrs 5 1886.pdf matterson family arms.pdf
The following also courtesy of Pat Mossop is a wonderful letter written by a Limerick lady in 1873:
McGhie letter.pdf an article based on the letter is here
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Shaw's
Shaw & Sons operated out of Mulgrave Street. It was founded in 1831 by William John Shaw. More about Shaw's history can be read on their website www.shawsfinefoods.com
A Range of Shaws products from the 1900s
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A Range of Shaws products from the 1900s
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Denny's
Denny's and Sons operated out of Mulgrave street. It was founded by Henry Denny in the 1870s and first operated as a Provision Merchants out of Newtown Mahon, Upper William Street.
Denny's sausages make an appearance in James Joyce's Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom watches a young girl in Dlugacz's butcher's shop buy a pound and a half of Denny's sausages, as he waits to buy a pork kidney for his and wife Molly's breakfast.
Denny's is now owned by the Kerry Food group, after they aquired it in 1982.
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Denny's sausages make an appearance in James Joyce's Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom watches a young girl in Dlugacz's butcher's shop buy a pound and a half of Denny's sausages, as he waits to buy a pork kidney for his and wife Molly's breakfast.
Denny's is now owned by the Kerry Food group, after they aquired it in 1982.
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