Fagan’s Shop, Barnaderg

Arrived in Barnaderg in 1900s

“For many years, a well known landmark in the village of Barnaderg was Fagan’s shop. The house now demolished was situated in the field opposite the current Post Office in Barnaderg. Fagan’s came to Barnaderg in the early 1900s and rented a small thatched house. Sometime later, Mary Fagan started a small grocery and confectionery shop to supplement the family income. The shop was located in the kitchen. She sold all the usual grocery items bread, tea, butter, sugar and fish. Confectionery items sold were chocolate, sweets, buns, cakes and fruit. She also had a licence to sell cigarettes and tobacco.

Locally sourced produce

Customers were mostly local and there was some passing trade from people who were passing through the village. The shop served the day to day needs of the people of the village. Many of the goods were sourced locally. Bread and confectionery were acquired from the bakeries in Tuam – Lydons, Garveys, Hynes, Clorans and Mongans. Cigarettes and tobacco were also acquired from the bakeries – in those days, bakeries held licences to supply tobacco to other outlets (large shops with big orders got their supplies direct from the tobacco manufacturers).  Minerals were obtained from Egan’s Mineral Water Company in Tuam. Fruit such as oranges and bananas and grapes were obtained via the fruit importers in Tuam. Vans would call to the shop and you could get what you needed. Apples were obtained from a local orchard when in season. This meant getting the loan of Keane’s donkey and cart to get to Blake’s in Ballina to collect the supply of apples.

No Meat on Friday

A small amount of fish was sold. The ‘no meat on Friday’ rule was still in place and fish was also a cheaper food for meals and an alternative to meat. The fish was supplied by Miko Ralph of Tuam who travelled to the Dublin fish market to get his supplies. Herrings whiting, plaice and haddock were sold.

Peggys Legs, Bulls Eyes, Clove Rock…

The sweets and biscuits sold would mean nothing to the children today. They were penny bars, Peggy’s Legs, Bulls Eyes, Clove Rock, Cleeves’ toffees, Liquorice pipes and Allsorts and Double Centre. The brands of chocolate would still be familiar today – Cadburys and Roundtree. Biscuits were from Gearys of Limerick and 2d packets of Jacobs were very popular. A selection of cakes and fruit buns and Chester cakes were also stocked.

Meeting Place

Fagan’s was more than a small local shop. It was also a meeting place for young boys of the village at night. They gathered there to play cards, have a fag and buy sweets and minerals. Mrs. Fagan served sweets in cones made from newspapers and the old copies that the local school children would bring in to her. You could buy one cigarette if you hadn’t enough money for the packet of 5 at the time. This was added trade for the shop and bought in a small amount of income.  That was in pre-electricity days and the main source of light was from oil lamps. Mrs. Fagan would need the lamp for her work at the counter so the boys would have to club together to buy a candle to place on the card table. The main game games they played were ‘25’ and Pontoon. The shop served as a place for the youngsters to go as there was no other gathering place in the village.

Family History

The shop was run by Mary Fagan who hailed from Annaghdown. Her husband Patrick was from Westmeath. They met and married in Galway. He was a carpenter and she was a nanny to a doctor’s family in Galway.  Work at Farrell’s Mill brought them to the area and eventually to Barnaderg.  Mary ran the shop for 40 years or more and she was well known throughout the district.  Patrick died in 1937 but Mary continued to run the shop until she was elderly. She was one of the characters of the village and was known to be a kind, caring and generous woman. Mary died in 1962 and the little shop known as Fagan’s was no more”.