Cloran Road in Athboy in the 1950's

to 

Today. 

Back Then to Now

St. James Vocational School in the 1950's. 

and

How it stands today as a Furniture shop.

Filming in Athboy Tomorrow, so come on out!

Tomorrow the 20th of March, I will be filming in Athboy. I will be talking to Neal Sweeney about Mc Elhinneys and the future of the business as things have massively changed since The Old Darnley Lodge Hotel closed in January. Mc Elhinney's coffee/restaurant business has picked up hugely due to the closer of the hotel. I will be around town from 9 in the morning till about 4 in the day, filming Neal and asking people what their views are on Mc Elhinneys, if it made much of a difference when it closed in 2010 and then re-opened 4 months later. I will also be asking people about The Old Darnely Lodge and the bad roads in the main street of Athboy. Which Athboy Council had to decide not to have a parade on Paddy's day as it was too much of a danger hazard. This was a huge issue as its the first time ever that we couldn't have a parade due to the bad roads. so if your around, don't be scared to come up and talk to me. Maybe you could become the next internet sensation.

Closing of the famous Old Darnley Lodge Hotel

On the 7th March 2011 Seamus McEnaney was introduced to the staff as the person taking over the hotel, with Peter McKeown being the General Manager promising the staff a bright new future.

At the close of business on Wednesday 16th January Mr Peter McKeown Director of Mitrespor Ltd/General Manager informed one member of staff that the Hotel would close permanently in one hour. Since that time neither Peter McKeown nor Seamus McEnaney have been in contact or have been able to be contacted either party.

The staff has not received any information regarding our Statutory Entitlements (redundancy, holiday pay, hours owed etc.)

The staff of the Old Darnley Lodge Hotel were calling on Peter McKeown GM/Director of Mitrespor Ltd to provide all the necessary paperwork for staff to receive their redundancy payments and entitlements.

Since Wednesday the 16^th of January, the staff have remained on the premises and do not intend to leave until they get clarification and firm commitment that our entitlements are paid in full. 

Neal Sweeney Of Mc Elhinneys speaks to Me.

Ally Doherty

Mc. Elhinneys of Athboy

With Mc. Elhinneys being one of the biggest ladies clothes shop in Ireland, I spoke to Neal Sweeney the Grandson of Molly Mc Elhinney the seamstress by trade who opened up the first shop of Mc Elhinneys in 1937 which now today still stands as Mc Elhinneys for Men and the main shop of Mc Elhinneys Fashion and Molly's kitchen is set just 2 doors down.

I spoke to Neal about his oldest memory of Mc Elhinneys, the huge sales that used to fill the town of Athboy from 7.30 in the morning and how he felt about the business closing down in 2010 due to the recession under his management after it being in his family business for generations.

Neal was born in Molly's house which is now the shop of Mc Elhineys for Men in Athboy. The house was upstairs and the shop was downstairs, the left part of the shop was for men and the right was for women. 'The shop was part of the house and the house was part of the shop, We always had to be quiet as the hallway was a communal hallway and everyone would use it, it was great fun but Molly always kept an eye on us' Neal says. In the mid 70's Molly opened the new shop and she made it into the shop that it is today.

Molly always had a dream to have a team room, a coffee shop of some sort to be part of the shop. Her plan was to build it whilst she was alive but unfortunately she passed away before it was built. But signs of Molly shines through everyday as it is now called ''Molly's Kitchen'' and it serves food that Molly loved like homemade brown bread which Molly's Kitchen is famous for now today.

In 2010, due to the recession Neal had to make the decision to close the business down leaving over 40 employees without work. They were told on the Tuesday it was closing down and the following Saturday the girls of Mollys Kitchen and the ladies of Mc Elhinneys heard the voice of the late Mary Cooke over the intercom say 'Ladies and Gentlemen this store is now closing as it is 6'o clock'.

'It was very difficult from 2008, we had no choice but to close the shop down' says Neal. But within 4 months later Mc Elhinneys re-opened its doors to the public which Neal tells me 'I had great pride, it was so difficult closing but with a little bit of finance and a little bit of time we were back'

With the shop not as big as it used to be in recent years Neal says that 'The business will always try its best to connect with customers and try give out a good vibe with the brilliant atmosphere and outstanding personal service. Also with Molly's Kitchen open, its retail therapy at its best'. With the sales still going strong, there's now a lot more retailors around the country and queues aren't as half as big, but they still get a nice crowd especially after the Christmas.

Mc Elhinneys have recently got brand new designers such as verscae, Armani, Basler, Marcona, and Betty Barclay. Neal says 'That I'm trying my very best along with my employees and his family members to get the famous shop of Mc Elhinneys back to its old traditional way'.

This week I spoke to Neal Sweeney who owns Mc. Elhinneys of Athboy and we talked about these 3 seperate huge shops. Next week I will post our interview, as we talked about the 3 huge shops also about the closing of the shop in 2010 and the re-opening 4 months later and how it is doing now.  I also have interviews with employees and interviews from other business owners in Athboy about how it effected their business when Mc. Elhinneys closed its door in 2010.

Welcome to my Hometown.

Welcome to Athboy! This is what I see every morning heading into Athboy, and just like this morning it was -2degrees at 8 in the morning, but no matter how cold it is I think the frost always makes a nice picture.