M&P O'Sullivan Ltd 100 Years

Edited by Kieran Mc Carthy

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Contents: 

1 Reflections, 1905-Beyond 2005 

2 Setting the Scene, Cork c.1905 

3 Early Origins - Paddy O’Sullivan and the Tobacco Industry 

4 Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork 

5 Mid Twentieth Century Consolidation 

6 Expansion and Growth, c.1970-c.2005 

Editor: Kieran McCarthy has written extensively on the history of Cork City in Inside Cork- Cork Independent 

over the last six years. He has published five books on the general history of the city including Discover 

Cork (2003, O’Brien Press) and Voices of Cork, The Knitting Map Speaks (2005, Nonsuch Publishing). 

For walking tours or consultancy on Cork’s rich past, contact: 

Kieran McCarthy 087 655 33 89 or email mccarthy_kieran@yahoo.com

M. & P. O’Sullivan, Celebrating 100 Years, 1905-2005 

Acknowledgements 

Thanks to 

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Deirdre Clune, James O’Sullivan, Pat O’Sullivan, Nancy O’Sullivan, 

Frank Barry, Brendan Kenneally, Mairead McCarthy, Pat O’Mahony, Tom Gately, Pat Herlihy, 

George Coburn, Paddy Tierney, Pat Casey, Leila Cotter, 

O’Sullivan Family, Bishopstown 

and the staff of M.&P. O’Sullivan. 

A special thanks to: 

the family of James O’Sullivan, Cathy, Emma and Eoin; 

the family of Pat O’Sullivan, Berna, Linda, David, Patrick and Colette; 

the family of Frank Barry, Madeleine, Mark, Ciara and Aoife 

and the Walsh family, Paddy, Mary, Patrick, Rory and Sinéad. 

Pictures: M&P O’Sullivan Company Archive, Cork City Library, Kieran McCarthy, 

Niall Kelleher and Billy MacGill 

Graphic Design: Leila Cotter, SWS Marketing Services 

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Reflections, 1905-beyond 2005 

“In the year 2005, M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd. celebrates one hundred years, 

which creates a significant milestone in the company’s history. As a 

thriving and established third generation cash and carry with an excellent 

reputation, the company has played and will continue to play an integral 

part in the wholesale-grocery history of Cork. The Company has not only 

been a partnership between directors and staff but also with the people 

of Cork and Munster. We have seen great support from customers over 

the last century. We still have an association in the retail sector of the 

tobacco industry. Grocery trade is now ninety per cent of our trade but 

the tobacco shop, established in 1905, has survived but has left its Princes 

Street home to Academy Street. With increased sales, we are going 

forward in a positive way. We are delighted to be part of the Stonehouse 

Group, which has helped in no small way in sustaining our reputation for 

high quality products, especially with the introduction of Homestead and 

Caterer’s Kitchen Ranges. 

James and Pat O’Sullivan receiving the 

Checkout and Stonehouse Awards, 2003 

With close connections in Cork business circle, we are very proud of Cork at this particular point in time. Buildings 

and streetscapes are improving for the better. Cork has become a better place to live and work in, hence creating a 

proper atmosphere for businesses like M.& P. O’Sullivan to thrive. We must keep Cork and our company as places 

of vibrancy and to sustain the energy and enthusiasm that has brought the company to celebrate one hundred years”. 

James O’Sullivan 

Pat O’Sullivan 

Frank Barry


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Setting the scene, Cork circa 1905 

It was against a backdrop of extensive social and cultural transformation that inspired the formation of 

M.& P. O’Sullivan. By 1900, the present day townscape of the city centre had emerged. The population by 

the year 1881 had reached 80,124 and through emigration this had dropped to 76,122 by the year 1901. In 

the late nineteenth century, the concerns of the poorer classes were the slum conditions, which existed in 

and around Shandon Street on the northside, Barrack Street on the southside and the Middle Parish, now 

the area of Grattan Street in the city centre. In the late 1800s, over 11,000 families were living in slum 

conditions. A report in 1896 by the labouring classes described that there were 1,800 tenement houses with 

high rents, a tenth of which had no backyards and on average, nearly thirteen people lived in one house. 

Healthy and sanitary conditions did not exist with untreated and impure water common-place. The Local 

Government (Ireland) Act 1898 brought a new energy into local government. County councils, urban 

district councils and rural district councils were formed and prospective members of these bodies had to be 

elected by the people. In Irish towns, the councils and existing Corporations became more fully representative 

of all classes. In Cork City, there was a very progressive spirit. New water and sewerage schemes were 

undertaken as well as new housing built for the working classes. 

Economically, there was also a distinct decline in the financial fortunes of the city. The profits of the export 

provision trade of agricultural products such as butter and beef declined. In 1858, 428,000 firkins of butter 

were been exported per annum and by 1891, this was reduced to 170,000 firkins. Competitive European 

prices out-competed the prices set by the butter market at Cork. In addition, the city’s best consumer, the 

British citizen favoured neater packaging, smaller more exact weights, improved colour, texture and taste; 

qualities that Cork butter did not possess. The quantity of butter exported decreased and decreased and 

eventually, the Cork butter Market closed in 1924. 

The early nineteenth century had seen Blackpool emerge as an industrial nodal point for the city. By the 

late 1800s, the area set in the valley of the River Kiln was in decline due to competing foreign markets. 

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Cornmarket Street, Cork c.1880 

Lavitt’s Quay, Cork,. c.1900


View of Cork from present day Gurranabraher, c.1900 

View of Cork International Exhibition Grounds, Mardyke, 1902 / 1903 

In particular, the location was renowned for its tanyards. In 1845, sixty tanyards existed but by the closing 

decade of the 1800s, only sixteen yards remained. This was due largely to the introduction of cheap 

machine-made boots and shoes. Indeed, the only profitable commodities were corn and wool. In 1883, the 

city possessed twelve woollen factories with the most profitable mills located at Donnybrook in Douglas. 

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The unstable political nature within the country continued from the late 1800s into the 1900s. Indeed, 

the quest for Home Rule became very strong especially among the Irish Parliamentary Party, which represented 

the Irish public in Westminster and which was led by Charles Stewart Parnell up to 1890. There was 

also a cultural re-awakening in attempting to preserve the Irish culture. The Gaelic Athletic Association 

(G.A.A.) was established in Thurles in 1884 and its aspirations to preserve the old Irish sporting customs in 

Ireland spread to the ‘four corners’ of Ireland. Indeed the second meeting of the G.A.A. was held in Cork 

on 27 December 1884 at the Victoria Hotel. A national Gaelic League known as Conradh na Gaeilge was 

established in 1893 to further preserve aspects of Irish culture and branches were established in County 

Cork and Cork City. 

A significant change within Cork Corporation was the changing of the title Mayor to Lord Mayor in 1900. 

In the latter year, the elected mayor was Daniel J. Hegarty. On the 3rd April 1900, Queen Victoria sailed 

into Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) on an Irish tour. The Mayor and Sheriff of Cork were invited to 

the celebrations in Dublin. To mark the occasion, on the eve of her return to London, Queen Victoria 

conferred the honour of baronetcy on the Lord Mayors of Dublin and Belfast. She also announced henceforth 

the First Citizen of the City of Cork would hold the honourable title of Lord Mayor. 

Perhaps the key cultural event of the first five years of the twentieth century in Cork was the Cork 

International Exhibition, which took place over two seasons in 1902 and 1903. Large-scale exhibitions 

were not new to the City. The first major Exhibition was held in 1852 and the second in 1883. These 

large exhibitions were hallmark events in the development of the cultural life of the city and also put 

the city on the global map. The ‘brain child’s’ of the social elites in nineteenth century Cork, the exhibitions 

were marketing strategies where spectacle and culture merged. Aesthetics of architecture, colour, 

decoration and lighting were all added to the sense of spectacle and in a tone of moral and educational 

improvement. The exhibition concept enchanted and diverted the masses from more serious matters. 

The exhibitions were not merchandise marts but promoted ideas about Cork’s relations between nations, 

the spread of education, the advancement of science, the nature of domestic life and the place of art in 

Cork society. Several scientific achievements of the day were on exhibition, including an electric light, 

a wireless telegraph apparatus, a complete e-ray plant and a specimen of the newly discovered metal and 

radium.


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Early Origins 

Paddy O’Sullivan and the Tobacco Industry 

Born in 1885, Paddy O’Sullivan was one of nine brothers and two sisters who were born into rural background 

in Clondrohid, near Macroom, Co. Cork. The story behind Paddy’s impetus to start his own business 

in 1905 is an interesting one and worth recounting. Paddy had been working as a grocery boy and his boss 

had promised one day that he could leave the store early to attend a wedding. Always a conscientious 

worker, he had come early to get as much work completed as possible. However, at the appointed hour he 

was told he could not leave. Choosing to leave and finding himself unemployed, he began to 

traverse the city of Cork endeavouring to develop his own wholesale and delivery service. Over 

time he built up credibility and a steady trade. 

Months later in 1905, he saw a shop with a to let sign in the window on Princes Street and 

established a wholesale base from which to work from. Circa 1910, Paddy’s brother Michael left 

the drapery trade to form the partnership that is known as M.& P. O’Sullivan. Michael also had 

a public house called the Oak Bar at 29 Princes Street. Indeed, the spirit of enterprise was at 

the heart of the O’Sullivan family. Jeremiah had a grocery shop on Great Georges Street (now 

Washington St.), Daniel, a cycle business in Cook Street and James who had a pharmacy in the 

Winthrop Arcade. The family had a long association with the GAA. Michael served as treasurer 

of the Cork County Board for twelve years Pádraig Ó Caoimh who was secretary-general of 

the GAA, served for some years as secretary to M. & P. O’Sullivan Ltd. prior to taking up that 

appointment. However, Michael due to ill health had to step down from management of M.&P. 

and Paddy became the principal director. 

Paddy O’Sullivan, founder member 

of M.&P.O’Sullivan, c.1940; 

Managing Director, 1905-1963 

Paddy O’Sullivan was a member of the Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Cork Rotary Club, 

the Munster Agricultural Society and of the Catholic Young Men’s Society. He had a life-long 

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interest in sports such as G.A.A., coursing and road bowling. He was the Chairman of the Cork Athletic 

Grounds Committee and went with the Kerry footballers to America in 1933. He was also President of the 

Northern Coursing Club for a time. 

Paddy O’Sullivan, keen to develop his business, diversified into tobacco manufacture. Between 1800 and 

1914, the importation, production and marketing of tobacco in Ireland, was increasingly dominated by a 

few large firms. The production of tobacco and snuff was one of the oldest industries in the city. It was 

in Cork that the second tobacco factory in Ireland was established, the first being in Dublin. Circa 1770, 

Messrs. Lambkin Bros founded their tobacco and snuff factory, behind their retail premises overlooking the 

Great Canal, now known as St. Patrick’s Street. In Cork, it was in the year 1832 at 69 and 70 South Main 

Street that Mr. William Clarke, founder of the firm of William Clarke & Son, began the manufacture of 

tobacco and snuff. After thirty years, the firm moved to Rocksavage, Cork and in 1872, the firm established 

works in Liverpool amongst the Irish population. 

Up to 1850, roll tobacco and snuff were the only local manufactures, but in the early decades of the 

1900s, the home demand turned towards Plug tobacco. In addition to the plug and Irish roll, smoking 

mixtures, cigarettes, and other tobaccos, also gave extensive employment. Messrs. Dobbin Ogilvie & Co.’s 

Cordangan mixture, which was a blend of Irish grown tobacco from Lord Barrymore’s estate at Cordangan, 

Co. Tipperary, with American and other growths was in popular favour, not only in Ireland as far away as 

India. Lambkin’s Tipperary and Exhibition Mixtures obtained a wide popularity. Tobacco was also grown 

in select areas in West Cork. In the early twentieth century, there were about seventeen specialised tobacconists 

in operation in the city. Though the chief market for the Cork tobaccos was of course, the south of 

Ireland, there was a considerable trade with all parts of the country. During World War I, Cork factories 

exported large quantities of mixtures and plug tobacco for the War Office, to the various expeditionary 

forces. The Irish tobacco industry processed twelve per cent of UK output at a time when Irish population 

was under ten per cent of the UK total. Practically all the leaf for the tobacco manufactured in Cork came 

from America. The spring frost in Ireland meant that tobacco could not be grown in the country. The 

tobacco leaf was imported in 100lb Hessian Bales mainly from Malawi, Brazil and Kentucky. M. & P. had 

a rep called Bill Sommers in Malawi who bought the year’s requirements at the annual auctions. It was 

shipped to Ireland and stored at Cork Bonded Warehouse and duty paid as required.

Producers and Staff in Mary Street, Cork, c.1930 

M.&P O’Sullivan Price List, 1935 

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Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork 

Paddy O’Sullivan, who proved himself to be an early-day shrewd and astute entrepreneur, travelled to 

America to study the techniques of growing and processing tobacco. It proved to be a profitable crop for 

farmers who participated in it in the late 1920s and early 1930s. There was no duty on Irish grown tobacco 

and the duty became the profit. In 1927, Paddy O’Sullivan investigated the idea of establishing a tobacco 

factory in Cork and built a tobacco and snuff manufacturing plant in Mary Street. A year later, The Irish 

Times on the 30th September 1928 carried the following news on the visit to the factory of President of 

Ireland W.T. Cosgrave, who was a representative in the Dáil of the Borough of Cork from 1927 to 1944; 

New Industry in Cork 

Tobacco Factory Opened 

“The occasion was a luncheon given by Messrs. M. and P. O’Sullivan to mark the opening of their new industry in 

Cork, the Red Abbey Tobacco Factory. The function was presided over by Mr. Sean French T.D. and the attendance, 

which represented the shades of opinion, included Mr. Barry Egan, T.D.; Mr. R.S. Anthony, T.D.; Senator 

Haughton, Mr. Frank J. Daly, Chairman, Cork Harbour Baoard; Mr. T.P. Dowdall, brother of Senator Dowdall, 

and several other well-known business men in the city. A letter of apology for non-attendance was received from 

President Cosgrave. 

Mr. Egan proposed the toast of ‘The Trade and Commerce of Cork’. Having congratulated Mr. O’Sullivan on the 

enterprise and courage that he has shown in starting his new business at the present period of depression. Mr. Egan 

said what the whole country was suffering from at the present time, was under production. Too much attention, he 

said, had been paid to the distributive side of the business, and not sufficient to the manufacturing side. It was only 

by the introduction of such enterprises as Mr. O’Sullivan’s that they would see the transformation of Cork and the 

gradual lessening and disappearance of unemployment in their midst.

Guests at the opening of M.&P. O’Sullivan Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork, 7 May 1927; Top row l-r: P.O’Sullivan (Jun), 

P.J.O’Keeffe (secretary), D. Kenneally, J.Connell, J.O’Callaghan, J. Buckley, E.D. O’Sullivan, W.F.O’Connor, B.A. Solr., 

T.Foley, and D. Doherty (works manager); Second row l-r: J. Buckley, D.T. O’Sullivan, H.A. Pelly, Commissioner P.Monahan, 

G.Bride, R. Anthony, T.D., Senator Haughton, D. Scanlan, J.J. Barry, J.T. O’Sullivan (Chemist) and Jeremiah O’Sullivan; 

Seated l-r: R. Kelleher, M.O’Sullivan, F. Daly (Chairman Harbour Board), P.O’Sullivan (proprietor), Lord Mayor S. French, 

T.D. Rev. P. McSweeney, T.F. Dowdall and J.G. McCarthy 

Paddy O’Sullivan (left) oversees President Cosgrave (centre) and guests including Mr. P. Mcgilligan, Minister for Industry and 

Commerce during a visit to M.&P. O’Sullivan Tobacco Factory, Mary Street, Cork, 30th September 1928. 

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Mr. H.A. Pelley, manager, Hibernian Bank, Cork, in supporting the sentiment, paid tribute to Mr. O’Sullivan’s 

courage in entering into a business of that description, faced as he was by the big opposition from powerful combines 

in that industry. It was indicative of a true national spirit, and he hoped that the newly-elected deputies of Dáil 

Éireann would join in that spirit, and work together for the increasing of exports and the decreasing of imports, for 

the reduction of unemployment, and the lessening of emigration. Those were the subjects, which required immediate 

attention in the Free State. He hoped that the new Dáil would work together for the improvement of the industry, 

enterprises, and living of the Free State. The toast was supported by Mr. Anthony, Senator Haughton and Mr. 

W.F. O’Connor, Solicitor, and Mr.O’Sullivan briefly replied. Before the luncheon the party were conducted over 

the new factory, which was formally declared open by the Lord Mayor”. 

With the advent and duration of World War II in the late thirties and early forties, tobacco was in 

short supply and Paddy O’Sullivan, who became affectionately known as “Paddy Coupon” decided 

it was time to consolidate and build upon the company’s reputation. Paddy O’Sullivan and Gerry 

O’Mahony, a long serving and key member of the Company traversed the country from Clonakilty 

to Wexford buying up and selling as much tobacco as financially possible. Gerry O’Mahony was 

also a good friend of Paddy Senior and was associated with three generations of M.&P. O’Sullivan. 

In towns such as Courtown and Gorey in Co. Wexford, it was announced at mass that the buyers 

for M.&P. O’Sullivan would be available after mass. The store on Mary Street was filled up to 

the ceiling with tobacco. Hence in 1939, the company bought the premises of the Victoria Palace 

Dance Hall at Victoria Cross as an additional storehouse. Shortly afterwards the company closed 

their Mary Street operation. Dan O’Doherty, Danny Kenneally and Bernard Foran were managers Gerry O’Mahony, long serving 

staff member and former director 

of the Tobacco factory at Victoria Cross for several years. The last manager Pat Howe took over 

the management of the Victoria Cross premises until 1982 when it was converted fully for cash and carry use. 

James O’Sullivan recalls of later years in the tobacco industry: 

“As a young fellow in the sixties, I remember going to the tobacco factory with my father. As a seven year old, I 

remember being in that building and thinking that was the biggest building I had ever been in. The smell of tobacco 

being manufactured has an everlasting memory in your mind. At that time, there were around thirty people working 

in the factory doing manual work and packaging.


We had the government contracts for tobacco supply. I remember the process: placing dry tobacco leaves into a 

baking tin adding a certain amount of moisture, putting a steel plate put on top of the leave and, then another layer 

of tobacco leaves on top of it. The cake was then pressed in steam pressers and put in ovens and baked. When baked, 

the cake was cut into plugs and then into individual wrappers. We also manufactured snuff, High Toast and Cork 

snuff. The leaf was stripped by hand from the stems. The leaf was used to manufacture Plug and twist (often used 

for chewing). The stems were then toasted for a full day in front of an open fire, crushed in a snuff mill to either a 

coarse or fine finish. Trading tobacco in our shop on Princes Street was an integral part of that street. As time went 

on, it became the last key tobacco shop to survive in the city”. 

Staff at the Tobacco Factory, 1927 

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Red Abbey Tobacco Factory, Illustrated View, c.1930 Tobacco Advertisement, c.1940 

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Early marketing techniques, c. 1940 - bilingual advertisement 

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Mid Twentieth Century Consolidation 

The other M.&P. O’Sullivan premises, the Princes Street building, was an early nineteenth century 

structure and three storeys high. The picture of the shopfront of M.& P. O’Sullivan in the 1920s shows 

staff members Mick O’Sullivan (left) and Johnny Kenneally (right). A staff member and manager at M.P. 

O’Sullivan for many years, Johnny Kenneally was also one of the greatest Cork hurling forwards in the 

1920s and 1930s. He combined coolness, speed, positional sense and skill with an outstanding knowledge of 

all the finer points of the game. In 1929 he won a Munster minor championship with Cork and he travelled 

to Dublin to play on the All-Ireland minor final. Sean Óg Murphy recognising his skill got him withdrawn 

from the minor final and he played instead on the winning Cork senior side. Indeed, Johnny gave his 1931 

medal to the clergy of St. Francis Church who needed gold to make the tabernacle. 

Despite leaving school in his teens like many others of his generation, it was the school of life that made 

Paddy O’Sullivan very tuned into marketing M.& P. O’Sullivan. He was ahead of his time in terms many 

of his marketing ideas. As early as 1909, Paddy O’Sullivan had developed an interest in discounts and 

developed a gift scheme. One could redeem them for gifts such tobacco knives and pouches, tea pots and 

butter dishes. The company added wholesale grocery to its tobacco business in 1933. 

Paddy O’Sullivan’s son also called Paddy (born in 1923) was claimed as a quiet giver who was a resilient and 

capable administrator. At the age of 15, Paddy was a commerce student at UCC and three years later he 

finished his degree. However, because of his age, he had to wait a further year before being conferred. He 

went on to take on an apprenticeship as a commercial traveller for the firm he would inherit. During those 

years on the road he developed lasting friendships and a reputation as a sharp wit and lively companion. 

In his private life, Paddy (junior) was a consummate family man, a friend to his beloved children, 

Madeleine, Mary, Pat and James and lifelong companion of Nancy. Long before his entry to UCC, Paddy 

had developed a passionate love of sport that would remain with him for the rest of his life. His interests


were wide ranging, embracing all disciplines and his understanding intuitive. 

He reserved a special place for the national games, maintained a close association 

with the GAA throughout most of his 67 years, and was one of the 

few who could recall in detail the Cork, Munster and All Ireland campaigns 

going back to the thirties. Paddy O’Keeffe, his close friend, after whom Pairc 

Uí Chaoimh was later named, was secretary of M.&P O’Sullivan prior to his 

appointment as general secretary of the GAA. 

Having joined the family company in 1944, Paddy O’Sullivan (junior) helped 

lead and guide the business through several important stages of expansion, 

especially the overseeing of the growth of the grocery trade. In the fifties and 

sixties, the company went into tea blending and sold the famous brand Silver 

Pot Tea. The tea was delivered to Princes Street in 100lb chests by cart and 

drey. The tea was then hauled up to the first floor for blending and packing. 

The company produced different blends signified by the colour of the packet 

Paddy O’Sullivan (Junior), 

under the watchful eye of Paddy Hyde. Paddy O’Sullivan was advised on tea 

Managing Director, 1963-1990 

blends by his good friend and tea expert, Bill Beamish. Originally, most teas 

were imported from Africa, Ceylon and India. Kenya was the first country to modernise production and 

produced cut torn curled tea, which is still the main basis for modern teas. These were 

all blended to different formulae, depending on the required quality of the finished product. 

Each wholesale call for M.&P. from west Waterford and south west Kerry included 

a parcel or two of tea. There were coupons on the tea for so many labels so you could 

claim a gift. 

From 1964, the ground floor of the Princes street shop was divided in two distinct 

sections with retail and wholesale. Despite the poor Irish economic climate and very 

few opportunities for employment, there were fifteen staff employed circa 1960 in the 

wholesale department and two in the retail side. During this time, Paddy’s (Junior) 

brothers, Michael, Barry and Teddy O’Sullivan worked in the company. Joan Murphy 

(nee O’Sullivan) was also involved in the company in the sixties and early seventies. 

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Frank Barry, now financial controller of the company, joined the Princes Street shop in 1963. He notes of 

the early days; 

“It is an extraordinary story in the sense of how we survived in Princes Street and how the business 

endured there for so long…a lot of it was down to Paddy who had been on the road for years 

and who had built up great contacts and a personal rapport with many of the customers…the 

family continued the ties from that…the firm still is built on a personal basis. In the early days, 

the absence of computers meant all orders were written in triplicate and totted up. Stock-taking 

was originally maintained via hand written notes, which was a long process with stock priced at 

various pounds, shillings and pence. Goods were stored on three levels and hauled up by a hand 

operated lift. Heavy canned goods were kept on ground floor. Business was labour intensive with 

breaking cases and assembling and weighing being the order of the day. In the grocery trade, 

there were no pre-packed goods. There was a special way of hand sealing various products such 

as tea and sugar. CIE had a contract to supply large containers of food via the delivery of goods 

by drey horses pulling large carts.” 

Frank Barry, Company Financial 

Controller, 2005 

Pat O’Sullivan also recalls; 

“In the 1960s, it was a far more personal business when I came at fourteen years of age to work 

with my father on Princes Street during my school holidays. My first memory and one of my first 

jobs was the ‘block laying’ of biscuit tins. It was an art. The tins were stacked ten and twelve high. 

It was all manual handling... there was a manual lift but there were parts of the building that you 

had to climb three flights of stairs. Every wholesaler was working under similar conditions. We 

had a bench inside where orders were assembled, where cases were often split into dozens and 

half-dozens...my father was on the road a lot of the time. He especially travelled to west Waterford 

to places such as Lismore and Midelton in East Cork. People shared their business with three or 

four wholesalers at that time”. 

Pat O’Sullivan, 

Company Director, 2005


Mairéad McCarthy recalls her time with the company fondly: 

Mairéad McCarthy, 

former staff member 

“The setting was an old fashioned shop in Princes Street. There was a fair amount of learning 

to do. For instance, there were so many different types of pipes, tobaccos, snuffs, not to mention 

all the other goods, the different qualities, quantities and prices. The twist or chewing tobacco 

was very popular. Some people asked for a quarter, half, or ounce, which ever was suited to 

their needs. The tobacco was kept rolled in a coil and kept under the counter for convenience. 

The twist tobacco was made in the firm’s factory, then distributed round the country from the 

wholesale department, to the different retail outlets. Where the retail end of it was concerned, a 

little block of wood was placed on the counter. Then with a knife the amount asked for was cut 

to suit each persons’s taste. Popular though it was in those days. In later years, it disappeared off 

the market completely. Cutting the plug tobacco was a new experience for me. There was a right 

and a wrong way to cut it. When it was cut with the grain it was easy to rub out or tease it out. 

I worked for M.&P. until 1987 when I retired”. 

Another long term employee in the retail department was Margaret O’Donovan, who was 

well respected and extremely popular with the customers. Madeline Barry (nee O’Sullivan) worked for 8 

years in the accounts department and Mary Walsh (nee O’Sullivan) also worked in the shop during this 

period. 

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Past staff members c. 1980. l-r, Sonnie French, Ted O’Connor and Christy O’Donoghue 

M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd, one of the proud sponsors of Cork 2005. l-r: Nigel O’Mahony (Cork 2005), 

Pat O’Sullivan, Frank Barry and James O’Sullivan


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Expansion and Growth, c.1970-c.2005: 

James O’Sullivan recalls spending his summer holidays from school working in 

Princes Street in the early seventies; 

James O’Sullivan, 

Company Director, 2005 

“I remember the vibrancy of the street –Paul Dillon the Grocer, Dennehy’s Butcher 

Shop, Olden’s Butchers and O’Donavan’s Butchers, Mackey’s Butchers, Quains and 

Mortells Fish Shop, Finner’s Jewellers, Water’s Hardware, Murphy’s, the County Shop 

Con’s American Bar,Clancy’s Bar, Lily’s Café, Bacarra Café, Thompson’s Cafe, 

Barry’s Tea, Farmhouse Confectionary, Gerard Goldberg, Solicitor and former Lord 

Mayor, Cummins’ Sports and Norvan’s Grocer… that landscape has all changed 

now…all that’s left of that era is the English Market. Princes Street was a lead into the 

Market...I remember my father, Jerry O’Sullivan (Clancy’s) and Donal Mackey were 

very active in the Princes Street Traders Association.” 

There were great characters working for the company. Christy O’Donoghue, a Kinsale man, began his 

career as a gardener for Paddy O’Sullivan Senior. He worked for the company for over fifty years and in 

later years, he drove the van for the company and was known the length and breadth of the country. James 

O’Sullivan can remember going on the truck with Christy and delivering on the Ring of Kerry with great 

memories stopping off at Kenmare, Portmagee and Valentia Island serving customers. Irish was also major 

source of communication amongst reps. 

Tom Culhane was on the road for the Company for years. Another long serving and loyal member of the 

Company was Tommy Brennan. He worked for Gills, Jam and Confectionary Manufacturers on Princes 

Street. He came to work for the company but then branched out in a partnership called Cummins and 

Brennan. He came back to M.&P. and even when he retired he came in on a Saturday to help out. 

Redmond Walsh worked as a sales rep for M.&P. O’Sullivan for many years. He was a lifelong friend of 

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the O’Sullivan family and with his wife Betsy shared many a social and sporting occasion with 

Paddy (junior) and his wife Nancy. Redmond later became the national sales manager with 

the John Hinde Group (the famous postcard manufacturing company). Sonnie French was a 

man with a great sense of humour. There was a drill to christen, in a sense, any new employee 

to the company. Sonnie would walk around ghost like with his two hands out in front of him 

on Princes Street. When the new employee would ask what was the story, he was told that it 

was the full moon- and that Sonnie goes off the rails! 

The Princes Street shop maintained a good turnover but the advent of the Cash and Carry 

business had a detrimental effect on every traditional wholesaler in Cork. With the preservation 

of his business in mind, Paddy O’Sullivan oversaw the significant development of his 

company from a traditional wholesaler where everything was on different levels to moving into a large 

warehouse Cash and Carry business. In 1977, Paddy O’Sullivan initiated a major expansion and move 

to Victoria Cross. The Company quickly expanded and was soon looking for extra space. 

The adjacent Pope’s Garage came up for sale in 1985 and was purchased by the Company, 

who built as a new warehouse. The company opened in Dunmanway in 1979. The new 

Clonakility Road premises were initially managed by Harry Love, a Skibbereen man with a 

number of strong links with the town of Dunmanway. Harry began his wholesale career with 

R.J. Mahon of Roscrea and then moved to Atkins of Dunmanway for twenty years. The West 

Cork facility is now managed by Liam Deasy. The Homestead range was launched in 1983 

and became a brand leader for many of its products. The majority of Homestead products are 

Guaranteed Irish and produced by leading manufacturers in Ireland. It was designed solely for 

the independent retailers. 

Redmond Walsh, 

Former Sales Rep with M&P 

O’Sullivan Ltd. 

Harry Love, original manager, 

Dunmanway premises 

The new cash and carry business was a success story from day one. Despite the fact the company was small, 

valuable and positive goodwill was already in place from existing and potential customers. In 1977, there 

were nine cash and carry businesses or wholesalers in Cork and in excess of twelve van wholesalers operating 

in the city. The growth in large supermarket chains led to the decline in the wholesale grocery trade 

and this was evidenced by the demise in the late sixties and early seventies of such well-known companies 

such as Newsoms, M.D. Daly, Dwyers and T.F. Harris during the ensuing years. Of all the wholesalers, only


The Pope Bros premises, Victoria Cross was purchased in 1985 

Opening of extension in 1987; Back Row l-r: Frank Barry, Sonnie French, Gerry Murphy, Paul Fleming, Eddie Hourigan, Pat 

O’Sullivan, James O’Sullivan; Front Row l-r: Pat Corrigan, Anne Kerins, Paddy O’Sullivan, Gerry O’Sullivan (Lord Mayor of 

Cork), Joe Cummins, Norma Cotter and Stephen Barrett. 

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M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Complex, Victoria Cross, c.1990 

two remain today, Musgraves and M. & P. O’Sullivan. 

As Pat O’Sullivan notes of the early seventies; 

“In one sense, in the seventies one could not make a mistake in buying goods. There was an inflation boom. As soon 

as you bought one day, the price went up the next day. It was an era, which coincided with the development of Cash 

and Carry. The idea was promoted in the UK in the sixties and they appeared in Ireland in the early seventies. We 

were lucky we had a spare warehouse in Victoria Cross because our tobacco business had declined. Moving house 

is traumatic, moving business is worse. 

Our business was now completely on the flat with the same square footage as the Princes Street shop. The first 

Cash and Carry I saw was in Tuam, Co. Galway. We were members of the National Wholesale Grocers Alliance 

(formed in 1961). Without this group, it would have been impossible to survive in the late twentieth century. I 

attended a conference in Galway in 1974 promoting Cash and Carry. We still carried on the wholesale business 

but the Cash and Carry business grew. The trend in recent years had been going back to deliveries. In today’s busy 

environment time has become and issue in most businesses which has led to an increased delivery service. The big 

move for us was to be part of the Gala Franchise with other wholesalers in 1998. That has resulted in bringing a 

larger buying group together. We started with no shops, now in 2005, Gala has opened its 200th shop.


In 2000, the National Wholesale Group formed an alliance 

with Keencost establishing the Stonehouse Marketing 

Group, which the company became part of. We moved to 

Doughcloyne Industrial Estate in 1999 having purchased 

the warehouse of the Munster United Merchants some 

30,000 square feet. In 2002, Stonehouse formed an important 

alliance with Superquinn establishing a group called 

Aontas, which has further increased our buying power. The 

January 1999, BW.G. (Spar) handing over the keys of saddest thing is that succession in the retail business is poor. 

the new M.&P. O’Sullivan premises at Sarsfield Road 

Industrial Estate; l-r, Joe McSweeney, Pat O’Sullivan, Unfortunately further closures of small shops across the 

Colette O’Sullivan, Linda O’Sullivan, Berna O’Sullivan country are inevitable. This has been offset by the growth in 

the Gala franchise... also I remember when I was young the 

only time I ate out was at my communion or confirmation. You never ate out outside of that. Now more people are 

dining out on a regular basis which has led to a dramatic increase in our foodservice business. We are very proud 

that in this our special year, we were awarded the prestigious title of Stonehouse Foodservice Depot of the Year. We 

were competing with over 56 other depots nationwide” 

In 2005, M.&P. O’Sullivan is a successful, Irish-owned and entrepreneurial company, which has changed 

and expanded with the times. It is the intention, under its current directors and operations manager Tim 

O’Driscoll, to continue and expand on the foresight shown by the founders and continue the personal 

aspect of the business in the coming years. As for the future, James O’Sullivan notes: 

“Despite being a third generation family business, the aggressive marketing nature of the grocery trade, one has to 

work hard. As a company we have always respected our employees, that they were an integral part of our business 

going forward. In life you must give respect to get respect. Otherwise you don’t get respect. That was the aim of 

my father – respecting the workers and customers…looking after the customers…because if you don’t someone else 

will… without the customers you don’t function. Each individual customer is important”. 

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Setting up the warehouse, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate building, 1999 

Interior, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate building, 2005


Management & staff at M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Premises, Dunmanway, Co. Cork, 2005 

Management & staff at M.&P. O’Sullivan Company Premises, Sarsfield Road Industrial Estate, Cork, celebrating the Stonehouse 

Foodservice Depot Award, 2005 

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Centenary promotion car winner, Loretta Lennox being presented with her Suzuki swift car; included l-r Pat Murray, MD, City 

View Wheels and from M.&P. O’Sullivan, Carl Toal, Pat O’Sullivan and James O’Sullivan. 

M.&P. O’Sullivan celebrate with Cork’s sporting heroes of 2005; l-r, Valerie Mulcahy of the Cork Ladies Football team, All 

Ireland Winners 2005, Pat O’Sullivan, Frank Barry (both of M.&P. O’Sullivan), Dan Murray, Captain of Cork City F.C. the 

Eircom League Champions 2005, Cllr. Colm Burke, Deputy Lord Mayor, George O’Callaghan of Cork City F.C., Cllr. Michael 

Creed, Mayor of Cork County, Seán Og O’Hailpín, Captain of the Cork Hurlers, All Ireland Winners 2005, James O’Sullivan 

(M.&P. O’Sullivan) and Sarah O’Donovan of the Cork Camogie Team, All Ireland Winners 2005.


Celebrating the centenary in September 2005, evening for retiree reps. and employees associated with M.&P.O’Sullivan; Back 

row, l-r; Tom Curtin, Reg Treacy, Sean Kelly, Barry Kelly, Kieran Garvin, Richard Fair, Frank Barry (M.&P. O’Sullivan), 

Tony Gaffney, Vincent Murphy, Tom Gately and Sam Strong. Middle row, l-r, Tadhg O’Halloran, George Coburn, Kieran Flynn, 

Harry Love (M.&P. O’Sullivan), Pat Murphy, Pat O’Sullivan (M.&P.O’Sullivan), James O’Sullivan (M.&P. O’Sullivan), 

Bruce Huggard, Paddy Tierney, Seamus Irwin, Eddie Hunter, Michael Owens, Paul Hassett and Mossie Murphy. Front row, l-r, 

Terry Walsh, Pat Herlihy, Michael Casey, Brendan O’Keeffe, Jim Aston, Sam Williams, George Spicer, Finbarr Scannell, Noel 

Mullen and Peter Duffy. 

Celebrating the centenary at Rossinis, 34 Princes Street, the original premises of M.&P. O’Sullivan, Reps and Retiree Evening, 

September 2005, Jim Aston (centre) and Jim Reeves. 

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Pat Herlihy (former Rep. with Williams and Woods) 

“There is an old saying in business…the first generation make it, the second 

generation consolidates and the third generation blows the business…that has 

not happened with the O’Sullivans. The third generation has been successful in 

expanding the business. The old man was a tough business man. Paddy, his son 

was an absolute gentleman and I found in calling to the company, they were a 

very friendly and welcoming. The people of the present day company work very 

well together and are very well respected in the trade…they have worked hard 

in building up a rapport with their suppliers and customers”. 

George Coburn (former depot manager with P.J. Carroll) 

“My first contact with the company occurred when I came to Cork in 1961 from 

Dundalk and I knew the grandfather, old Paddy as I called him. He used to play 

bowls with Tom Finn and used to finish up in Days pub in Waterfall. Young 

Paddy had a computer as a brain…it is a very go ahead company”. 

Paddy Tierney (former Rep. with Beechams) 

“M.&P. O’Sullivan are very dear to my heart. I remember very well over forty 

years ago when I called to M.&P. my first call. I said my spiel and produced 

my goods for the manager to say no order. I was just packing my bag and very 

disappointed when a voice came over the partition; ‘give him an order’. It was 

Paddy. O’Sullivan. There is no doubt that I got the order because I was young 

and a Tipperary man! He had a grá for the hurling, a topic we carried on discussing 

for many years”.


Employees of M.& P. O’Sullivan, 2005 

Doughcloyne 

Marcin Apanowicz 

John Bowman 

Denis Cronin 

David Crowley 

Eddie Hourigan 

Linda Kearney 

Caroline Kelleher 

Marcin Natkowski 

Samantha Nation 

Maxi O’ Callaghan 

Paul O’ Donovan 

Tara O’ Donovan 

Tim O’ Driscoll 

Denis O’ Dwyer 

Claire O’ Keeffe 

Paul O’ Mahony 

Kevin O’ Sullivan 

Patrick F. O’ Sullivan 

Krzyszuk Pniewczuk 

Ross Quirke 

Carl Toal 

Przemyslaw Wilczewski 

Gerry Williams 

Dunmanway 

Aoife Connolly 

Ciara Connolly 

Deirdre Crowley 

Killian Crowley 

Carmel Cullinane 

Liam Deasy 

Breeda Galvin 

Ann Hayes 

Michael Keohane 

Michael McCarthy 

Liam Murphy 

Declan O’ Driscoll 

Edward O’ Driscoll 

Brian O’ Leary 

Aiden O’ Sullivan 

M & P O’ Sullivan 

Academy Street 

Jane O’ Callaghan 

Ciara Shields 

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M.&P.O’Sullivan Ltd. Company 

Synopsis 

1905 - Opened Retail/Tobacco Shop 

1927 - Tobacco Factory, Mary Street opened 

1933 - Started Wholesale Grocery Business 

1944 - Paddy (junior) commences working in Princes Street 

1965 - Joined N.W.G.A (National Wholesale) 

1977 - Moved Wholesale Business to Victoria Cross 

1979 - Purchased Atkin’s Business in Dunmanway 

1983 - Launch of Homestead range of products 

1987 - Opened new Cash and Carry in Victoria Cross 

1998 - Formation of Gala Group Shops 

1998 - Purchased New premises on Sarsfield Road 

1999 - Move from Victoria Cross to Sarsfield Road 

2000 - Formation of Stonehouse Group (National Wholesale and Keencost) 

2002 - Aontas Buying Group established (Stonehouse and Superquinn) 

2005 - Gala opened its 200th store 

2005 - M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd. celebrate their centenary 

Paddy O’Sullivan (Senior) overseeing work at the M.&P. O’Sullivan tobacco factory, Mary Street, Cork, c. 1940

E7.50 PROCEEDS TO CORK CHARITIES 

In the year 2005, M.&P. O’Sullivan Ltd. celebrates one hundred years, 

which creates a significant milestone in the company’s history. As a thriving 

and established third generation cash and carry with an excellent reputation, 

the company has played and will continue to play 

an integral part in the wholesale-grocery history 

of Cork.

M&P O'Sullivan Ltd 100 Years

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