Martin’s 50 years working at Quinn’s

IN 1966, Ireland was commemorating the golden jubilee of the 1916 Rising with many of the surviving 1916 participants still active in Irish politics.

Eamon De Valera was President, Sean Lemass was Taoiseach and Frank Aiken was Minister for Foreign Affairs. Donogh O’Malley, Minister for Education, introduced the concept of ‘Free Education’ for the youth of Ireland in 1966.

In 1966, cars were very scarce on the road, very few homes had the luxury of a telephone or a television set and all school children walked to national school often carrying a couple of sods of turf under their arms.

It was in July of 1966 that Martin Coleman, 15 years of age and one of a family of eleven children, left his home near Borris, Co Carlow, and came to work for Bill Quinn in Baltinglass.

Quinns of Baltinglass was even at that time well established, comprising a grocery, bar and hardware/ agricultural business.

It was usual practice in those days to ‘ live in’ and so it was with Martin who for many happy years lived over Quinns bar and grocery with his fellow colleagues Danny Dempsey, Willie Doyle, Ned Kelly, Billy and Sean O’Toole. All but Ned and Sean have long since gone to their eternal reward.

Martin’s first job was working behind the bar and while he took to it like a duck to water, there was always a small diffculty which proved diffult to overcome – the counters in those days were high and narrow and some customers on entering thought there was no one there to serve them!

Martin progressed from the bar to the hardware shop where, under the expert eye of Billy O’Toole, he became both competent and knowledgeable in all hardware goods. It was during this period that Martin’s attentions were not solely focused on Quinns business but turned to matters of the heart and sport.

He duly married his Baltinglass sweetheart Pat Norton and, to keep himself super fit, played hurling for Kiltegan.

When the yard manager, Jack Gorman, retired in early 1979, due to bad health, Martin took over the combined roll of both Yard and Transport Manager from where he became affectionately known as ‘Little Hitler’!

In more recent times, and as Quinns grain business expanded, much of Martin’s