Baltinglass business that bucks the trends
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF CALLED IN TO BALTINGLASS WHERE HE JOINED THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS AT THE KAIDEEN KNITWEAR COMPANY, FOUNDED IN 1969 BY MARTIN DOOGUE AND STILL IN THE HANDS OF HIS FAMILY
NAMED after the mountain behind its headquarters in Baltinglass, Kaideen and Company Limited has now been in business for half a century. It was back in November of 1969 that entrepreneur Martin Doogue received his certificate of incorporation issued by the Companies Office.
Fifty years on, the 86 year old retains an active interest in the knitwear enterprise he founded, though the day-to-day running of the show is carried out by his sons Brendan and Niall. The fact that Kaideen continues to trade successfully in the ultra cut-throat world of clothing is a phenomenon in teeth of competition from Asia sweat-shops. But father and sons have proven adept at adapting their outfit to deal with the ever-changing market, so who is to say that it will not be still around in 2069. The story of how a company which began as a local community initiative has devolved to take its place in the world of online retailing is worth telling…
Martin Doogue – the family name comes of French stock who emigrated from the Continent in the mid-18th century – is a Carlow man. One of 10 children, he enjoyed playing Gaelic football as a boy, winning county minor championship medals as a minor with the O’Hanrahans club. Though he never matched the exploits of his illustrious cousin Ned Doogue, he was good enough to be selected for his county as a minor. But progress to higher levels of the game was stymied by a move to Dublin where he began to carve a prosperous career for himself.
Martin had an eye for clothes, which he developed as a buyer, first with Kingstons and later with Boyers and Arnotts. He found romance too in the city, meeting and marrying his wife Bernadette (née King) who also hailed from Carlow and who worked for Hoover. The couple appeared well set, to the extent that they were able to acquire a home in well-to-do Sutton Park, close to picturesque Howth.
But Martin was intellectually restless and a visit to Donegal gave him food for thought. He made the acquaintance there of the legendary Father James McDyer who was leading initiatives to staunch emigration from his parish in Glencolmcille. The Carlovian was also friendly at the time with Baltinglass curate Father Tommy Brophy.
Perhaps, the two men pondered, there was scope for West Wicklow to follow the pioneering example being set in West Donegal. The priest identified a suitable start-up premises in the form of the old boys’ school at the top of Baltinglass town which was vacant at the time. Built in 1899, it may have been designed for a completely different purpose but at least it offered a fine big room ready for immediate occupation. Martin took the decision to resign from Arnotts and channel his expertise in the rag trade into Kaideen and Company Limited.
‘I was in a very good job in Dublin but thank God everything worked out right for me,’ says the maverick entrepreneur of the move he made half a century ago. The business has since been transferred out of the Hacketstown Road to the town’s industrial estate but memories of the schoolhouse are preserved in a photograph on the wall in the office. The fading image shows the workers – all female and mostly teenaged – in a maze of machinery and finished knitwear.
Many were recruited as the result of Father Tommy’s announcement from the altar that jobs were coming up. What they could not produce in the makeshift factory was knitted at home by women around the region who put their skill with the needles to good use, earning a little pocket money.
The demand for cosy woollen jumpers was brisk in the late Sixties and into the Seventies when central heating was not as universal as nowadays. Kaideen & Co churned out chunky garments which kept wearers warm and stylish.
Martin Doogue knew absolutely nothing about knitting techniques but he had the contacts which allowed the new firm exploit the market. During the early days he spent much of his time on the road commuting between Sutton and Baltinglass in a black Morris Minor – registration HZE 254. The same sturdy vehicle was used to make the first delivery of sweaters to wholesaler Ferrier Pollock. Other customers followed, including Crowe Wilson, Moffett Reynolds & O’Sullivan, McGowans of Sligo and Hilliards in Killarney.
‘He had huge drive and an appetite for work,’ says Niall Doogue of his father’s ability to harness the output of loyal staff to good commercial effect. And all the time, even while he was engaged in setting up the new business and ensuring that it continued to grow, he had energy to spare for sport. Another picture on the office wall showing the Leinster title-winning Carlow football team of 1944 demonstrates clearly where his gut loyalties lie.
He has continued to take an active interest over the years in the fortunes of the O’Hanrahans club where he first kicked a ball. However, he has also made a sizeable contribution to Gaelic games in his adopted county over the years and he became a stalwart too of Baltinglass golf club. He was a great man to run golf classics, raising funds for local good causes such as the Lawlor Centre and the church clock tower.
Perhaps his most remarkable GAA achievement was with the club in Kiltegan where the hurlers were perpetually stalled in the backwaters – until Martin arrived He made no pretense of being a hurler but his organisation and motivation drove the team on to win the titles which had always eluded them before.
He served a term as Wicklow football manager, bringing a can-do attitude to his role with one of the sport’s renowned under-achievers. He attempted to dispel pessimism by staging a ‘How to Win’ seminar at the Fatima Hall in Baltinglass to provide inspiration. Guest speakers at the still-remembered event in 1976 were Kilkenny hurling star Eddie Kehir and Dubs football manager Kevin Heffernan.
The Doogue family moved from Dublin to their new home in Baltinglass during 1973 where Bernadette continued to be the rock around which the family prospered. Brendan and Niall had spent their early years in Sutton, while younger brother Fergal – who now works as a local authority official in Dublin – was not born until 1974.
The old schoolhouse, which later served as a pre-school, was vacated during 1975 in favour of a purpose-built IDA factory at the industrial estate in Lathleer. The building has since been expanded and extended as Kaideen delivered the jobs which were originally promised. School uniforms were first produced in the Seventies and, in the Eighties, the company found a niche in tourism, catering to the demands of American visitors.
‘We sent truck loads of stuff to Shannon Airport,’ laughs Niall. In the Nineties the focus shifted to State contracts, producing uniforms for gardaí, prison staff, military personal, An Post and Dublin Bus. At one stage the payroll had more than 40 names on it, double the current number of staff.
Along the way, production was largely lost, with much of the knitting now carried out by partners near Verona in Italy. A couple of machines have been retained in Baltinglass but they are largely redundant. Among those in the workforce is Theresa Kirwan, who features among the lineup in the old photograph from 1973.
These days the emphasis is on the school uniforms, dealing with schools in Meath, Dublin,
Wexford, Kildare and Carlow (to name but some) as well as Wicklow. The schooluniformsdirect.ie website means that families can now purchase online. The plant at Lathleer also supplies a brand called Swallow Menswear with casual knitwear, mostly in the South West of Ireland. Since the early 1990s the company has hosted an annual Christmas sale at the factory, an event which has become an institution.
‘The business has changed in a big way,’ muses the firm’s founder Martin Doogue. He reveals that he spent six months considering the matter before making the move from his steady job in Dublin to take the plunge with the new start-up in Baltinglass. Fifty years on he clearly has no regrets, happy that he made the right choice.
He also lets it be known that he has not played golf for some time. His active participation in the sport was made impossible by the health problems which have required the insertion of 15 stents in the blood vessels around his heart. He is a survivor, as is the enterprise with which he will always be associated.
I WAS IN A VERY GOOD JOB IN DUBLIN BUT THANK GOD EVERYTHING WORKED OUT RIGHT FOR ME HERE IN BALTINGLASS