Ned to close family business after 150 years
AN institution of the clothing market in Listowel is to close exactly 150 years since it first opened its doors in a previous incarnation on upper William Street.
Ned O’sullivan’s Menswear, fine purveyor of all the latest in men’s clothes for so long, is to cease trading by the end of next month. The closure does not come solely as the result of economic necessity but due to the retirement of Senator O’sullivan — the fourth generation to run the business. With all his sons employed in good jobs up the country, there was simply no fifth generation of O’sullivan to take over, the Senator told The Kerryman.
“I’m sad of course because I am very conscious of the tradition our family has upheld in serving the people of Listowel, north Kerry, west Limerick and even north Cork for so long,” Ned said. “But it was time for a decision on it. I’m in my 60s now and my three sons are all in good jobs in other parts of the country. I would have loved for one of them to have taken over the business from me but that wasn’t to be.
“Since becoming a senator in 2007 I’ve had far less time to devote to the running of the business. I was very fortunate however to have had the services of an excellent manager in Mark Loughnane all along, as well as the services of a number of part-time staff. I hope they will all secure alternative employment in the coming months,” he said.
A keen historian himself, Ned has recently tracked down the entry of the family into the business in Listowel back to the 1860s. Back then they were all about tailoring.
“It was my greatgrandfather Michael O’sullivan, from Ardoughter in Ballyduff, who first established a tailor’s in what was then known as Pound Lane, or Upper William Street as we know it today. He was succeeded by my grandfather Ned who built a new premises in Market Street, adjacent to where Tarrant’s garage is, and he had quite a business, employing around eight tailors full-time.”
Ned’s father Seán took over after him, himself a canny business man too who saw the writing on the wall for tailoring in the ‘60s. “He could see tailoring wasn’t going to be as big as it had always been and decided to go into retail, moving into our current address in William Street in 1962. So we’ve been here for half a century.”
Ned himself took over the running of the family business in 1989, leaving the teaching profession he had been in for 20 years by then. “Taking it over was second-nature to me as I had been raised in it and had been working with my father on weekends up until then anyway. I always loved it and what made it so rewarding always was our customers. We have been so fortunate in trade here because of them and I just want to thank all our customers sincerely, whether they be from Listowel, north Kerry, west Limerick or north Cork for all their loyalty over the years.”
O’sullivan’s will continue to trade until the end of February and there are no plans as yet for the future of the building. “I may be approached and I will consider all options, but I haven’t really thought about the property side of it yet.”