Irish Catholics in Early Twentieth Century Ireland: The Case of the Macardle Brothers

Abstract

Irish Catholics in Early Twentieth Century Ireland: The Case of the Macardle Brothers Desmond Gibney Introduction This article uses archival resources to recount the lives of two brothers from a prominent and wealthy Catholic family, the Macardles of Dundalk, during the first quarter of the twentieth century.1 This time span includes the First World War, the fight for Irish independence and the establishment of the Irish Free State. Sir Thomas Callan Macardle KBE (1856–1925) was a prominent businessman and played a leading role in civic life, during which he demonstrated his loyalty to the British crown. His younger brother Andrew Macardle SJ (1863–1942) was a Jesuit priest. The tradition of loyalty by Irish Catholics to the crown is an under-researched aspect of the social and political history of modern Ireland. One of the few examples is a study by Richard Keogh and James McConnel of the Esmondes, a prominent Catholic family in Wexford.2 A study by Fergus Campbell of what has been termed the ‘Irish establishment’ between the Land War and the First World War periods divided the establishment into six categories, including politics, business and the church.3 Using Campbell’s criteria, the Macardles could be regarded as part of that establishment. Context The prominence of the Macardle family centres on their ownership of a Dundalk brewery, Macardle Moore and Company, one of the few Irish breweries that has not of yet been the subject of an extensive published history. Macardles was regarded as one of Dundalk’s ‘oldest and most progressive industries’.4 Macardle’s Ale was first brewed in Dundalk in 1863 and continues to be produced by Diageo Ireland. Macardles brewery demonstrated strong family and business support for the First World War, and the firm’s letterhead described the company as ‘Irish Army Brewers, Contractors to H.M. Forces’. Macardles ‘did a very big trade in supplying Studies • volume 107 • number 426 199 ale to the British army […] and also exported to the troops in Liverpool and in the Mediterranean, and for this the brewery received wide recognition’.5 The contrasting paths taken by the two brothers, Thomas the brewer and his younger brother Andrew the Jesuit priest, whereby one became a wealthy businessman and the other took a vow of poverty as part of his priestly vocation, are illustrated by the value of their respective estates at time of death. Using Central Statistics Office (CSO) data,6 these amounts have been rebased to current (i.e. December 2017) values. When Thomas died in December 1925, his estate was worth approximately €2 million in current values; by contrast, when Andrew died in December 1942, his estate was worth approximately €200.7 Sir Thomas Callan Macardle KBE Thomas was director and chairman of the family brewery, Macardle Moore and Company. According to his entry in Who Was Who,8 he was also, among other roles, chairman of Dundalk and Newry Steampacket Company Limited, chairman of Dundalk Race Company Limited and president of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce. He also occupied three roles which were abolished on the creation of the Irish Free State: Deputy Lieutenant for Louth, High Sheriff for the county for 1917 and Justice of the Peace.9 In 1888, he married Minnie Lucy Ross, an Anglican who had converted to Catholicism before her marriage and whose father was a colonel in the Scots Guards. Thomas and Minnie had five children: sons Kenneth, John and Donald, and daughters Dorothy and Mona. Dorothy became a well-known writer and historian, bestknown for her The Irish Republic, first published in 1937.10 The five children grew up against a background of wealth and privilege, with the sons educated at boarding school in England (including the Jesuit-run Stonyhurst College) and the daughters at Alexandra College in Dublin.11 Further evidence of the standard of living in the Macardle family is provided by the 1901 census, when the household consisted of Thomas and Minnie and their five children, along with four domestic staff: a governess, a nurse, a maid and a servant.12 By the time of the 1911 census, Minnie had permanently relocated to London, while Thomas remained living in Dundalk and retained...