End of an era in Dunshaughlin as Maddens closes doors after almost 80 years in business

Landmark hardware store, building supplies, and fuel merchants was founded in 1947

A BUSINESS which has served the people of Dunshaughlin and its hinterlands for almost 80 years closed its doors for the final time on Saturday as the owners retired.

The landmark Maddens hardware store, building supplies, and fuel merchants, which has seen three generations of the family involved, made the difficult decision ‘to hang up the hammers’ after much contemplation.

Founded by William J Madden in 1947, it was continued by two of his children, Peter and Rosemary, while Peter and Elizabeth's daughter, Karina, has also worked there for the past decade.

On Saturday, the final day of business, there was a continuous flow of well-wishers dropping by to bid farewell to an institution in the village and to thank the Maddens for their service over the years. The Maddens in return were grateful for their custom over the years.

Willie Madden was from a dairy farming background at Macetown, Rathfeigh, Tara. But he had no great love for dairying, preferring instead mechanical work. During the ‘compulsory tillage’ period of World War II, or ‘The Emergency’ as it was quaintly termed in Ireland, he worked ploughing land for crops.

He decided to establish a motor garage in Dunshaughlin, beginning building around 1945 when the war ended.

This was no easy task, as there was still a shortage of supplies, and you had to have a certain ‘allocation’ from the Government before you could even go to the building supply firms for materials such as timber. The garage was built by direct labour and opened in 1947.

In those early days, there weren’t that many cars around, and the work was mainly focused on repairs to motor bikes, such as Honda 50s.

Petrol pumps were installed as time went on, and then when Peter joined the business in 1970, it was expanded to include the hardware and building supplies element.

“This was at a time when a lot more one-off houses were being built, and the demand from trades people for materials was there,” Peter explains. He recalls early customers such as Batterstown builder Jim McGowan, and the many in the farming community who came for their requirements. Later, DIY hardware became more popular, as the newer population that came to live in and around Dunshaughlin looked after their homes. Light hardware and household goods were later added as the business expanded in the 1990s.

“When my father opened in 1947, the village was a much smaller place than it is now, and it was in a central spot on the street – so he called it the Central Garage,” Peter says. The main grocery store was Gogan’s, run by Peter’s mother, Kathleen’s family.

The petrol strikes of the 1970s was a difficult time when fuel had to be rationed and queues formed down the street and around the Lagore Road to get their quota of scarce petrol. Many youngsters in the village earned their summer pocket money filling the pumps at Maddens. These pumps lasted until the mid-2000s, outliving those at Gogan's and Murray's.

The business has provided great employment over the years, and Maddens thanked all their loyal staff members past and present for their support, saying “we could not have done it without you”.

Honourable mention went to members of the O’Rourke and O’Meara family who loyally provided service to customers over the years, from long term employee Rory O'Rourke to his daughter, Louise O'Meara.

And who could forget the late Michael O’Connor - better known around his native Trim as ‘Harry’ – who manned the counter for years?

“He had great hardware experience, coming from Davys and McGeoghs in Trim, and was well known through Trim GAA,” Peter says.

“There was no paint stocked here before he arrived, it was him that introduced that to the offering.”

Some weeks back, when Peter, Rosemary, and Karina made the official announcement that they were closing, they also sincerely thanked their customers for their patronage.

“We have tried over the years to give good advice and honest service,” they said.

Saturday was a very emotional one for Peter, he admitted, as customers came through all day to extend good wishes and view the photos and slide shows from the business over the years.

“There are people who have been coming for 20, 30, 50 years, some even from my father’s time, and we’re not going to be there for them. But we are very appreciative of the loyalty of both our customers and staff over the years.”

The numbers who passed through the store on Saturday demonstrated that the people of Dunshaughlin and surrounds in turn appreciated Maddens for their 78 years of service, advice, and fulfilling their requirements, large or small.