HUGH SMYTH, NAVAN, BORN 1928

At the age of 14 years, Hugh Smyth left his school days behind and began his apprenticeship with John Hogg and Company, Furniture Makers at Sandymount, beside Navan Town Hall. He recalls the time when the factory changed ownership and moved premises to the Dublin Road, and began to trade as Crannac Furniture. He remembers the suppliers of timbers and fabrics, and his early working days, qualifying initially as a chair-maker and later as a cabinet-maker. In the 1960s, having spent a year in London, he returned to Navan and opened his own cabinet-making business with Tommy and George Foster. He discusses the challenges of business, and his own strengths and skills as a craftsman rather than as a businessman.