ROBERT GILES, AGE 79, CLARA (Part 2)

The Goodbody family had a number of sizeable houses in the area, both for themselves and for the management. They had 14 houses for staff. Robert Giles spoke about the winding-down of the factory in the 1980s, and the reasons for this. It was taken over by an American management team, who continued with 90% of the workforce at that time. They were now trading with carpet companies and with Irish Ropes but this venture also came to an end and after 49 years working with the firm, Robert retired. He showed me some interesting photographs of the Goodbody management, and spoke about their personalities and their places within the firm.