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It was a place where the many characters that shape the town and its environs gathered on almost a daily basis to debate the various issues of the day. Governments have been elected in this shop and TD’s and Government Ministers throughout the land have in Liam’s own words been “torn apart and stripped asunder” on many a different occasion. Maloney Menswear was a great place for anyone interested in sport. Cheltenham fancies would be picked as early as October, All-Ireland victories would be scruntised and up and coming Irish sporting talent would be given the thumbs up or the thumbs down.
The owner Liam Maloney could only be described as a pillar of Roscrea Society. His spirit exemplifies all that is great about our old historic town and his energy and boundless enthusiasm is the envy of many the length and breadth of Ireland. This combined with his tremendous community work and his reputation as one of the finest drapers this side of the Shannon have earned him almost iconic status in his hometown. A visit to his shop last week gives one a clear indication of the reverence and the height of the regard that’s felt for Liam. Presents, bouquets of flowers, cards and a constant stream of well wishers many with tears in their eyes made Liam’s departure more of a funeral ceremony than a retirement occasion. Once the dust settles however, one will see it is also a time for celebration and reflection on what to date has been a tremendous life that has given so much, and a life that will hopefully now get plenty of time to enjoy other pursuits away from the workplace.
Liam was born at the Lodge in Dungar on March 26th 1941. He has three sisters and is the son of the late William and Sarah Maloney. His father William was probably Liam’s greatest inspiration. Indeed his father was only the third ever caretaker of Dungar Cemetery taking over from Mr R. Rafter in 1938. When Liam’s father died in 1982 Liam himself succeeded him as Caretaker having already been appointed Secretary to the Dungar Joint Burial Board in 1979. Liam holds the distinction of been the first person to hold both the Secretary’s position and the Caretaker’s position at the one time.
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His years of service at the cemetery has played a tremendous part of his life. As he reflects himself, he acknowledges that to some it may seem a strange place to live. He says “to be born, live and hopefully die in the one house and within the walls of a cemetery is very rare”. In 2001 Liam received a Roscrea People of the Year Award” for all his great work but in particular for a wonderful project that was instigated by himself and completed in 2001 and actually resulted in Liam appearing in popular Irish Television programme “Nationwide”. In what was a tremendous day for Roscrea, Liam unveiled a commemorative headstone at Dungar cemetery as part of his contribution to right what he considers “a terrible wrong”. The headstone which stands 5ft high and 7ft wide records the names and date of death of each person buried in the paupers grave in the cemetery. It is testament to Liam’s generosity that most of the project was paid for with his own savings.
As regards a very successful career in Drapery, Liam began working in 1957 with Hartnett’s in Rosemary Street. It was there he stayed until 1989 when he left to manage “Suits and Casuals” in Main Street. When the owner of that business retired in 1996, Liam took the brave move of taking over the business and began trading as “Maloney Menswear”. As he says himself, things went very well for him, but it was nevertheless “very daunting going into business by yourself for the first time in your mid 50’s” and according to Liam, it’s not something that he would be likely to advise anyone to do.
Speaking to the Tipperary Star, Liam recalled in his usual logical and analytical manner the vast changes that he has witnessed in Roscrea and society in general since he began his career in drapery almost fifty years ago. Liam talks fondly of the great characters that were customers of his through the years. He said many of those characters came from the twenty mile radius surrounding Roscrea from which Liam drew ninety five percent of his custom. He can easily recall people from Roscrea, Dunkerrin, Shinrone, Birr, Camross, Borris-In-Ossory and Clonakenny who were all great customers of his in the past. He recalls that people even travelled two and three times a year from as far away as Dublin, Limerick, Longford and Athlone etc to shop at his store in Roscrea. This in itself gave Liam great confidence that he was running a good show and as a result his business flourished. Liam has a special mention for the late John Joe Flannery and Tom Dwyer who dropped by his shop on almost a daily basis for either a good row or a great debate about one thing or another. As Liam says the door was often slammed going out but they, like many others always came back. In fact he says that in his fifty years of serving the public he only ever recalls having just the one problem with a customer and that was many years ago. He said one particular lady customer got in an argument one day with him and threatened to get her two brothers to sort Liam out. When she went home that evening and told the two lads what had happened they drove her straight back to town and made sure she made her apologies to Liam. Last week the same woman was back to wish Liam farewell and thank him for his generosity over the years. Her parting words as she left the shop for the last time were “In fairness Liam, ya weren’t the worst of them after all”.
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As regards the town of Roscrea itself, Liam has witnessed tremendous changes over the years. Long gone are the Monday Fair days which used to fill Rosemary Street and Rosemary Square in particular, with people from the town and neighbouring villages. Liam says that although Roscrea is still a pretty good shopping town in those days it was “a great shopping town”. Unfortunately for shop owners in Roscrea says Liam, the ease of transport nowadays and the massive attractions of other shopping venues many of which are now located in the midlands, means every week hundreds of people form part of the exodus to shopping centres away from Roscrea. This to Liam is a great pity. A great pity because he feels strongly that everyone should have a moral obligation to shop when possible in their hometown. According to Liam there is no substitute for shopping in your own locality. He firmly believes Roscrea offers every bit as good as value as the larger retail shopping centres and as far as he is concerned when it comes to customer service and the personal touch, stores like “Maloney Menswear” will never be replaced by the high street stores.
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Liam tells us that he feels he is retiring in an era where civic spirit is been eroded at an alarming rate. He said it is amazing how as the county got richer he could see on almost a daily basis from his shop that the standards were getting lower. Liam feels very strongly about the mindless vandalism, tuggery and plain disrespect for life that has now almost shaped Irish society. He was very vocal in calling for the powers that be to do whatever necessary to eradicate these problems which have become poisonous venom that normal law abiding citizens should not have to confront on a daily basis. He said the carnage on the roads and the sheer arrogance that has engulfed the Irish psyche also haunts him on a regular basis. On the positive side of things Liam reflects on the tremendous community spirit that exists in Roscrea through organisations like the Roscrea Tidy Towns Committee and others like it. He said if people could channel more of their spare time into organisations like these, we would all stand to benefit.
Away from work, Liam enjoys the simple things in life. A great believer in former American President John F Kennedy’s words “A time to work and a time to play”, Liam enjoys nothing more than a relaxing evening with a good meal. Alternatively a trip to the racecourse or to Croke Park leaves him energised and refreshed to once again face his many daily and weekly tasks. Liam has often said that because of his commitments to the business and the cemetery the reality is that a family with ten children would find it easier than him to get away for a holiday.
Liam’s departure from the main thoroughfare of Main Street Roscrea has as mentioned already brought many a tear over the last few weeks. Liam’s long and illustrious past has embraced the hearts of many generations of people over the years. Liam has asked us to thank all his customers and friends for all the business, great kindness and friendship accorded to him. As he says himself he has certainly done his best by way of his customers over the years and if ever he could do them a turn he was never slow stepping up to the mark. Indeed Liam was of great service to this correspondent over the past few years especially when it came to writing fitting obituaries for those who had passed away. Liam always had something nice and positive to say about the deceased and do doubt his words brought comfort to the families for miles around. Liam also has and continues to be a great servant of the www.roscreaonline.com website. Already through the sites genealogy section he has played a key role in uniting families as well as assisting countless other people trying to trace their roots to Roscrea and its surrounding district. Tributes flowed all last week for Liam and indeed Roscrea Chamber of Commerce would like us to thank Liam for his tremendous dedication, commitment and loyalty to the town over the years.
Signing off Liam quotes a very apt line from Byron “Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour”. Its by this motto Liam has lived his live and has based his happiness to date upon. It’s a motto that Liam will also live the rest of his life by as he embarks upon his retirement in Dungar. He says “theres no where else on earth he’d rather be” but with that famous wry smile of his, he informs us that he still has plenty more to give. One gets the feeling we certainly haven’t seen or heard the last of Liam Maloney.
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