'It Started With A Stitch' - a nostalgic look back at life at Carrick-on-Suir's Schiesser factory

Maria Clancy, Paula O'Dwyer and Jayne Tennyson portraying Schiesser staff at work in It Started With A Stitch. Photo Noreen Duggan

A fond, nostalgic and often hilarious trip back in time to life on the factory floor of Carrick-on-Suir’s former Schiesser textile plant was the memorable Culture Night celebration at the town’s Sean Healy Public Library last Friday night.

“It Started With A Stitch” arts project celebrated through drama and a multi-media exhibition of memorabilia and film, the important social and economic role of the German owned men’s underwear factory in Carrick between its opening in 1971 and closure in 1996.

The two performances of the dramatised depiction of life as a Schiesser’s worker staged last Friday night were booked out weeks in advance.

And such was the demand to see the event that two more fully booked performances were staged at the Library this Wednesday, September 27.

Most of the audience at the Culture Night performances were former Schiesser workers, who thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane as portrayed by the cast Paula O’Dwyer, Helen Murphy, Maria Clancy, Sheenagh Raggett, Jayne Tennyson and John Corcoran.

But it’s a drama that also appeals to a much wider audience. Anyone who ever worked in any company, large or small, back in those decades, will identify with the stories and memories dramatised by the cast.

The opening of the production recalls how the factory, which employed 150, became a vital lifeline of income for many Carrick families after the town’s biggest industry, The Tannery closed in 1986.

The actors portrayed the memories of machinists, sewing machine mechanics and even one or two former German staff members.

They recalled how many of the mostly female staff were only in their mid-teens when they started work at the factory, often joining after completing the Inter Cert.

Pop music from a variety of radio shows played over the factory floor got staff through the day. When a favourite song was played the workers stood up from their work stations and waved along to the tunes before resuming their work.

The pressure to meet targets in bundles sewed and minutes worked is recounted but also the huge social side and craic the staff enjoyed.

Memories of Christmas parties in the factory with chicken and chips on the menu and crates of Guinness, Stag and Ritz laid on and in later years party nights in the Minella Hotel are featured.

There were Christmas draws for hams, drink and biscuits and each staff member was issued with ten garments that became Christmas gifts for fathers, brothers, husbands and boyfriends.

The production also recalls annual staff trips to places like Killarney, Howth and Cobh; inter-factory fire drill team contests and the factory’s women’s football team.

Also remembered fondly in the drama, is the factory’s annual St Patrick's Day Parade float where Schiesser underwear was thrown out to spectators one year and another year the float featured a re-enactment of a burglary of underwear from the Clonmel plant. The factory had a troupe of majorettes who also marched in the parade.

It Started With A Stitch received a deserving standing ovation from the audience at its conclusion.
Ann Grace, Tara O'Donnell and Elaine O’Keeffe were three former Schiesser machinists watched the show.

Ann from St Nicholas Park, Carrick worked at Schiessers for 20 years between 1973 and 1993 and strongly identified with the stories and memories shared by the actors.
“It was fantastic. We laughed from the start because we remember every minute of it. I lived it all over again,” she said.

Tara from Tanners Gate, Carrick agreed. “I cried and laughed watching it. It was just brilliant. It was so funny and brought back so many memories of all the things we did like standing up for the songs and waving.”

She worked at Schiesser between 1986 and 1994 and recalled leaving school in Fifth Year to start work there.

After Schiesser’s Carrick factory closed in 1996, she was one of the workers who moved to the Clonmel plant until its closure in 1999.
Elaine, who also lives in Tanners Gate, worked at Schiesser for 11 and a half years. She said the drama captured exactly what it was like to work at the factory.

“It was brilliant. The craic we used to have going on there. I never had it in any other job after.”

The performance arts piece was written and directed by Mary McGrath in collaboration with cast member Paula O’Dwyer. They are both former Schiesser machinists. Maria Clancy of Brewery Lane Theatre is acting/directing consultant for the production and Alban Glascott is over sound.

Mary said they recorded interviews with about 20 former Schiesser's staff about their memories from their time working at the factory. During the summer, they used the interviews to develop story lines for It Started With A Stitch.

“It was a lot of hard work but it has definitely been worth it when you see the reaction from everybody who has come to see the production. The demand to see it has been phenomenal, which is very touching.”

Mary, a native of Treacy Park in Carrick, worked as a machinist at the Schiesser factory for six years from 1990 to 1996.

She remembered the work was hard and monotonous but the great friendships, craic and the music got you through. She has been writing since about 2016 and It Started With A Stitch is her third play.

Paula O’Dwyer from Carrickbeg, who portrays a feisty machinist in the production, paid tribute to the producer Linda Fahy, who runs Carrick-on-Suir’s Tudor Artisan Hub, for all her work putting the arts project together for Culture Night.

It Started With A Stitch was Linda’s brainchild and Paula particularly pointed to Linda’s work on the film, which is a key part of the multi-media exhibition.

The 60-minute film is a compilation of footage extracted from videos filmed by videographer Liam Barry and blended with photographs and news stories submitted by former Schiesser employees along with an information clip demonstrating the various manufacturing processes in the factory.

Linda encouraged the public to come see the film and pointed out the multi-media exhibition will continue at Carrick Library up to this Friday, September 29.

The exhibition celebrates various aspects of working life in the factory and includes examples of Schiesser garments, workers uniforms, photos and other memorabilia contained in memory boxes contributed by former employees.

A highlight is a collection of 16 vintage Paddington Bears dressed as various types of Schiesser factory workers. They are owned by former Schiesser worker Elaine Carroll.

Linda thanked all who helped in any way to make the project happen including Carrick Library for providing the venue.

She also thanked as Tipperary Arts Office and the Arts Council for their support.

Pictured below: Elaine Carroll making adjustments to one of her Paddington Bears dressed as Schiesser workers in the It Started With A Stitch multi-media exhibition at Carrick-on-Suir Library