Sweet Memories exhibition now in Clondalkin

For anyone who missed the Sweet Memories, The Story of Urney Chocolates exhibition you can catch it in Clondalkin library where it will run until 23rd of November 2010. After that....who knows, maybe a venue near you........ If there are people out there that were unable to make it to the Dublin or Wexford show and are interested in seeing the exhibition, please drop me a line and I'll try my best to get it to a venue as close to you as possible.

Launch of Sweet Memories exhibition & book

Thanks to everyone who came along to the launch last Thursday evening. So many people turned out to support the project and to catch up with old friends and colleagues. There was such a warm and friendly atmosphere in Tallaght Library that night - an indication of the enviable camaraderie that existed in the Urney Chocolates factory before it closed its doors 40 years ago.
Sile, Una and library staff did a terrific job organising the whole event, even providing a chocolate fountain with the refreshments. The exhibition runs until September 19th, during library opening hours so you still have a chance to view it.

Book Launch on Thursday 26th August, 2010

Finally, after a year in the making, the book is finished. Sweet Memories, The Story of Urney Chocolates will be launched on Thursday evening at 7pm in Tallaght Library. 
With a heart-warming foreword from comedian Brendan Grace the publication traces the growth of Urney Chocolates from its humble beginnings in Co. Tyrone to an industrial pioneer of Irish confectionery. In conjunction with Heritage week and in association with the book there is also an exhibition on show in Tallaght library. Everybody is welcome to the launch, so come along this Thursday and relive your favourite Urney memories.

E. Gallaghers shop Strabane

A highlight of our trip to Strabane was a visit to Harleys shop on the main street. The shop once housed a drapery store, built by Edward Gallagher in 1869. Edward had made a small fortune selling bibles in America and came home to start a business. The shop was on the ground floor with menswear to the front and ladies wear at the back. Later a shirt factory was built to the rear of the building. Harry (Urney Chocolates founder) worked in his father Edward's business for a short time before being sent off to study law. Harry later returned to the area when he got the post of Crown Solicitor to Donegal and his brother Andrew took over the family business. The shop then came into Joseph Harley's father's hands and Joseph now runs a furniture shop from the same premises. Today's shop retains many of the old features including the wooden floor and exterior design. There was a lovely nostalgic feel to the building; you could almost hear the ghosts of customers milling in the out of the busy drapery store of over 100 years ago when Edward traded his wares.

Trip to Urney- where it all started...

Last week-end mum and myself took drove to Tyrone where the story of Urney Chocolates all began. Urney, meaning place of prayer, is a parish just outside Strabane and straddles the Donegal-Tyrone border. The 5 gruelling hours it took to get were quickly forgotten on our arrival. We were met by John Haire, his brother William and John's lovely family who generously kept us fed and watered as we exchanged Urney Chocolates trivia. John and William are avid local historians and had a plethora of Urney memorabilia to show us. 

To make the experience more tangible John drove us out to the original site where the factory had started. There is now a graveyard where Urney House once stood overlooking the river Finn. (Please excuse the ropiness of my stitched-together landscape...) The production of confectionery had started in the cellar of Urney house until the former rectory burned down. Then a purpose-built factory and bungalow was erected on the grounds of the estate until 2 years later it was to suffer the same fate, which prompted the business to move south to Tallaght. There are no traces of these buildings left on the beautiful site but the views of the river winding through the gently undulating countryside can't have changed very much. John then took us to a few other sites (another blogs work) and we left over-laden with fantastic images and gathered information. They could not have been more helpful or more giving with their time, collections and hospitality. It was a truly memorable trip.

Helen O’Clery

The other day while rummaging through family stuff in search of Urney bits and bobs I came across this book by my Great-Aunt Helen.


Helen was the only daughter of Urney Chocolates founders Harry and Eileen Gallagher. She was born in 1910. Trained as a nurse in St Vincent’s Hospital Helen went on to study physiotherapy. She married engineer Dermot O’Clery and began writing books for children. She quickly became an established author and had many books published both in Ireland and in America. The couple's eldest daughter Ann, an architect and accomplished artist, illustrated several of Helen’s books including this one, Mysterious Waterway. Ann's beautiful sketches feature throughout.


Published in 1963 by Alan Figgis this adventure story for young readers sees the O’Reilly family navigate their way from Dublin Quay to Port Shannon on board a cabin cruiser. Although it is a work of fiction, the book was written to highlight the importance of retaining the canal. Dublin Corporation planned to lay a sewer in the bed on the city section of the Grand Canal and concrete over it to make a motorway. At this time Dermot O’Clery was president of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) which was formed in 1954 in an effort to preserve Ireland’s inland waterways. The IWAI is still in operation today and has this to say about Dermot on their website:


1963:..... Dermot O'Clery, President from 1962-'67, produced a comprehensive report about the future development of the Shannon, at the request of Bord Failte, indicating the funds that would be required to implement it. Bord Failte allocated the necessary funds, €140,000, and it is significant that almost all the suggestions contained in the report have now been carried out, illustrating the importance of putting suggestions in writing in a well laid out format.

Dedicated Irish Chocolate-Maker Passes Away

I was listening to the Ray Darcy show on Today FM when I heard the sad news. Thomas Caffrey passed away earlier this week at the ripe old age of 92. Incidentally, both Harry and Eileen Gallagher, founders of Urney Chocolates, lived heartily to 95 and 89 respectively. Further evidence that chocolate is good for you.  The Caffrey family in Dublin run the oldest established Irish, family-owned, chocolate-making business. Now managed by a third generation of Caffreys, the company continues to make traditional confectionery that those of us of a certain vintage still crave. In the 50's Thomas Caffrey invented the infamous Chocolate Snowball - a gooey, soft centered, marshmallowy mass, encased in a milk chocolate shell and dusted with coconut.. MMMmmm....... Caffreys also created the equally popular Macaroon Bar and the Big Time Bar. Neville Caffrey, speaking on the radio, reminded listeners that "The Chocolate Warehouse" in Walkinstown is open for tours, where fans of the Caffrey range can stock up on their favourite products. Thomas Caffrey, we are forever grateful for your many years dedicated to the art of making chocolate, may you rest in peace.