The North Atlantic Liner Service

At first the fleet operated a regular and frequent transatlantic cargo service to and from American and Canadian ports. Such was the demand for cargo space that it was necessary for Irish Shipping to charter ships on short term time charters or voyage charters to supplement its own fleet. Six vessels were chartered for this purpose from February, 1948, until January, 1949, when the first three ships of the company's new fleet had come into service on the North Atlantic and Baltic routes. The port of Dublin was extremely busy during those early post-war years and it was exciting for a young person to be involved in visiting the docks on company business and meeting the many " characters " who were part of Dublin's dockland scene at that time. Dockers, checkers, boatmen, watchmen, and the " water men" from Dublin Corporation who supplied water to the ships, were all familiar figures on the old North Wall and Alexandra Basin quaysides.

I made regular trips from Head Office to our Dock Office, which was simply a hut located a short distance from the gates at the entrance to the North Wall Extension so called because that is what it was - an extension of the North Wall quays.

Pictured Right: The comparatively palatial new Dock Office on South Branch Road which replaced the old one on the North Wall Extension in 1970

Apart from dealing with the frequent arrival and departure of the company's own vessels at that time, Irish Shipping also acted as Agent for the very many American "Liberty" ships which were used to replenish coal stocks depleted during the war. These were large vessels which discharged huge quantities of American coal at Dublin port and the coal was then hauled by the truck load to the Phoenix Park where great stacks of coal were a familiar sight for some years after the "Emergency".

Although immediately after the ending of the Second World War, the shore staff and the fleet were kept very busy, a major obstacle to the commercial viability of the company's North Atlantic liner service was the lack of any significant export trade on the route. Coupled with this was a decline of almost 12% in the freight rate for grain in the first six months of 1949, with grain accounting for almost 75% of the total cargo carried on the North Atlantic route. A further obstacle for vessels trading to and from the United States was the requirement imposed by that country that 50% of all cargoes originating in the United States. had to be carried in American ships.

Pictured Right: This advertisment is taken from the January, 1947 edition of the monthly publication' Saltwater'.

This excellent magazine was published by the Maritime Institute of Ireland at that time and succeeded the Institute's previous publication 'Manannn of the Sea' in 1946.

Obviously, the services advertised at that time were still being provided by the ships of the wartime fleet since the first ship of the post war fleet, the Irish Rose, was not delivered to the company until July, 1948

Manager of the company's Cargo Department at that time was Albert A Smith, a Liverpudlian with a very sharp wit which was greatly enhanced by his delivery in his native patois. Albert, or A. A., as he was better known, was succeeded by one of the most popular men on the Irish Shipping staff, Clement P. Kinsella. Although of very imposing stature, Clem was a truly gentle giant and a very kind and courteous gentleman. He joined the company in 1944. He subsequently became Commercial Manager with the Agency Division before leaving in 1983 to take up the position of Secretary of the Irish Exporters Association.

Pictured Left: C.P.Kinsella

Tom Allison was also attached to the Cargo Department from the immediate post war period and was Outdoor Representative for the company. He canvassed for business around the country. A little later, Bill Mullen and Eddie O'Regan joined the company and the Cargo Department. Although Bill left the company in the late 1960s, Eddie became a senior member of the Agency Division when the North Atlantic liner service ceased and he remained with the company until his retirement in the mid-1970s.

Tom Allison Joined in 1945

Eddie O'Regan joined in 1947

Bill Mullen Joined in 1947

There were many other staff members of the immediate post-war period who remained with the company for thirty-eight to forty years. They were esteemed colleagues and life-long friends. Some moved on to make their names in other spheres of human endeavour such as Desmond Williams, a fellow junior during my early years in Irish Shipping Limited. He later went on to become Most Reverend Dr. Desmond Williams, a distinguished member of the Catholic hierarchy and a Bishop in the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. He worked in Irish Shipping prior to the commencement of his studies for the priesthood. It was most gratifying for those of us who were his contemporaries in the company that Dr. Williams not only joined us for a very emotional reunion dinner in 1985 but also brought along some cherished mementoes and photographs from his days in our midst almost forty years previously.

In a very different career move, I well remember the late Jim Mulkerins, whose interest in photography took him from Irish Shipping into the exciting world of films and he proved eminently successful in the film industry.

Much later on, another young man who spent a short while as an office junior with the company, crossed the Irish Sea to become one of the leading businessmen in Britain and has been the recipient of many honours in the commercial world there. He was Niall Fitzgerald, destined to become Chief Executive of one of Britain's major companies.

However, we also had colleagues who achieved fame whilst remaining within the Irish Shipping fold such as Rory O'Connor , perhaps the greatest exponent of traditional Irish dancing prior to the advent of the modern version of that very special Terpsichorean art form. Rory was a very popular colleague and withstood much good-natured banter about his long running dancing involvement in the well-known radio programme, Take The Floor. Rory joined Irish Shipping Limited in 1947 and displayed his unique talent at the company's annual dinner dances for the enjoyment of his colleagues and other guests. He was still with the company up to the time of the liquidation in November, 1984.

When I came to Irish Shipping Limited, it was almost inevitable that I was assigned to the Accounts Department since half of the people recruited at that time were similarly placed. At first I enjoyed the experience and even developed a mild enthusiasm for the discipline of recording financial transactions, balancing accounts and the various other bookkeeping duties which I was called upon to carry out. I studied the subject of accountancy for a short while and despite some modest success in examinations, I was disillusioned to discover that the basic tenet of the accountants' faith required me to believe that "every debit must have a corresponding credit"! This was a proposition to which I could never subscribe for it was not in accordance with my own life experience up to that point. I must confess that the passage of time has only confirmed me in my disbelief.

However, I met and worked with some wonderful people who were also fundamentalist accountants but were otherwise normal in their contacts with their fellow men and women. Profit determines the success of commercial enterprise and I contended that profit, by its very nature, means that every debit must have somewhat more than a corresponding credit ! In this pursuit, Irish Shipping Limited were reasonably successful although profit was not the company's raison d'etre.

Despite the difficulties experienced by the company during the war and in the years immediately after the war ended, the company's accounts as at 30th June, 1949, showed a credit balance of £124,379 in the General Profit & Loss Account. In addition the company's Total Investments stood at £1,315,475 and a Tonnage Replacement Reserve of £2 million was also shown in the accounts for that year.

For the period from March, 1941 to 30th June, 1949, the company paid a total tax of £2,313,147 on trading profits and £185,782 on Investment Income. In terms of 1984 values that total tax bill would equate with £35.6 million. That, surely, was a very creditable return to the National Exchequer on its initial capital investment.

As the old ships of the Irish Shipping fleet were replaced with new vessels changes had to be made in the company's trading strategy if it was to fulfil the mandate given to it by the Irish Government. This was to maintain a strategic fleet and, if possible, to do so without cost to the State. It was clear that Ireland's foreign trade could not support any real expansion of the national merchant fleet and other trading options had to be developed..

Although Irish Shipping Limited continued to provide a liner service on the North Atlantic up to 1970, most of the company's vessels were transferred to the international tramp shipping market from the early 1950s.