The Fieldcrest Factory was officially opened at the Purcellsinch industrial estate near Kilkenny city in September 1980. The factory was established to manufacture luxury towels for the European market. It was established by the Fieldcrest-Cannon Corporation of Kannapolis, North Carolina USA in partnership with Carroll Industries and Bank of Ireland. The Irish Government provided grant assistance through the Industrial Development Authority (IDA)
Work on the building of 50,000m squared building was undertaken by the Mercury Company and began in 1979. It was fully completed and ready to start production by September 1980. At its peak the factory employed over 630 people. However it quickly became evident that there was not a market for the quantity of goods the Kilkenny factory was producing. By September 1981 the factory was incurring huge financial losses. The losses continued to mount up over the following months and intensive efforts were made to save the plant and make it a profitable enterprise. All efforts failed and it was decided to cease production.
The Fieldcrest Factory in Kilkenny was closed in the year 1982 On This Day.
Image from page 836 of “The Ladies’ home journal” (1889) by Internet Archive Book Images on 1889-01-01 00:00:00
I worked in fieldcrest in 1979