Thread by @IrelandsFarmers

My Great Grandfather James Anthony Cunningham Established Cunningham’s Butchers at 15 Newcastle Street Kilkeel in 1919.

It was a whitewashed building semi-detached 2 storey dwelling. He learned his trade from his father William who started trading as a butcher from the (1)

2) his Home Farm, at Carginagh, near the Silent Valley in 1905 when James was twelve years old.
(photo of Cargineagh slaughter house)
The butchers ring is still imbedded in the wall, and the ring for the pulley block is fixed in the center beam of the old slaughter house

3) Great great Grandfather William’s Bill head in 1906. He wife Ellen, daughter of Daniel Fitzpatrick.They had 12 children
Patrick 1887 US
Michael died at birth
Mary 1890
Rose 1892 US
James 1893
William 1895 US
Susan 1897
Helena 1898
Jane 1899
John 1902
Charles 1905
Kathleen 1909

4) James established his business in Newcastle St(pictured) On the back of a loan of £80 from Mr Orr, who lived down the street where Raymond Haugh now has his Dental practice.  On the14th of June 1920 James married Elizabeth (Lilly) They had 3 children, Brendan, Maura and Tony

5)From eatablishment in 1919 business thrived. Accounts from 1924 show the Reverend Alfred Eadie’s purchases in 1924 and 1925 account paid 12/9/26.(photo 1924 a/c) Dr Hendron 1926. Rev Fr. Mc Laughlin 1926. Dr.McCann 1926-1940. Mr Bullick & Sons Contractor 4 College Green Belfast

6) In 1932 my Great grandfather James bought 40 acres at kilkeel harbour. Willy Mc Kee their neighbour at the shop was their neighbour again sharing a lane and farmyards next to each other. The lanes and fields ran to the Moor road from the harbour crossing the river Ford bridge

7) We still own this land to this day, with silage being done hopefully this evening (see picture) although the field closest to the old bridge at the harbour is now were the fish factories are currently in kilkeel. Our shore field looks over the harbour

8) Great Granny Elizabeth died on the 9th of December 1961 aged 70. Great Granda James the 13th of July 1969. My Granny (Gertrude) and Granda(Tony) ran the business successfully always focusing in quality. Their wedding day in 1954 (picture)

9) Quality was key to the business success. (1st photo is Granda Tony receiving Cunninghams 1st ever award at the back of his meat cart from NI Meat Marketing Board 1970’s)(2nd my Granny Gertie receiving an award with Seamus Loughran Johnny Keely Newry &Dan Mc Cartan Glasdrumman)

10)My Granny was a principle of the local primary school & helped Granda run the shop. They had 4 Children
James (teacher, butcher, farmer)
John (grain trader)
Maura (Teacher)
Maurice (retail manager)
They all worked on the farm & Butchers until they went to university

11)In 1978 my Granda was diagnosed with Cancer & Died in 1981. My father juggled being a Vice Principle, a butcher & farmer & ran the business with my Granny. Pictured is the shop in 1981. Another picture of my Granda plucking turkeys at Christmas. Still the busiest time of year

12) My father met my mummy Bernadette Higgins (Daughter of Frank (PaPa) & Mary (NaNan) from Mayobridge & Married in 1986.

All 4 are pictured on their wedding day.

I was born in April 1987. (2nd picture with my Mum)

13) Mummy was a teacher as well & Helped granny with the book work of the shop. I am the eldest of 4 children

James (Me)(Butcher @FreshFoodHall )
Christopher (Butcher @FreshFoodHall )
Nicole (Works for @FDplc)
Racheal (Student Teacher)

This photo was taken at Dads 60th

14) We had a great child hood. We spent so many days on the farm with Dad & My uncle John who helped on the farm every Saturday when dad was at the Butchers. As we got older me & Christopher worked in the Butchers after school

15)I left Queens University in 2010 after completing my Masters in a finance.

I had planned to be an accountant but had sometime between my dissertation & Graduation in December. I did what I always did for some extra cash; worked in the shop. After graduating I stayed on.

16.1)The local enterprise board had this video made for us in 2011. It was the first video ever made of Cunningham’s Butchers. It gives you a look at what the shop use to look like. In 2010 we had three staff when I entered the business & my focus was to showcase our quality.

16.2) second part of the video

17) My younger brother Christopher joined the business in 2013 after Graduation from UUJ University.

From this point as a business we never looked back. We open a Butchery concession in our local EuroSpar offering our High Class Butchery products to a wider audience.

18) From 2010- 2014 we had grown from 3 staff to 20. The focus was on growing the product range using the finest local ingredients.

We started to offer more ready eat products; for customers looking home cooked meals but didn’t have the time to cook each evening

19)The opportunity came in 2014 to buy the next door hardware store. We were able to open a 30 car park. This made it so much more convenient for customers to visit are already busy shop. We soon began to outgrow it and we got plans passed to built our Butchers & food hall

20) We started the building work in January 2015 & opened our new Butchers,Food Hall & Steak House in June 2016. Opening was one of the most stressful times I have ever experienced but ever week things got easier as we adjusted to our new shop. Our community was so supportive

21) During the building work I Married my Wife Donna & we have two Girls Charlotte & Sophia who you seen in Monday’s video ❤️ Donna left her job in @FDplc in 2019 & it’s the best thing we ever did. She now runs our accounts & looks after the payroll of our now 60 staff .

22)In March 2019 we opened our Second Store in the Quays Shopping Centre Newry. This has been a brilliant success. We have a brilliant team up there who work closely with our Kilkeel Shop to ensure the same quality & service is provided to all our customers in all locations

23)We have been very fortunate to win multiple awards over this last 5 years for @FreshFoodHall

Best Butchers in Ireland 2017 & 2018
Best Destination Shop in Ireland 2019
UK Butchers Shop of the Year 2016
UK Butchers Shop & Food Hall of the Year 2018
Best Deli in NI 2018

24) I hope you have found some interest in the thread on the History of Cunningham’s. So much hard work & dedication & Risk has gone into getting Our business to were it is today. Family is at the heart of everything we do. Est 1919, very humbled to still be going 102 years on