36 Eyre Square, Galway, Ireland
Woolworths opened in Galway, Ireland, in 1953. With thanks to Stephen Nolan who sent me all the below information about the store, which traded for 31 years.
Source: Woolworths History and Photos
Store 808 Galway was purpose built opening in 1953 on the site of the former Royal Hotel in the heart of Galway City on Eyre Square. This is a prime location in a popular tourist destination.
Source: Galway memories
From the Galway Advertiser:
“The shop was big and L-shaped, getting wider towards the back. It had one of those photographic booths where you got four passport photographs. It was the first such machine in town and a very big attraction. It also had a machine that produced beautiful ice cream cones, and another that kept salted peanuts warm. It was no wonder it became such a popular hangout for young teenagers”.
Source: Galway Memories
Galway was the last store to be refurbished before the American majority shareholders had sold out in 1982.
Source: Galway Memories
£150,000 was spent on refurbishing the shop, but two years later in 1984 even though it was a highly performing shop is was closed along with all the other Woolworth branches in the Irish Republic.
Source: O’Neill, R.
On Tuesday 11 September 1984 the Connacht Sentinel led with the banner headline “Woolworths Closed Down by Dispute”. It reported that staff in Galway City, who had never had a dispute before, were taking industrial action just three weeks before the store was due to close. They had enlisted the help of the Irish Distributive and Administrative Trade Union. The Union had said that “the staff were very bitter … principally because of the manner in which the premises were sold”, and that “there was no attempt made … to protect staff jobs”. Five other stores had joined the action.
Source: Woolworth Museum
Primark (trading as “Penneys” in the Irish Republic) were the next occupants of the Woolworths building on Eyre Square, later moving to the new Eyre Square Shopping Centre. The building was then taken over by Supermacs, an Irish fast food chain which remodelled the façade of the Woolworth’s building.
Source: Connach Tribune
In 2020 the Galway Woolworth’s staff is still holding reunions 36 years after the store closed. Their facebook notice has a number of photos of the happy store team sharing memories.
Woolies Buildings - Then and Now 