21/09/2026
A photo I (Jackie Elger) took recently of a old table layout at the Museum of Irish Rural Life in Kilrush. The green and brown cups, plates and jug were made in a factory in Kilrush that produced highly-coloured, glazed earthenware from the 1960s up to the early 1980s. The Kilrush company Ceramics Ltd (later known as Celtic Ceramics Ltd) was established in 1961, with government assistance, by a group of Clare businessmen, headed by solicitor Ignatius Houlihan. The 85,000 sq foot factory located on Soldiers Hill, which cost £300,000 to build, was up and running by 1963. The company was an associate of the German company Messrs Ueblacker Ltd. Many of the workers travelled to Germany to undergo training. The clay used in the manufacture of the earthenware was imported through Cappa and the finished products were exported around the world. In 1967 the company merged with another German company, Rosenthal, who were one of the largest china manufacturers in the world. At that time Kilrush Ceramics employed 160 people. The Kilrush factory carried on making earthenware, often stamped underneath with the brand name "Celtic Connemara". In 1981 the parent company decided they would not continue in Kilrush because of a decline in the market. The company was taken over by a British marketing organisation and the name was changed to Kilrush Pottery. By 1983 a receiver was appointed and the company closed, with 103 workers losing their jobs.
