“I started my Leaving Cert on my 16th birthday. After Christmas in 5th year, the superior in the Christian Brothers school said, “Cloonan, you’ll do your leaving this year,” and I did. There were only 12 of us in the class, and Jimmy Adams and I qualified for scholarships to do whatever we wanted at the university. I decided I’d become a dentist. I felt I’d be able for the blood and guts part of it even though it wouldn’t be easy. When I went to enrol, they wouldn’t take me. They told me to come back in a year because I was too young. There was no work in Tullamore, so I got a job in Dublin in a hardware shop. Over the next couple of years, I worked in every department and drove a Bedford truck all over Dublin city. I played a bit of hurling and football in Dublin too.
When I was nearly 20, Kellands Hardware in Tullamore was closing down. I took a chance on it and bought it with help from my father, Stephen. I remember at the time trying to borrow money from the bank to buy stock, but the bank manager wouldn’t give it to me. In the end, a man in the town loaned me the money, and I paid him back very quickly. I worked long hours in the shop because I couldn’t afford more staff. These were hard times. Many households bought their goods on tick and paid off by the week.
Supplies to Tullamore came by train or the canal, and they then were delivered to the shop from the train station or the canal harbour by horse and cart. Deliveries from the shop to customers around the town were done with a two-wheeled hand cart, and we had to grease the cart’s axles to get over the Kilbeggan bridge with a load! That was a bit of a problem. I had never heard of the term marketing, and I’m not sure when I did, but back then, my slogan for the cart grease was “Cloonan’s cart grease, you can’t lick it.”
Many years ago, when I was in the shop one day, I realised that all eight customers were past staff, but they had never actually worked together. Someone remarked, sure, you can’t have been too bad if they’re still doing business with you!”.


Paddy celebrated 70 years in business in April 2018. He passed away on Tuesday, 7th July 2020. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.