Life & Times of Aodogán O'Rahilly, part 5 ....

Aodogán O'Rahilly arrived in New York in January 1946, and the next month a man he will go into business with in Kingscourt, Ireland, also shows up in New York. This is the beginning of diversification for Aodogán O'Rahilly.

According to Shaun Boylan [see Part 4], he states that Aodogán O'Rahily had decided to diversify by adding the  manufacture of plasterboard to his concrete tile business.

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Meanwhile, Aodogán's brother, the man who wanted Nazi Germany to defeat the United Kindgdom, was also in the news. He was a barrister practicing law who was also known by the name of 'The O'Rahilly'.

​But Aodogán was not out to antagonize anyone, he was an Englishman by birth, living in Ireland who was married to a U.S. citizen. He was out to make money the legitimate American way of free enterprise, which is why he also sought financial help from the USA.

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​Those Post-War years of the late Nineteen Forties were dominated by the after-effects of a speech made on June 5, 1947 at Harvard University.

That speech was delivered by George C Marshall and its subject matter became known as the 'Marshall Plan'. It was intended as a starting point to repair and restore war-torn Europe.  ​

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The U.S. commemorative postage stamp above, represents the targeted area of the Marshall Plan which the USSR refused to endorse. It set up a rival operation. Of the sixteen countries that did sign-up to participate, one of them was Ireland.

In Europe A 'Committee of European Economic Cooperation (CEEC)​ was established to administer the application of those funds, and in the USA its counterpart was called the 'Economic Cooperation Administration'. It was this kind of assistance that Aodogán O'Rahilly was after, and he had credentials from the Irish government to confirm his abilities.

​Aodogán O'Rahilly was not a reckless rebel without a cause. He was a patriotic Irish businessman trying to succeed in a world of commercial competition. His son Ronan on the other hand was not a chip off the old block. Ronan was a sponge soaking up the lives of other people and hurting many in the process.

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​​Aodogán O'Rahilly lived just outside Dublin where his factory was also located. His recent plans to expand  through diversification had prompted his visit to the USA, and his shared business interests with a facility near Kingscourt, now brought the once remote location of Greenore into his own sphere of interest.

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MWhen the railway service closed down at Greenore in 1951, the links to both Newry in Northern Ireland, and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland were severed, and consequently the entire village of Greenore was cut off from the rest of the world.

The village faced Carlingford Lough on one side; the Irish Sea flanked by a deserted port faced another side, while a very poor road service connected the remaining sides to the outside world. In addition to its deserted port and abandoned railway terminal, Greenore had an ex-railway hotel that struggled to stay in business by attracting golfers to the course that was attached to the village and its derelict facilities. Everything economically was going downhill.

More, tomorrow.