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Carlow had been a garrison town in the midlands of Ireland for hundreds of years. So when the Great War broke out, it came as no surprise that military contracts were granted to many of the local firms. The boots that shod the feet of many British Army soldiers were made in Governey’s Boot Factory in Carlow town.

The factory was started by Michael Governey in 1903 who had no experience of boot making at all. So he brought over members of the Dodge family from England who had been bootmakers for generations.

Michael Governey had been a mineral water manufacturer before this but he inherited Corcorans Mineral Waters when his father-in-law died.

Local historian Paul Maguire and member of the Governey family Dan Carbery are on the site of the old factory – long since gone.

Location: Site of the former Governey's Boot Factory in Carlow. 52°50'12.5"N 6°56'09.0"W
Image: Inside the factory 1913
Image courtesy of Carlow County Museum