Rudd Jewellers, Thurles archive now digitised at Tipperary Local Studies

A visit to the Cormackstown Heritage Centre is always an enjoyable experience, but a recent visit led Tipperary Studies to the discovery of a collection of seven watch job books from Rudd’s Watchmakers & Jewellers, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Rudd Jewellers was later to become O’Connor Jewellers, which remained open until around the 1980s. Pat Slattery, owner of the Cormackstown Heritage Centre was very happy to loan the records to allow for them to be digitised and made available on the Tipperary Studies website.

The seven volumes list approximately 26,000 names and addresses of people who left in an item for repair at Rudd’s Watchmakers & Jewellers. Running from 1901 – 1930 some of the names appear on several occasions, but they are a wonderful genealogical insight for people trying to track down their ancestors in the mid-Tipperary area in particular.

Regular references are found to St. Patrick’s College and the Presentation Convent and an occasional one to the Stanwix Home. Library staff have also recognised family members listed amongst the customers.

While the majority of names are of people who lived in and around Thurles, there are also names of people from other parts of Tipperary, with Kilkenny and Laois also included.

Some of the names tie in with other collections on the Tipp Studies Digital platform, such as Mrs. Benson, Main Street (1914) who also appears in our photographic collection from the late 1930s.

Tom Semple, noted captain of the famed Thurles Blues, is recorded from September 1915, as are his employers, the GSWR (Great Southern and Western Railway). He too can also be found referenced throughout our Tipperary GAA Yearbook collection.

Sergeant Atkinson left his watch for cleaning in 1919 and Pat Slattery mentions having seen District Inspector Michael Hunt’s name. D.I. Hunt was shot in June 1919 in Thurles.

Joshua Lester Johnston, merchant of Liberty Square is another businessman whose name is found within the repair books.
Sincere thanks to Pat Slattery for his co-operation. The collection can be found at the following link: https://tippstudiesdigital.ie /collections/show/84