Historic Donegal Town – Magee’s Factory
A key passage in Brian Friel's masterpiece 'Dancing at Lughnasa' refers to a factory opening up in Donegal Town that signaled the end to the two sisters home weaving. That factory was Magee of Donegal. John Magee had started a draper's shop in the town in 1866 and soon his enterprising cousin Robert Temple had joined the business, buying it from Magee in 1901. Temple saw the need for improvement in the weaving process and in order to ensure quality, he ended up employing his own weavers under factory conditions. With the recruitment of Robert's son Howard in 1931, the business continued to expand into the ready to wear tailored suit.
Donegal tweed is known the world over these days and it mainly thanks to the Temples. The factory you are looking at was built in 1966 and the shop is located on the Diamond which you really should visit. In the Summer, there are weaving demonstrations as well as a cafeteria upstairs. Magee of Donegal doesn’t just cater for men’s suits – look out for their ladies’ range as well.
Cache is a nano type with a log roll. You will need your own pen/pencil. Please try to be as discrete as possible when working the cache. Perhaps best to lean with yout back to the fence and use stealth to retrieve and replace.