Final cut: Letterkenny butcher Paddy Gildea to close popular shop

After almost 14 years of service, Paddy Gildea will pull the shutter for the final time on Saturday evening at Gildea Farm Butchers.

Rising costs have forced the popular butcher, on Old Town Road in Letterkenny, to call his final cut.

This Saturday will mark the end of an era.

Rent costs have risen by almost 25 per cent in recent months while other overheads continue to rise rapidly.

“I will be 72 on my next birthday and, really, how long do I need to work?” says the affable Paddy.

“I have enough to keep me going so it’s time to live a while. I was here 13 years. We had some great customers, very loyal people who stuck with us.”

Two full-time and one part-time employees, as well as Paddy himself, currently work in the shop.

The building was put on the mark during the summer, but Paddy declined to make a bid. Sharp increases in costs saw him make a tough decision.

“It’s hard out there for small businesses,” he says. “A couple of things just came into force recently. We toyed with the idea a couple of months ago. When the place was put up for sale, I just thought: ‘Why would I need the likes of that?’ I talked about it to my family and we made a decision.

“It was difficult enough to make a decision like that, but rent is going up, the wages are going up. Electricity has gone up by double and in some cases treble. We had hiccups with roadworks that lasted six or seven months, but the overheads - and a lot of hidden costs that people may not realise - still have to be paid.”

After working for many years in the Bacon Factory on the Pearse Road, Paddy and ‘Chud’ Duddy did the rounds in a van selling meat. He also had a spell working in SuperValu in the Courtyard Shopping Centre.

“I started butchering on January 3, 1967 . . . and it’s nearly January again,” he says. “We had good days and I know people thought a lot of us. People came to us from Dungloe, Glenties, Falcarragh and as far in as Glencolmcille. I’ll miss the people, but I’ll still come to the down a few days a week.”

A football and political aficionado, Paddy will retain the mobile butcher van which he runs at the Letterkenny Artisan Market on Saturdays. 

“That will be a wee way of keeping going,” he says. “We just decided to stop now before the run-up to Christmas started. We’ll wind down now for Saturday. We’ll miss the people and I’m sure the people will miss us too.”