Denis Hayes was a fishmonger on Roches Street, he was the primary purchaser of fish caught by the Abbey Fishermen during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Denis Hayes was one of their wholesale agents who sold and shipped the fish to Billingsgate Market, London.
The majority of the Abbey fishermen sold their catch to Denis Hayes, fishmonger, of 57 Roches Street who also represented them in many of their claims but this was of mutual benefit as he did not with to lose his primary suppliers. He was also the brother of Robert ‘Napoleon’ Hayes and was a trustee on some of the Guild owned fisheries; as such had a vested interest in the outcome of this case. Denny’s home on Clare street backed on to the canal bank, here the fishermen unloaded their daily catches and brought into his unlocked back door room where a scale was available for them to weight the catch and make a note for Denny and themselves.
The other fishermen, mostly the Shanny’s sold their catch to Patrick McInerney, of 10 Roches Street. The Abbey men fished an average of 16 weeks of the official season
Denis Hayes Shop 57 Roches Street
Sources:
Cork and Munster directory (1920) p. 29.
Sharon Slater interview of Padraig O’ Gealagain, Canada, 2002.
McCarthy interview of Gerard Clancy, Limerick, 1993.
Image donated by Ger Hayes.