Novel fish head face mask is great catch
by Tom Gillespie
A ‘TAIL’ from Famine times has given an unexpected boost to a Castlebar tailoring business during Covid-19.
Tradition has it that during the Great Hunger fish caught in Clew Bay were distributed to the people of Westport while the fish heads were consigned to the people of Castlebar.
This resulted in people from Castlebar being referred to as fish heads in Westport.
Now, master tailor Webster MacNeely had patented the fish head logo and he is mass producing the novel face coverings with the fish head logo.
The MacNeelys of Linenhall Street, Castlebar, were synonymous with the rag trade in the county town for three generations and one of the family was a tailor in Saville Row in London, where he fitted out BBC newsreaders and the cast of Dr. Who.
However, the recession dealt a cruel blow and Webster and his father Paddy were forced to wind up the family business.
But 10 years on, Webster, and his sons Danny and Jake, launched Branded, a printing and embroidery business, based at Unit 12, N5 Business Park, Moneen, Castlebar.
The coronavirus lockdown saw business almost grind to a halt and what started out as a bit of craic with a few fish head masks has now become a real success.
The fish head logo is 'a Castlebar thing'.
Said Webster: "During lockdown, it was boring and I got my sons in Branded to make this mask for me with a fish head logo. I got Castlebar man Dave Barry in Galway to design the fish head logo.
"Now I have gone and patented it because I think there is so much more there that we can use it for.
"I am working on bringing out a Castlebar jacket with the Castlebar crest and the fish head logo on it, and maybe later a Mayo jacket."
He admitted: "It started out as a bit of craic with me going round and putting the masks on people’s faces, taking their picture and sticking them up on Facebook. People got a great kick out of it. But now it has actually turned into a brand.
"It came from nowhere and people were asking what is Webster at. Now I have people contacting me from all over the world asking me to send them on a mask so they can have their photograph taken of them wearing it.
"It started as a bit of fun and now it is turning in to something very serious. We are planning a fish head lecture with Sean Lyons when things get back to normal.
"At the moment I am talking to a couple of Irish companies about the jacket design, which we hope will be a hit with the diaspora."
At Branded, they have a six-head embroidery machine. It can do six pieces at the one time. They also produce workwear, t-shirts, jackets and hoodies in a one-stop shop.
Branded are located at Unit 12, N5 Business Park, Moneen, Castlebar. Their business hours are 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and they can be contacted on (094) 9021614 and through Facebook @brandedcastlebar.