Shop still chipping in after 60 years

IT’S served its famous fish and chips to millions of people — from Bono to Billa — over the last six decades.

And yesterday, Jackie Lennox at 137 Bandon Road in Cork, the country’s first purpose-built fish and chip shop, celebrated its 60th birthday by offering customers a bag of its legendary chunky chips for just 60 cent.

Hundreds of hungry punters queued outside the Cork institution for the deal.

Brian Lennox, whose father, Jackie founded the business in 1951, and who runs the shop today with his brother, Duncan, and sister, Frances, thanked their loyal customers and staff.

“We are very proud to serve the people of Cork,” he said. “Without them, there wouldn’t be a Jackie Lennox chip shop.”

Jackie Lennox started a confectionery business over a bookie shop in Blackpool in the late 1940s.

With encouragement from his mother, he converted it to a fish and chip shop and it became an overnight success, and he planned to expand.

He bought a cottage on the Bandon Road and along with his wife, Eileen O’Callaghan, they built the chipper on its ground floor, with fish, chips, peas and fish cakes on the menu.

The peas would often spill from holes in the sides of the cake boxes in which they were first served, before they began to wrap the food in newspaper.

Mr Lennox introduced the “metal bar queuing system”, and also introduced the concept of a fish “supper” and chicken “supper”.

He developed the menu over the years to include chicken, burgers and sausages and he built a reputation for using only the finest of fresh ingredients.

He also bought one of the first TV sets in Cork and installed it in the shop.

The couple had nine children, all of whom have worked in the business, with members of the third generation now behind the counter.

“As soon as we could lift a bucket of chips, we were put into the shop,” Brian said.

The business employs 43 people today, some of whom have worked there for more than 20 years.

And Jackie Lennox Fish and Chip Shop is one of the must-sees for tourists in the city.

Mr Lennox died in 1994 shortly after his retirement. His wife, Eileen, died two years later. “We are determined to make sure their names live on,” Brian said.

He said he is very proud when he hears people saying: “D’ya fancy a Lennox’s?”

“It’s very uplifting, and what’s nice is that the staff are conscious of it as well,” he said.

“When staff come in, and say they are recognised on the streets, it’s only then you realise this is an institution.

“It’s work, but it’s a pleasure,” he said.