Pig buyers in Waterford
This photo was taken sometime between 1896-97. It shows the pig strike in Waterford.
Pig buyers in Waterford, based around the Ballybricken area, traditionally had a monopoly on buying pigs from
farmers and selling them to the bacon factories. it seems that the strike came about because the factories started
to buy direct from farmers.
From our research the two factories which were involved in the dispute were Shaw's and Denny's.
Short background. The pig buyers were based in around Ballybricken and had a monopoly over the selling of pigs in
Waterford - basically Denny's wanted to buy directly from the farmers, pig buyers protested and John Redmond
supported the pig buyers hence why he later became so popular in Waterford City.
In the photo you can see the RIC protecting the pigs as they go into Denny's.