A proud day as dream to open Cork city deli comes true

LAUNCHING a new business during lockdown can’t have been easy, but Tom Creedon finally achieved his dream yesterday as he opened his new Cork city deli.

It is named Masseytown in honour of his late father, who hailed from that part of Macroom.

The deli opened in Paul Street on St Patrick’s Day and Tom admitted: “Trying to get the business up and running in the midst of a global pandemic was challenging to say the least.

“Catering equipment was hard to come by and there were a lot of delays when we were renovating Masseytown and kitting it out. We pushed the boat out!

“There were a lot of long days and long nights involved preparing for the grand opening. We clocked up a lot of hours, that’s for sure! No pain; no gain! Having 100 problems and getting over them makes the opening of Masseytown all the sweeter.”

When The Echo ran the original story about his deli dream in January, there was a huge response from readers who know Tom’s family and were rooting for his new enterprise.

“The response and the support from Corkonians has been phenomenal,” said Tom, adding that opening was “a dream come true!”

He added; “Calling Masseytown after my dad’s home-place is like tipping my hat to him. It’s like I’m putting a great big hug around my dad,.

“It makes me feel so good. It’s like I’m representing him as well as myself.”

Tom Creedon Snr, who died in 1983 when his son was a toddler, played football for Cork. He died after being in a coma for 16 weeks when he tried in vain to stop a van rolling down a hill heading into the path of children playing.

“I feel dad would be delighted that I called the deli Masseytown,” says Tom. “It is a lovely legacy to him. There is part of him here with me.”

Tom said the idea behind his deli is “to bring the country into the city”.

He explained: “I’m using all local produce including the milk, the bread, the poultry and the meat. Our coffee is from Soma Tuckey Street. Tom Durkin is supplying the meat, the chickens are from Riverview in east Cork. Every day fresh produce will be delivered here from small Cork artesian food producers, coming from the farm straight to me.”