'We’ve been 50 years with same Cork farm firm ... we are like family'

Fifty years ago, a young Jerry Dorgan walked through the doors of Atkins Farm Machinery for his first day of work.

He was 17, fresh out of school, and ready to get stuck in. His first task at the Carrigrohane Road business? Brushing the floor.

“I started on the 10th of March, 1975,” Jerry recalls. “I remember the first thing they had me do was brush the floor - and I was helping out the other lads.

“I was a very green boy. After a while, I was selling water pumps.”

Jerry has never lived anywhere but Glenville, and if he has his way, he never will. “They can’t move me out of it,” he jokes.

It was a local farmer, Leslie Landon, who first told him about the job at Atkins. Up to then, he had been doing farm work, feeding cows, and handling general farm duties.

“I got an interview for a Thursday morning, and I started on the Monday,” remembers Jerry. “No messing around.”

Remarkably, Jerry isn’t the only employee of Atkins Farm Machinery who is celebrating 50 years with the company.

Denis Buckley’s first day came just two months earlier, on January 20, 1975.

Unlike Jerry, Denis had plans to pursue a career in accountancy, but when an apprenticeship fell through, he found himself in an interview for a dispatch manager role at Atkins.

Denis, originally from Grenagh but now living in Bandon, had no intention of staying long. “I wasn’t planning on it,” he laughs. “But one thing led to another, and sure, I got lazy - and I got happy.”

The mid-1970s were tough days economically in Ireland.

“Work was scarce,” says Denis, “and funds were running out. And here I am, 50 years later.”

Neither man could have predicted that, five decades after walking in the doors, they would still be part of the Atkins team, marking an extraordinary milestone together.

Over the years, both men saw their roles change. After his initial days of sweeping the floor, Jerry took on more responsibility.

“Cleaning pipes for water pumps, helping customers, getting out and about more,” he says.

He quickly became the go-to man for older machinery, with farmers seeking him out for parts and advice.

Denis, meanwhile, transitioned from dispatch manager to sales.

“I spent about a year and a half in dispatch, then I was moved into the office selling second-hand machines,” he explains.

“Three years later, I was put on the road, valuing trade-ins and selling new machines.”

Now a sales representative covering North Cork, Kerry, and parts of Limerick, Denis has seen first-hand the enormous changes in farming machinery.

“The size of the equipment now is phenomenal. The price? Out of this world compared to 50 years ago!”

Jerry agrees. “Computers came along and changed everything. The new machines have electronics. The old ones? They were manual. There will be no new machine lasting as long as the old ones.”

When asked why they stayed, both men are quick to praise their employers and colleagues.

“I was too well looked after to ever leave,” Jerry says simply.

“I’ve worked under three generations of the Wolfe family - Mark, his father Peter, and his grandfather Harry.

“I’d call them family. This is my home away from home.”

Denis echoes the sentiment. “There was great camaraderie among the staff over the years. That’s what kept people here. We played football, hurling, a bit of soccer.

“There was always a social element to it. We got on well.”

The relationships the pair built with customers played a big part too.

“Some of the farmers I deal with, I’ve known them since they were young lads working with their fathers,” Denis says.

“We have the banter, the slagging. That’s what makes it enjoyable.”

The past five decades have brought dramatic shifts in Irish farming.

“The big farmer one time would have 50 or 60 cows,” Denis explains. “Now? Unless you have 400 or 500, they’d nearly tell you you’re wasting your time.

“They’re all running around, constantly, doing the work of three men.”

Jerry adds: “I hear a lot from farmers, and I enjoy solving their problems. I get great satisfaction from that.

“I have people calling me from all over the country looking for parts.”

Both men acknowledge that technology has helped in some ways, but feel it has also made life more difficult for farmers.

“There’s a lot of regulation now,” Denis says. “One farmer said to me, ‘If I was meant to be good at the books, it isn’t farming I’d be in. You’d want a secretary walking around the yard with you.’”

Jerry’s work ethic is legendary. In 50 years, he has only taken two weeks of sick leave. For him, it’s simple.

“They looked after me, I looked after them.”

“You couldn’t ask for a better environment,” he adds. “Good employers, good colleagues.”

Denis agrees. “I enjoyed it. I’m still enjoying it. And I’m still slagging the customers, and they’re still slagging me. We haven’t fallen out yet!”