Digital Equipment Corporation

A major employer in Galway from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Gerry Costello

How It Began For Us:

In June 1973, just the day before we were to begin to sit our Leaving Certificate, a few of us were contacted by the late Fr. Patrick Costello of Holy Rosary College, Mountbellew, through a complex form of a primitive messaging system of word of mouth and telephone as it was back then, to be at Scarry’s Cross at 1.00pm and he would take us into the Digital factory at Mervue Industrial Estate for a meeting with the Personnel Manager, Mike Mulqueen, with a view to us gaining employment in the computer industry and also with the opportunity of further education and qualifications to various levels of technical and electronic competence – all supplied and paid for by the company. It was a unique deal at that time which, of course, as young people, we did not appreciate or comprehend.

Duly, at 1.00pm the Holy Rosary School mini bus, a VW model – registration number HIM 606, arrived at Scarry’s Cross with Fr. Costello at the wheel and we were all brought in to this very important interview/meeting. First we were shown around the factory and then we proceeded to one of the internal classrooms where we were given an application form each to fill out. Next, Mike Mulqueen gave us a talk on the company and its future plans, etc and told us we could all start work on Monday morning and would receive the weekly wage of £17.00 rising to £19.00 after three months – a very generous weekly wage at the time for anyone leaving secondary school. Further we would attend electronic classes and would train to be qualified electronic technicians which would increase our wages to £26.00 per week.

At this stage Fr Costello intervened and explained that we were all about to sit Leaving Certificate the next day to which Mike replied “They won’t need that in here, we’ll look after them”. But after discussion Fr. Costello got his way and we were all set to begin work on the Monday following the end of the Leaving Certificate Examination. The rest is history and we joined the many other local people who were working there and, indeed, many more local people followed us into the industry in the years after our starting date.

What Was Digital Equipment Corporation:

Digital Equipment Corporation, also known as DEC and using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was a leading vendor of computer systems, including computers, software, and peripherals, and its PDP and successor VAX products were the most successful of all minicomputers in terms of sales. From 1957 until 1992 its headquarters were located in a former wool mill in Maynard, Massachusetts, since renamed Clock Tower Place and now home to multiple companies. DEC was acquired in June 1998 by Compaq, which subsequently merged with Hewlett-Packard in May 2002. Some parts of DEC, notably the compiler business and the Hudson, Massachusetts facility, were sold to Intel.

This page was added on 08/03/2015.

Comments about this page

  • Digital Equipment Corporation Ken Olsen. What a great man!

    By Jess Erethington (12/11/2016)
  • Hi,
    When I moved over here first I worked in the field office in Reading. Love eventually settled me in North Harrow near St. Mary’s Church on the Hill. Loved my Digital days and have many fond memories of the people and times there.

    By Nancy Kavanagh (16/04/2016)
  • It was management top heavy. Had too many failed capital spending projects and management inability to budget properly and control finances. It was an unfortunate certainty to fail.

    By Mike Kennedy (07/08/2015)
  • Having worked in the Mill for some years before moving to the field I’m surely happy to come across this. I never did make it to Ireland but you guys had a reputation to be proud of. This is the very first time I frequented your web page and so far all I can say is excellent activity!

    By Hank Young (14/05/2015)
  • Good site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find good quality writing like yours nowadays. I truly appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!

    By Keeley McCarty (27/04/2015)

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