Jeffers of Bandon

A new book by Isla Jeffers

The Jeffers are a well known Christian family in business in Bandon, west Cork providing musical instruments to the biggest names in the business. This new book Jeffers of Bandon – a History tracks their journey from John Jeffers humble beginnings in 1855 as a Bandon grocers’ messenger boy to Jeffers’ growth into one of the biggest employers in the local area. 

Read how as Christian merchants, Jeffers navigated a neutral path through Ireland’s War of Independence, supplying IRA men on the run with groceries and baking bread for British soldiers. In August 1922 during the Civil War, Jasper Jeffers undertook a dangerous trip to Cork for yeast with a travel permit handwritten by Tom Hales, Commanding Officer of the Cork 3rd Brigade.

Discover how Jeffers kept their staff employed through World War II and in 1960 opened the first supermarket in West Cork where customers who were used to bringing their list to the counter had to learn how to shop for themselves. Guns were sold alongside groceries when Mervyn Jeffers opened the Firearms business while Peter and David Jeffers provided church organs for Papal visits through the Music and Electrical shop. In 1988 Alex Jeffers took over the piano business for the tuning, reconditioning, sale and hire of pianos nationwide. 

An entrepreneurial family with a determination and drive for hard work and an enduring Christian faith, the book documents Jeffers’ innovation in business from the nineteenth century up to and including the music business of the present day. 

Sold in aid of the Bandon branch of the RNLI and the Seamen’s Christian Friend Society, Jeffers of Bandon – a History (€15) is now available Unbound in Cork city and online at www.teachsolas.ie 

Contact Isla Jeffers to find out more.