Cork’s iconic Jackie Lennox's chipper will close because the stress of running it is "unbearable, the owner has said. 

Jack and Eileen Lennox opened the chipper’s doors in 1951 and it has remained in family hands ever since. 

Newstalk's Henry McKean ventured down to the Rebel County for The Hard Shoulder to find out why it is such an iconic place for Cork people and why Lennox's plans to shut its doors for good.

“It’s not nice,” Jack and Eileen's son Brian told Henry.  

“It’s like a death in the family, it’s hard, it’s very, very hard. 

“I really thought that we might get to 75 years but I just can’t continue on - the stress is unbearable.” 

Mr Lennox said the family had put their “heart and soul” into the business but that now is the time to “move on”. 

“Running a small business now is very hard,” he said. 

“The paperwork, the bureaucracy, just doing the books at night, you’d need to be an economics professor to do some of the things you have to do nowadays.” 

Brian with a family photo. 03/10/2024. Picture by: Newstalk/Henry McKean

For Cork, the closure of Lennox’s means the end of an era and Mr Lennox said they were all “very humbled” by the sadness of their many loyal customers. 

“I kind of feel I let them down,” he said. 

“I really honestly feel that I let Cork down as well; it’s strange but that’s how I feel.” 

Lennox's chipper. 03/10/2024. Picture by: Newstalk

 CorkBeo.ie Digital Editor Joe O’Shea grew up on the southside of the city and trips to Lennox’s were an integral part of his childhood. 

“Lennox’s was our local chipper and it still is because I’m back living in the Barrack Street area - which is where Lennox’s is,” he said. 

“It’s where everybody went; it was your Friday night treat after a week in school, your Mam or your Dad would bring you up there.”  

One woman told Newstalk she was “very sad” to see it go and there was “nothing like Jackie Lennox’s”. 

“Growing up, I’d go to Jackie Lennox’s yesterday every day after school,” she said. 

“Myself and Lorraine McCarthey, that would be our lunch like.” 

Lennox's chipper. 03/10/2024. Picture by: Newstalk

All these years later, she still remembers what she ordered. 

“One thing always and one thing only - a drumstick and thigh,” she said. 

“It would just be the two pieces of chicken and when we were younger and we didn’t have much money, we would just go up after lunch and get the drumstick and thigh.” 

Another man told Newstalk the chipper was “an institution” in the local area. 

“I came to Cork in 1972 from Portarlington in the Midlands and we always like our fish and chips,” he said. 

“I lived at the bottom of the street and this place at nighttime was a great place for a feed when you’re a single man. 

“They always looked after everybody well.” 

Even Tánaiste Micheál Martin weighed in, praising the Lennox family as having “personified Cork decency” and thanking them for their “outstanding contribution” to the local area.

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Main image: Split of Brian Lennox's and the chipper. 03/10/2024. Pictures by: Henry McKean/Newstalk