EDITH MARY CRAWFORD:EDITH MARY Crawford, who has died aged 89, was a resourceful and courageous woman who, along with her husband Ken, established a celebrated Cork fish-and-chip shop when he lost his job in the 1950s because he had joined the Jehovah's Witnesses. The takeaway was denounced from the pulpit at the time.
Credited with pioneering the region’s first hamburgers in the 1950s, due no doubt to her American background, she also invented the “meat pattie”, a classic of its genre which has won accolades in the Bridgestone Guide to the best places to eat in Ireland.
Edith was born in New York where her parents, a Cork woman and an American sailor who was based at Cobh during the first World War, lived for a spell following their marriage after meeting at a dance in the local Methodist Hall. When the US navy moved to China, the family returned to Ireland and Edith grew up in Crosshaven, Co Cork.
After attending the local Church of Ireland national school at Templebreedy, she went back to America to complete her education in California where her father was then based. Going on to graduate as a dietician at New Hampshire University, she worked for a year as a hospital dietician before returning to Ireland when the war was over. She married Ken, her childhood sweetheart, who was then a clerk with a local Protestant timber firm.
Calamity struck, however, when he was let go after joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses. While no reason was given for his lay-off, the couple were convinced it was because of his membership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A friend advised them to go into the fish-and-chip business and they opened KC’s 54 years ago this month at a derelict cottage in the suburb of Douglas. In an ecumenical gesture, the O’Callaghans, near the North Cathedral, and Jackie Lennox, whose name is over Cork’s most famous fish-and-chip shop, brought Ken behind the counter to show him the ropes.
The shop was soon denounced from the pulpit by the local priest who discouraged parishioners from going there. After recent floods which swamped the original premises where 24 people are employed, her son Wesley recalled hearing that in its early days some customers would come in to ask about the Jehovah connection and then shop elsewhere. “As a Methodist, my father had been reared in the Protestant community. In those days in Cork you were either a Protestant or a Catholic but the Jehovah’s Witnesses were neither one thing nor the other,” he said.
Applying her professional expertise, Edith only used ingredients she would be happy to serve at her own table. Born with the Protestant work ethic, she remained involved up to her mid-70s, dropping in to ensure everything was being done to her high standards.
Predeceased by her husband, Ken, she is survived by her son, Wesley, her sister Marjory (Hamilton) and grandsons Zachary, Benjamin and Joshua.
Edith Mary Crawford: born February 22nd, 1923; died June 25th, 2012