Ringesend's history of glass and bottle making goes back a long, long time. At one time alone in the 1930's, there were eight factories within a five minute walk. The English put it on a truly commercial base in 1787, when it made it's first factory here. The first ever was said to be one in the St. Michan's area of Dublin,at St.Mary's lane. Ireland did a brisk trade, and their glass was said to be as good as anywhere else in the world. Many families came over from England looking for work, and settled.

Ringsend was not only to be invaded by the fishermen, but also the bottle blowers. It took five men in the early part of the century to make a bottle. One was the bottle maker himself, who was boss, the gatherer who took the glass from the tank, a servitor, who blew the actual bottle, and a wetter off, who took each bottle out of it's mould and the boy to stack them. It was hard dangerous work. The men had no protection from what they were inhaling. To make glass, each 'Batch' was twenty barrow's of sand, three bags of salt keg, manganese, arsenic and seven bags of broken glass (Cullet). This was all piled into a tank and melted. When it was beginning to melt, seven barrows of broken red bricks were added for extra strength.

In 1917, an Enniscorthy man living in America invented the bottle making machine, which could make ten bottles simultaneously. Mr. King, one of the brothers who owned the I.G.B. on Charlotte Quay brought the machine the following year over to his plant. The bottle makers were a tight knit clan, and it was a hard job to get into if not connected. Apprenticeships started at the age of thirteen. They also kept to themselves in the many pubs, they were easily recognised because of their sallow skins. They worked twelve hour shifts and a man used to go around with a big stick and tap on the windows to wake up the men. If he hit the wrong window, say of a docker, a row usually ensued. Martin Crean owned a factory on Fitzwilliam Quay, and Street, Donovan's also on Richard Street, Elija Pring owned the 'Ringsend Bottle Company, The Hibernian Glass Company, the Bottleworks and the 'Crib' which specialised in pharmaceutical bottles. Those who worked in the Crib were not recognised by the other bottle makers.

They also had their own hall built at the turn of the century at 1A Ringsend Road. This hall was not open to all, only on special occasions were the other workers from the area let in, maybe for a game of ' Housey Housey' (Bingo) which was played on leather squares which you marked off with chalk, then later took home to resole your shoes. There was up to six full size snooker tables, all this was watched by the late Giggin's' O' Reilly . When he died, the hall seemed doomed. The hall closed its doors for good in the sixties, when it was sold off to a Mr. Ekker, and then on to 'Contractors ' Plant and Hire' next door to it. It has been idle since.