In July 1951 a Mr. J. Shelly of Carrick-on-Suir presented a cup for the junior hurling championship to the Munster Council, G.A.A. on behalf of the cigarette company, P. J. Carroll & Co., Dundalk. The cup was known as the ‘Sweet Afton Cup’ and was first presented to the Tipperary team, following their victory over Limerick in the Munster final, played at Kilmallock on July 22.
The Sweet Afton brand was launched by Carroll’s in 1919 to celebrate the link between Dundalk and the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. Burns’ eldest sister, Agnes, married William Galt in 1804 and they came to live in County Louth in 1817, when William was contracted by the Fontescue family to build the Stephenstown Pond on their estate near Knoickbridge. He was later appointed estate manager.
Agnes lived in Dundalk until her death in 1834 at the age of 72 and was buried in the cemetery of St. Nicholas’s Church in the town. William survived her for 13 years.
Carroll’s thought that the brand would only be successful in Scotland if the carton had an image of Burns, or Scottish name on the packet, so the people of Dundalk were canvassed and the name Sweet Afton was chosen. The name is taken from Burns’ poem “Sweet Afton”, which itself takes its title from the poem’s first stanza:
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes
Flow gently, I’ll sing thee a song in thy praise
My Mary’s asleep by the murmuring stream
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
A larger version of the cigarette was also marketed under the brand name Afton Major. This name served as inspiration for Carroll’s later Major brand of tipped cigarettes. The company ceased production of the Sweet Afton cigarettes in the autumn of 2011.
Lár na Páirce
Museum of the GAA and Gaelic Games
