In honour of Saint Patrick’s day, let take a look at Marples Hibernia trademark and tools. Hibernia is an old Greek name for Ireland, supposedly based on geographic descriptions, so I have to guess it translates as “Wet & Miserable, everything rusts”.

The Hibernia/Shamrock trademark was used in various forms by William Marples & Sons from 1865 until at least the mid 1970s. For a brief period of time from 1859 they used an Irish Harp emblem instead of the Shamrock. The Marples factory was named Hibernia works and was in continuous operation for 110 years. Eventually William Marples and Sons became part of Record Ridgeway in 1983, and then through a series of mergers it is technically part of Irwin today.

To address a common source of confusion, there were multiple Marples tool companies. William Marples Jr Founder of William Marples and sons was a cousin of Robert and his brother Joseph Marples. His father William Marples was the uncle to Robert and Joseph. Robert and Joseph both had their own competing tool businesses. Joseph Marples Ltd. is still in business today, and still producing fine tools. You can find them at https://marples.co.uk/

For those who want to dig deeper into the history of the company I strongly recommend https://williammarplesandsons.com/. By far the most comprehensive online resource I have come across.

So why did William Marples Junior adopt the Hibernia/Shamrock name? I’ve hunted and I cannot find any Irish connection to the family. I’ve been told, but have not authoritative source that he spent time in Ireland as a young man, and fell in love with Ireland. If anyone out there has more detail or a better story than that I would love to hear it.

If you have some Shamrock tools and want to try and date them, there is a wonderful guide to the marks at https://williammarplesandsons.com/marks/

Take a look at the images below to see some examples of Hibernia tools and marks.

Hibernia

The early Hibernia mark with an Irish Harp

Hibernia An 1879 advert featuring the 3 leafed Shamrock

Hibernia The Hibernia Works in 1879, from the Illustrated Guide to Sheffield

Hibernia The Shamrock mark still in use in 1971

Hibernia A wonderful example of the mark on a plane iron

Hibernia A 1953 advert for wooden hand planes. The mention of treating the planes with linseed oil may upset certain corners of the facebook/tool world….

Hibernia

A late model, and completely unused toothing plane from my collection. I’m 99% certain I bought it on the patch, but I cannot remember from who!

Hibernia

A closeup of the decal on the Plane body Hibernia The decal on the wedge Hibernia The Iron Stamp Hibernia And finally the box label