John Kelly Limited

John Kelly Limited, also known as Kelly's Coal Quay, Kelly's Coal, or simply Kelly's, was best known for being coal merchants and shipowner in Belfast, Ireland. Dating back to the 1840s, when Samuel Kelly started a grocers and coal commissions business on Queen's Quay, Belfast.^[1] It was previously known as John Kelly Coal Company, when Samuel Kelly's son John Kelly, following his father's death. It was established as John Kelly Limited by John Kelly's son, and grandson of Samuel Kelly, Sir Samuel Kelly. It became a staple along the Belfast harbour, and the area, alongside Cawoods Coal, and Hugh Craig & Co. would become known locally as the "coal quay" (from Queen's Quay, where the coal merchants were situated).^[2]

The company still exists, but is no longer known as John Kelly Limited, it runs under Kelly Fuels LTD. They entered the domestic solid fuel and fuel oil business.^[3]

Samuel Kelly, was born in 1818, and started up a business on Queen's Quay in the 1840s, as a grocer and coal commissions business. He established the coal merchant business in 1852, as Samuel Kelly Limited. Samuel would die in 1877 aged 57.

John Kelly, aged 37, took over the business and founded it as John Kelly Coal Company. His role was to take the reign and expand the fleet.^[4] By the turn of the century, Kelly's had grown to a workforce of around 10,000, and would continue to create ships to import and export coal, as well as having multiple offices and yards in many towns such as Carrickfergus.^[5]

In 1904, John Kelly died. His son, Sir Samuel Kelly took over the company

In 1907, the Belfast Dock strike took place from 26 April to 28 August, including Queen's Quay by Sir Samuel Kelly's employee's after men from Kelly's coal quay were sacked for trying to join National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL).^[6] On 9 May, locked-out coalmen from Kelly's Yard attacked strikebreakers unloading coal at the docks. They would overpower the harbour police and forced he scans to retreat, throwing rivets and lumps of coal at them.^[7]

Samuel granted union recognition and wage increase from 6d (2.5p) to 5 shillings' (25p) a week. When the workers attempted to return to work, they found that the employers' Shipping Federation had replaced them with workers from Dublin. ^[8]

In 1911, the firm became "John Kelly Limited" with a capital of £50,000.^[9][10] In 1922, he was knighted. He was described as `A leading merchant, a public benefactor, a consistent and generous supporter of charitable objects’ His many donations included the building of two churches in Holywood. Sir Samuel Kelly died in 1937.^[11]

In the 1980s, as coal kept being phased out by United Kingdom, it became known as Kelly's Fuels Ltd. It was set up in Northern Ireland to get into the domestic solid fuel and oil business. The first road tanker was acquired in 1983. It became a well-known company for the people in County Down and Belfast, as one of the largest oil distributors in Northern Ireland.^[12]

The weir and cross-harbour bridges project began in the 1990s, which saw the last of the coal quays situated along Queen's Quay, it was completed in 1994, and cost around £14,000,000.^[13]

In 1993, Kelly's Fuels Ltd merged with the Lanes Group ltd. Bruce Lindsay Coal of Edinburgh took them over 1997. They now have depots in in Derry, Ballymena, Portadown, Belfast and Coleraine.^[14][15]

In 2018, a project funded funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Mid and East Antrim borough Council had started to restore Kelly's coal offices to preserve the historic building. The coal office dates back to 1910, and was taken over by John Kelly Limited in 1920^[16] Robinson's Shoes Outlet opened in the building in February 2020.^[17]

• Samuel Kelly Coal Merchant
• John Kelly Coal Company
• John Kelly Limited
• Kelly's Fuels Ltd / Kelly Oils Ltd