In 1920, there were 3,626 tractors built and the sum of £327,000 was also spent on a machine shop, foundry expansion, new wharves and equipment for the plant.

Edward Grace, managing director of Henry Ford & Son, realised it was uneconomical for Cork to rely solely on Fordson to survive, as it was more costly for distributors of Fordson tractors to buy stock in Cork than it would be if they were to buy in Dearborn Michigan.

The directors of Henry Ford & Son opposed the rationale claiming that the economic and political climate had changed radically within three years of the company setting up in Cork.

[3] After the Irish Free State was founded on 6 December 1922, the British government announced that from 1 April 1923 customs would be charged for deliveries from Ireland.

However, due to the economic crisis of 1932 and renewed customs duties caused tractor production to be moved to Dagenham.

It had an impressive record - taking passenger and commercial vehicles together, it was the best market share of any Ford company in the world.

The man that Tom Brennan chose to implement the expansion was a fellow Corkman, Paddy Hayes, who, some years later, was to succeed him as managing director of Ford of Ireland.

500,000 pounds was invested in an ultra-modern body-finishing department, with Europe's largest 'slipper-dip' immersion under-coating tank guaranteeing a high-quality base for final paint coatings.

The remainder of the assembly plant was completely re-organised, re-equipped and re-housed in new light-alloy, unitary construction buildings covering an area of over 117,000 square feet.

Incorporated in the new facilities was a parts-and-accessories building holding millions of parts, representing a stock of over 23,000 separate items.

The story of Henry Ford, whose father emigrated from Ballinascarty 120 weary years ago, is so well-known that much of it is already folklore.

Indeed, the record of his life and achievements looms large in the history of the development of modern industrial methods, many of which he devised and brought to perfection" [4] The Cork Ford plant turned out the widest range of vehicles under one badge on the Irish market, with some 14 different passenger models and a wide selection of commercials.

The total Cork Plant area covered 33 acres and the growth of the factory increased more than 200 per cent in the decade between 1956 and 1966.

[6] and on the 13 July 1984, after nearly 70 years in operation in the Marina in Cork, the first purpose-built Ford Motor Company Plant outside of America closed for the final time, bringing with it the loss of 800 jobs.

When the Henry Ford & Son plant closed in 1984, it left a long-standing legacy behind it across the island of Ireland, having been there for nearly 70 years.

Even with this heritage, however, in recent years, it finds itself sitting at 5th place in the sales figures, with big names like the Mondeo and the Focus being purged by SUV's.

In January 2022, the lord Mayor received a Ford Mustang Mach-E.[12] Cars that were made in the Cork plant are rare now and are very collectible.

Cars that were specially trimmed in Ireland, like the Cortina Cashel, are extremely rare today compared to models sold in the UK due to their low circulation in the much smaller Irish market.

The Corrib appears to be the most limited version produced originally, with just 1202 of these made from January to March 17, 1981, and launched to great fanfare by the model Michelle Rocca.

The Corrib, which was based on the Cortina L had GL seats, fabric door trim, rear centre armrest and colour keyed carpet.

The Tara had the Ghia style seats, a centre console and carpet trimmed lower door cards.

Only a pair of Cashels are known to survive (ESI313 & MIM168) and a few more Tara's are left, 4657DI & 350TZU being two of these but all editions are very much in the single figures now and any car that turns up is most definitely worth attempting to save.

Alongside the Cortina the run out Escort in 1981 was the Elite, which was easily discernible by its heavy two-tone side stripe similar to the UK Linnet equivalent.