Just weeks ago, Markethill mourned the loss of a well-loved and respected character who became a friend to many through his apron-wearing years behind the butcher’s block at the established family-run business on Main Street.
Edsel ‘Ed’ Muldrew sadly passed away peacefully at his home, not far from the butcher’s shop – Muldrews Butchers – where he worked for so many years, on May 11, 2026.
In March of this year, the deeply loved “gentleman” celebrated his 90th birthday. It was a milestone that many in his local community recognised with great fondness.
With the help of his granddaughter, Harriet Cooke, his beloved family provided Armagh I with some insight into Edsel’s wonderful life.
He had a great childhood growing up in the former Gosford Gate Lodge at, what was known at the time, as the ‘Grand Entrance’ to Gosford Demesne on the Tandragee Road.
His mother and father, John and Lily had rented the Gate Lodge from the Earl of Gosford’s Estate.
In terms of his getting into butchery, it was Edsel’s father, John who initially opened the Butcher’s shop on Newry Street back in 1930.
Edsel (left) and with current owner Tony Marshall (right)
They maintained that shop all through the war years and according to the family, they “never felt hardship” with Lily’s hens providing them a constant fresh supply of
eggs and a few cows that provided them with milk, that she would also churn into butter.
Efficient and entrepreneurial from the start, any surplus milk or butter was then sold by the family to JD Hunter in Markethill.
And Edsel wasn’t the only member of the brood to become involved with the family business as he grew. His older sister Joy (who was eight years his senior) also worked alongside him in the butchers shop, until she retired, well into her 70’s. They shared a “very, very close” relationship throughout their lives.
Like many, Edsel wasn’t fond of school and when his mother thought he was away for a day of lessons he was often “sneaking off to play ‘cowboys and Indians’ with his Cousin, Joey Muldrew in Gosford! Joey, like Edsel became a well known figure in Markethill for owning the Village Inn pub in later years.
Alongside the butcher shop, his father travelled around local farms killing cattle and pigs for the meat trade. When Edsel left school, at the tender age of 14, he went with his father to these farms. His family say “there wasn’t a farm between Tandragee and Armagh that he hadn’t visited!”
“Leaving school so young didn’t seem to do him any harm,” said the family. “He was great at maths and was able to add and multiply fantastically in his head. He was also a beautiful writer, in fact, everything Edsel put his hand to was done with precision… his appearance, his beef had to be the best. How he prepared a steak roast or cut a Steak for his customers. This is what made the butchers shop as popular as it was.”
Son, John Muldrew on his last day before retirement
He was quoted saying about his beef “if you buy the best, you can sell the best” and it stood the business in good stead throughout.
The first butchers on newry street was knocked down in the 1960s as it was owned by the council. His family had a plan to build social housing on that street and as part of that plan they were to build a new premises across the road.
However, after a conversation on the street with the local chemist, Edwin McWilliams, Edsel bought the chemist shop on the Main Street from Edwin in the late 1960s.
At that time, he lived in Gosford Gardens with his wife Rietta and their family. It took some time to renovate the building as it was also it was to be a house for Edsel’s family to live in with the butcher’s shop attached.
Sadly, in 1970 – not long after the new shop on the Main Street was established – his father, John died suddenly at the age of 67. Edsel immediately stepped into the role of ‘head of the family’ even though he was the youngest. He was always very good to his mother and sister, taking the utmost care of them in his father’s place.
As a butcher, Edsel was always “very particular and he wanted the best to sell in the shop”. He would head to Newry mart on a Monday and the Markethill mart on a Wednesday to hand pick his cattle, sheep or pigs. These would then go to the abattoir to be killed and prepared for selling in the butchers. They would then be delivered to the shop in full hind sides and cut down into, roasts, steaks, chops.
In more recent years the meat came direct from the factories, but due to loyalty with their suppliers over many years, they were always guaranteed good beef. To this day, the meat is still brought in sides and hung and prepped as it was for over 90 years.
Owning to its long-established and stellar reputation, it was a very busy butcher’s with Edsel had his sister Joy working by his side. In 1975, his son – also named John – came to work in the business at the age of 17.
Said his family: “Back in these days there was around seven or eight staff working in the butcher’s. Edsel’s wife Rietta fed all the staff at lunchtime in her house. A lot of the staff even remained good friends of the family after continuing on to other employment and stayed in touch for many years, many attended his funeral and send
messages of condolences.”
John with his family and Tony
Later, his youngest daughter, Judith came into the business full-time also at the age of 17. She worked alongside her Aunt, father and brother for many years.
A full family affair, John’s wife Helen also joined the business in the late 1990s to help out with the cooked and convenient foods.
John and Judith’s children, Harriet, Sara, Alex and Victoria, all took their turn working in the shop. The fact that all the family were so willing and eager to get involved was something Edsel was intensely proud of.
John retired in 2019 (working for over 44 years in the family business) after the death of his mother, wanting to free up time to spend with his family and on his hobby of pigeon racing.
This too was something he and his father shared a passion for.
Edsel was the founder of the Markethill Pigeon Club. According to his family he had taken an interest in the pigeons but was “never very good”!
Tony Marshall
John, on the other hand, took to it from a very young age and has been racing pigeons now for around 50 years.
Even after his retirement, Edsel continued to work from time-to-time in the shop. He always took an interest and even in his elder years he still washed all the butcher aprons… no one else would do them like he could!
Thankfully, they say, the shop is still thriving in the town under management of Tony Marshall, who came for work experience in the shop many years ago while still at school.
At just 16, he was asked would he be interested in a full-time job in the shop and, like the others, he went on to complete an apprenticeship in butchery.
Tony worked for over 30 years in the business and describes Edsel as a “good friend and mentor”. He was always treated as part of the family, and the Muldrew family are “grateful he has been able to continue on the legacy”.
