William Dwyer

William James Dwyer (9 May 1887 – 10 May 1951) was an Irish politician and businessman. He was born 9 May 1887 in Cork city, second son among three sons and two daughters of Walter Dwyer of Sunday's Well, Cork, merchant and later director and managing director of Dwyer & Co., and Clare Dwyer (née Downing). He was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork; and Downside School, Somerset, England. On finishing school in 1905, he returned to Cork to join his fathers' company. It was founded by his grandfather in the nineteenth century, and had become a large concern involved in the manufacture of clothing for men and boys. His experience within the family business helped to educate him in all aspects of the manufacturing process, to the extent that he left the firm in 1913 and set up his own hosiery factory. Following the success of his hosiery business. in 1928 he founded Sunbeam Knitwear Co., which manufactured knitted underwear. In 1933 he acquired the Irish business of Wolsey Ltd (an English-based underwear manufacturer) and merged it with Sunbeam Ltd to create Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd.