Frank Crowley began his farm machinery career in Atkins of Cork in the service department and soon graduated to sales, where he found his true career.

Frank moved from Aktins in 1967 to create a partnership with three others to form Cork Farm Machinery at a new premises before securing the Massey Ferguson franchise for Cork.

The company, still trading from the same location, remains Ireland’s longest-standing Massey Ferguson dealer to this day.

Frank became an importer of machinery and was the Irish agent for Fiskars ploughs, now branded Agrolux, from the early 1970s and added machines from Roland and Rauch in Denmark, which they have held for over 40 years.

He also imported Galligani balers and silage harvesters as well as Caruelle sprayers for a time, all of which were assembled in Cork to avoid import duties and give local farmers more cost-effective machines.

For a period during the 1980s he held the Fiat tractor franchise alongside Massey Ferguson through a second company, Agro-Power.

Cork Farm Machinery has been a Kuhn agent for many of those years and in 2014 it established Kuhn Center Ireland as a subsidiary and sole importers for Kuhn machinery in Ireland.

Over time the original partners left the business and it is now in the hands of the Crowley family managed by Frank’s daughter Rosarie since his retirement in 2010.

To his wife Mary and family Michael, Kate, Rosarie and Franky, we extend our deepest sympathy.