Boland's Bakery

'Boland's Bakery' was the largest bakery in Dublin in the late 19th century. It was founded by the Boland family. The company would have sold a number of products such as bread, biscuits, cakes, confectionery and flour, although over the years the biscuit became the company's main product. The original bakery was off Capel Street between Mary (Abbey) Street and Little Mary Street. The Boland family lived on Capel Street.

Following the death of Patrick Boland (father of future MP and Olympic champion John Pius Boland),[1] in 1888 the company was floated by the executor of his will Bishop Nicholas Donnelly, his brother in law. A number of members of the Boland family remained shareholders in the company.[2]

The company had a number of production facilities around the city such as the buildings around Grand Canal street and Dock as well as a distribution network. Vans with the company name on it were a familiar sight up until the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Boland's Bakery building on the corner of Grand Canal Street and Macken Street (then Great Clarence Street), now the Treasury Building, played an integral part in the 1916 Rising and was occupied by Éamon de Valera.[3] Also during a dispute when unemployed demonstrators, led by the writer Liam O’Flaherty, occupied the Rotunda Hospital, Boland's Bakery in Capel St. donated 500 loaves to the demonstrators.[4]

In the late 1970s Boland's merged with Jacobs Biscuits Ltd., to form Irish Biscuits Ltd. with much of the production moved to premises in Belgard, Tallaght. Although many products were now being produced in Britain and labeled as the Irish Brands.[5] In 2004 production at the Tallaght facility stopped. Irish Biscuits were taken over by a number of foreign companies eventually ending up being owned the French Groupe Danone. In 2004 it was sold to the Irish Fruitfield Food Group.

The name survives today in a number of brands produced by Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, such as Custard creams, Cream crackers and Bourbon creams. The name Boland's Mill on Grand Canal Dock is still clearly visible.

References
  1. From Bonn to Athens -- Single and Return. The Diary of John Pius Boland, Olympic Champion Athens 1896 Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine edited by Heiner Gillmeister (2008).
  2. Page 23 Introduction
  3. Easter 1916 Rising - Boland's Bakery Archived 2011-09-16 at the Wayback Machine National Library of Ireland Website.
  4. An Irishman's Diary Irish Times, Saturday, March 19, 2011
  5. Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Biscuits Dáil Éireann Debate, Vol. 298 No. 3 Thursday, 24 March 1977]
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