boland ' s bakery
1907 25″ historic ordnance survey map of boland’s bakery site on grand canal street .
1880s – boland’s bakery, 9 georges st. , dun laoghaire, co. dublin
1880 – boland’s bakery, 14 cumberland st. , dun laoghaire, co. dublin
the great clarence street (now macken street) entrance to boland’s bakery in the 1940s. source: urltoken
also known as the city of dublin bakery, this large complex was sited across grand canal dock from boland’s own steam mills .
designed as a bakery for patrick boland and incorporating an earlier presbyterian church in mary’s abbey (a laneway to the rear) .
view from the railway, of the former site of boland’s bakery and the dispensary 1916 h. q. on grand canal street
dr john gibney describes the activity around boland' s mill during easter week 1916 .
grand canal street entrance to boland’s bakery. taken in the 1940s by the air corps. the railway yard can be seen in the distance. image: urltoken
east facing wall of boland’s bakery stable block, the plaster scars show exactly where the troughs and air vents were for each stable. image: alva mac gowan
one of the boland’s retail shops around dublin, this shop on george’s street was a fine victorian building, with ornate stucco and shopfront .
excellent article – and great pictures of the old boland’s bakery. one small clarification - the old bakery was demolished in the late 1940s to be replaced by a five - story bakery building. this, re - clad and re - purposed in the 1990 - 91, is now the treasury building. see urltoken
the front of boland’s bakery in the 1940s, the railway yard and track, guinness stores on grand canal street, the distillery where the flag was hoisted can be seen in the distance. image: urltoken
boland’s mill the 3rd battalion under commandant eamon de valera occupied boland’s bakery around the corner from the ﬂour mills, one mile to the south - east of the gpo, on grand canal dock. the battalion was at a key location as it controlled the railway line and the main road from dun laoghaire (then kingstown) to the city centre .
boland’s bakey at one time had a network or shops as well as bakeries around dublin. there was two outlets in dun laoghaire ,
the first casualty at boland’s was volunteer radigan. “he was crossing over the wall separating the bakery from the railway when his strap caught in the trigger of his rifle and the shot wounded him in the leg. he had to be carried down a long stable roof into the bakery. ” bmh. ws1768
boland' s bakery, grand canal street ,
held by assoc. prof. joseph brady. © unknown. digital content by dr. joseph brady, published by ucd library, university college dublin < urltoken >
boland' s bakery, grand canal street ,
held by assoc. prof. joseph brady. © irish airways. digital content by dr. joseph brady, published by ucd library, university college dublin < urltoken >
abstract: construction of boland' s bakery, grand canal street, rebuilt and expanded by g. & t. crampton in 1948 - 1951. the architects were samuel stephenson & sons. the building is now the treasury building .
the former boland’s mill building was stripped back to its concrete framed structure and redeveloped into an office building in the late 1980s by treasury holdings .
abstract: aerial view of boland' s bakery, grand canal street, rebuilt and expanded by g. & t. crampton in 1948 - 1951. the architects were samuel stephenson & sons. the building is now the treasury building .
“…the route from the bakery to the railway was through a hole very high in a horse’s stall. you walked or crawled up a gangway through the hole and out on to the railway, which was much higher than the bakery. ” bmh. ws1768
an engineer broke a hole into the railway wall into a horse stall in the bakery yard to serve as a line of communication between the bakery and the railway which was now occupied from westland row to landsdown road. after knocking it open a gangway had to be built from bakery level to railway level .
former mill building, part of the large boland’s milling complex. the remainder of the complex has been demolished for redevelopment. the two six - storey stone warehouse buildings date from the 1830s .
the thing is, during easter week de valera never set foot in the building. his headquarters were actually in a since demolished dispensary on the corner of grand canal street next to boland’s bakery (above), a complex of low buildings nestled into an embankment near the railway. physically the bakery wasn’t as commanding in appearance, this was completely intentional as its unassuming and discreet demeanor and strategic location next to the railway made it ideal .
the following day, the british gunboat helga sailed up the liffey and began shelling boland’s bakery and mill. a second naval gun was taken ashore from the helga and set up in percy place. de valera deftly neutralized the danger by flying a rebel flag from a nearby distillery, which attracted much of the subsequent shelling. an interesting memo survives, written by de valera to the british intelligence officer, urging that permission be given to provide food and water to the 90 van horses used by the bakery. with the british army now firmly focused on the rebels in the gpo and the four courts, there was no concerted assault on the boland’s bakery area. by the friday, the rebels at boland’s had seen little action. all week they expected a major assault by the british but it just didn’t happen. one night, de valera and some men slipped out to a nearby railway embankment where they silently watched the city burning to the west .
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as lowe was now focusing mainly on the gpo and the four courts, there was no further concerted assault on the boland’s bakery area. the garrison held out until sunday when nurse o’farrell brought the news of the general surrender. commandant de valera was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life .
using the railway line as a vital artery, eamon de valera and 120 men of the 3rd battalion thinly spread themselves across various outposts in the area surrounding grand canal dock and ringsend including the gas works, a dispensary, boland’s mills, boland’s bakery, a railway workshop, the dublin distillery and the guinness granary stores opposite the bakery. the intention was to prevent the advance of any enemy force which might come from the direction of ringsend to sandymount or from the river liffey. further down the line they seized westland row station, damaging tracks and signalling equipment to ensure british troops landing at dun laoghaire harbour could not travel into the city, sentries were also posted on each of the railway bridges in this area .
the former (great clarence street, now macken street) entrance to boland’s bakery, which is now bricked up with a yellow brick. the original gate posts are still evident. the former guinness stores building can be seen in the distance to the left. the covered car park is now on the other side of this wall. image: alva mac gowan
when éamon de valera stepped down as president of ireland on june 24th 1973, one of his first stops was at boland' s bakery, now the treasury building, at the southern entrance to the grand canal docks. this was where de valera had gained his first real revolutionary experience a staggering 57 years earlier. during the easter rising of 1916, known locally as ‘the poet’s rebellion’, the young mathematician made his name as the last of the rebel commandants to surrender to the british .
headquarters were located in boland’s bakery on grand canal street lower, the volunteers having given the bakers a holiday. outposts were set up at positions covering the entrance to beggar’s bush barracks on haddington road, around mount street bridge (mckenny bridge on map) on the main road from kingstown to the city centre, and at westland row railway station. the volunteers ripped up the railway tracks leading to kingstown to prevent troop trains getting too close. apart from minor skirmishes and the major action at mount street bridge on wednesday, there were no direct assaults on the boland’s bakery positions until thursday. the british shelled the complex from the gunship helga on the liﬀey and also with a naval gun taken ashore from the helga and set up in percy place close to the complex. commandant de valera neutralized the danger, however, by having a ﬂag ﬂown from a nearby distillery which attracted most of the subsequent shelling .
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“we put “kaiser” and “mack” into two of the best stalls we could find in the bakery stables and made sure they had plenty to eat. ” bmh. ws0198
eamon de valera let all the horses loose from the stables at boland’s bakery … his concern for animals didn’t stop there. there was a cats and dogs home north of the railway, since there was no one to feed them de valera famously asked that they be set free, after this they were often seen wandering on the railway and streets below. one wonders what happened to all of these animals after the rebellion .
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the dispensary and bakery site is now occupied by the treasury building, home of the national asset management agency. the bakery that was there in 1916 was built in 1888 and demolished in the late 1940s, in 1951 it was replaced by a 5 - storey building in 1951 which was re - clad and modernised in 1991. during a recent site inspection we found the northern boundary wall which separated the bakery from the railway yard and the western boundary wall which formed part of the stables have been retained and incorporated into a covered car park .
in the 1893 thoms directory, bolands is shown as having the model bakery at no 14 cumberland st. , and as having a bakery at number 17. in fact, number 14 was the location of the bakery shop, on the seaward side of the street. the actual bakery, called bolands model bakery was on the opposite side of the street at number 17. in the 1850s, the site was that of the police station (there were two police stations in the town at that time), but is shown as vacant in 1870. the actual baking there ceased at some stage probably about the 1960s, but the premises continued to be used as a distribution centre for some time. in the 1970s, the technical school was established there. much of the site is now occupied by dun laoghaire further education institute (formerly dun laoghaire college of further education) (see map, right) .
referring to the 1907 historic 25″ ordnance survey map, which clearly depicts the bakery’s location in relation to the railway line. the macken street (formerly great clarence street) entrance to the bakery was bricked up, however the gate posts can still be seen today in this boundary wall. the stables were in the gate to the left. layers of plaster, air vents and brick work that are still evident today on the eastern face of this wall helped us identify the separate stalls for the horses .
early ad for the model bakery. from the days when phones were rare or non - existent. you could send a postcard asking the van (probably horse - drawn) to call to your house
this shows a boland' s bakery team who won a tug - o - war event at a sports in the grounds of beaufort in, i' d say, the early 50s. the only names i can remember: b / row: (?), (?), jack matthews, paddy matthews, tom holden, (?). f / row: (?), maurice walsh, mick duane, (?), (?), eddie boyle, (?) connel
“kaiser” was a donkey and “mack” a pony. the animals were lent by the walsh’s, a family of green grocers from great brunswick street (now pearse street), their sons’ thomas and james walsh were members of the “b” company in the 5th battalion that occupied the bakery. the two animals helped carry all the company’s equipment on any route marches which included a trek to pine forest in the dublin mountains, so they were well used to military activity .
the 3rd battalion under commandant eamon de valera occupied boland’s bakery and ﬂour mills, a mile to the south - east of the gpo. the battalion was in a crucial location as it controlled the railway line and the main road from kingstown (dun laoghaire) to the city centre, kingstown being the port through which british reinforcements would arrive. partly due to the confusion arising from macneill’s countermand, only about 100 volunteers reported for duty; about half had modern riﬂes and many had to make do with shotguns or pistols. the plan was to hold a large area stretching along the railway line from sandymount to westland row railway station, which they also took over .
in 1916 land marks at grand canal dock such as the gas works, boland’s mills and the distillery building were all considered to be obvious outposts and therefore targets, they were lightly manned and used as decoys. the gas works were dismantled to plunge the city into darkness and confuse the enemy, then left empty due to lack of men. boland’s mills were occupied by a skeleton of volunteers who were rumored to have looted the flour and brought it home to their families who lived locally. the tall distillery was used as a decoy by raising a green flag on its roof which drained the enemy of ammunition and prevented them from occupying the strategic location themselves .
aside from the battle at mount street bridge on wednesday, there were no direct assaults on boland’s until thursday. the garrison held out until sunday when nurse elizabeth o’farrell brought news of the surrender. plans to develop the mills as a triple - tower multistorey hotel and office complex, complete with public plaza and restaurant, were rejected in october 2007 .
shortly after noon on easter monday 1916, de valera and approximately 100 members of the third battalion stormed the boland’s premises and told all the bakers working there to take a half - day. both the mill and bakery had been identified as vital strategic locations. control could enable the rebels to prevent british reinforcements crossing the two bridges over the grand canal docks, as well as the bridge by lower mount street. they would also provide a key vantage point over the railway lines running between sandymount and westland row, and the main road between the por t at kingstown (dún laoghaire) and the city centre .
boland' s mills was situated in south dublin, near grand canal dock and overlooking the grand canal itself (the current treasury building is built on the site of the original mill). this complex of buildings was seized by members of the 3rd battalion of the irish volunteers led by éamon de valera: perhaps as few as 100 - 130 poorly armed volunteers were involved .
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the continued presence of some the structures associated with the site’s occupation in 1916 helps in giving legs to the witness statements. street names have changed, vistas blocked and others opened up. it is however, comforting to know that some of the dockland’s original fabric has been woven into the modern metropolis of grand canal dock .
having secured boland’s, de valera sent a sizeable detachment of volunteers to set up an outpost in westland row railway station. the men quickly ripped out the railway tracks on the kingstown line to prevent troop trains getting too close. de valera established his own headquarters in the dispensary beside the bakery. he ordered the removal of essential par ts from the gas works and the electricity supply station in ringsend, thus cutting off the gas supply and immobilizing the electric trams. some men were sent to mount street bridge and others to cover the entrance to the british military barracks at beggars bush. due to a lack of manpower, de valera was unable to organize scouting parties and he was thus unaware that the barracks were in fact virtually empty .
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one of the myths of the rebellion is that eamon de valera and his men used boland’s mills, as their headquarters during the occupation of ringsend. in 1916, the mill building would’ve commanded a forceful position over looking the victoria bridge draw - bridge on the ringsend road and grand canal dock, towering over its contemporaries as an impressive landmark evoking images of de valera and his men inside plotting, planning and firing from. today, the mills are dwarfed by modern developments as the area is gradually succumbing to high rise progress .
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boland' s mill was to serve as the headquarters of the volunteers in a large region of dublin' s south inner city that was quite diverse in socio - economic terms: it incorporated commercial and industrial regions in dublin' s docklands. the residential districts within the area seized by the volunteers ranged from slum tenements near the docks to the middle - class residential districts in and around merrion square, and between the canal and ballsbridge. the location of the area was significant, as it contained important transport links that connected dublin to the southern ferry port of kingstown: the rail terminus at westland row, and the roads leading into the city that crossed the grand canal at mount street. there were apparently plans to seize a number of buildings within the district, but these were curtailed. the volunteers established outposts outside beggars bush barracks, near mount street bridge, and near westland row, where rail tracks were torn up in order to disrupt rail transport. this region also saw some of the heaviest fighting of the rising, as british reinforcements who had disembarked at kingstown were ambushed as they attempted to cross the canal at the junction of northhumberland road and mount street .
flanked by british soldiers, the rebels made their way to grattan street where the order was given to ‘ground arms’. it galled de valera to see the local people coming out from their homes to offer cups of tea to the british soldiers while ridiculing the volunteers for their actions. when the british led de valera out from the mills, he murmured to the crowd outside: ‘if only you had come out, though armed with hay forks only’. as with all battalion commandants, commandant de valera was tried by court martial and sentenced to death. however, the shocking executions of the main ringleaders earlier in the week had such a marked effect on public opinion that de valera’s death sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. contrary to popular belief, his us citizenship was not used in his favour and he himself made no claims on that basis. although his garrison did not see anything like as much action as those in the city centre, de valera’s men racked up a high tally of enemy casualties. indeed, by dint of their defence of mount street bridge, the heaviest casualties inflicted on the british army that week were by the irish garrison stationed in boland’s mills .
during the lead up to the rebellion like all the volunteers, “the brothers walsh” had to buy their uniforms in installments. in their witness statements they give a vivid account of the various goings on at the bakery including a fr mcmahon from westland row who was using a bread van as a confessional, after his confession was heard thomas walsh recalled saying his penance with his brother jim… ” in a nook in a huge stack of flour bags” bmh. ws0198
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a make - shift green flag with a gold harp was even hoisted on a pike on the water tank of the tall nearby irish distillery building as a decoy to encourage the british to shell the building, thereby making it useless as a covering position for themselves. the ploy worked, and the first shell to hit the flag was from the h. m. y. helga gun boat in the liffey, it was logged to have fired 14 rounds at the distillery. lieutenant joseph o’byrne and a small group of volunteers from the local ringsend company occupying the upper loft in boland’s mills counted as over 75 shots were fired at the national emblem. whether both accounts are true or not, the damage was done .
the garrison held out until sunday when nurse elizabeth o’farrell of cumann na mban, the women’s auxiliary of the irish volunteers, brought news of the general surrender. she handed de valera the order signed by p. h. pearse. at first de valera thought this was simply a british ploy to coax his men out. when he was finally convinced the order came from pearse, he ordered all arms held by the volunteers to be put out of action lest they be of use to the enemy. no volunteer was willing to carry the white flag of surrender so a red cross worker was persuaded to hold it while de valera’s vice - commandant, joseph o’connor, marched the men out .
this is just a personal account of my working life in boland' s biscuits. i started in 1961 as a 17 year old. i think that in was 1957 / 8 that the factory opened when i was interviewed for the job i was told that my wages would be £6. 00 and it was with some disappointment that when i received my first wage packet there was only £3. 12. 0. it seems that some sharp - eyed cost clerk noticed that there was no wage agreement for males under 18 so i went onto the female rate. and the times been what they were on becoming 18 i got the £6. 00 but the females got no such increase ,
the good old days
yeah and i wouldn' t mind but i always thought that packing the biscuits, which was done by the females was far more onerous than a lot of the work the males did .
when i worked there first there were 3 main ovens which baked cream crackers and plain biscuits. in 1962 / 3 an extension was built and cream and chocolate biscuits were added to the range. the factory was expanding, it had a big contract with marks and spensers an expanding export business in america and more people were being employed, things were looking good. there was plenty of overtime and people could plan a future. an evening shift 5 to 10 was introduced and a lot of married women were taken on. this was a great boost to the area as prior to that women had to surrender their jobs when they got married. so the additional income and independence that women got from this made big changes in their lives. when we first heard the rumours that jacob' s planned a takeover we were surprised and then we were told that the reason they were interested was that there was room for expansion in deansgrange where no such space existed in bishop' s street. all lies, it was a simple matter of closing down a competitor. we tried to get political support but to no avail, even sit - ins were considered but did not have sufficient support. i took redundancy in 1971 as did a number of people others went to bishop st. and then finally headed to the new factory in tallaght. the factory closure was a big economic loss to lots of people in dun laoghaire, it had influenced so much of our lives and so many of us met our partners there. i' ve only good memories of boland' s, met lots of life long friends and i would probably have spent my working life there if it had not closed .
two days later, some 2, 000 british troops came marching up northumberland road from dún laoghaire, en route to oust the rebel leaders from the general post office on o’connell street. they paused at the royal dublin society' s premises in ballsbridge where lord rathdonnell was attempting to host the spring show. the soldiers were given lemonade and then advanced onwards. as these two battalions of sherwood foresters approached mount street bridge, they came in for a big surprise. de valera had surveyed the westland row and grand canal district in the weeks preceding the rising. he had considered the military possibilities and now his planning was to pay off .
the volunteers at mount street bridge secured perfect positioning for a cross - fire ambush. the forresters walked into a death trap. their attempts to charge the rebels were utterly suicidal. in a battle that ultimately lasted from noon to 8pm, 234 british officers and men were killed or wounded, marking almost half of the total british military losses for the whole week of the rising. only four volunteers were killed in the same battle. during the early part of the action, mick malone slipped down to the battalion hq in the bakery and warned de valera that they needed a fast firing weapon urgently. the bespectacled commandant unbuckled his own mauser, handed it over with 400 rounds of ammo and said ‘sorry i cannot do more for you’. when the superior british firepower eventually overwhelmed the volunteers, malone was among the four killed in the final assault. a memorial to the slain volunteers stands by the bridge today. there is no such record of the unfortunate forresters who perished, although a number of them do seem to have been buried in the military cemetery at grangegorman .
since the recession, plans to redevelop the mills are still a subject of debate. the national asset management agency (nama) has offices close by at the national treasury management agency (ntma) hq. it is housed at treasury building, grand canal street dublin 2 .
descriptions created by staff of ucd library, university college dublin based on information provided by assoc. prof. joseph brady and dr. ruth mcmanus. — metadata creation date: 2016 - 02 - 19
due to modern redevelopment, probably more so than any of the other locations around the city that were formerly occupied by the volunteers, this part of the city has changed significantly since 1916. using the witness statements and the railway line, we managed to peel back the contemporary city to reveal what remains of the 1916 battlefield at grand canal dock and ringsend .
volunteer brothers, thomas and james walsh. taken in 1914. source: national museum of ireland .
the two brothers were then transferred to an outpost around the corner at clanwilliam house which was heavily involved in the shooting of sherwood foresters crossing mount street bridge .
the northern boundary wall between the former stables and railway, it is now rendered with concrete, in 1916 a hole was pierced through with a gang plank to gain access to the railway. image: alva mac gowan
to the british the docklands with its many empty warehouses, dead ends and darkened bridges could have had a sniper covering every corner. but the location was an important one as regards access to the city. it was a tricky one to man, since so few volunteers turned up and de valera famously sent home all underage (under 18) volunteers on the tuesday and also refused any aid from cumann na mban, which meant perfectly good foot soldiers had to undertake their duties including feeding the troops and attending casualties .
many thanks for your valuable feedback. we were unsure of the date of the images from the air corps – none have dates but 1940s makes sense as the witness statements were collected at this time also. this project is a work in a progress which includes putting the information out there in the hope that we will get closer to the truth .
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about 1964. the girls in the top row are showing engagement rings. top l to r, dolores o' neill. june doyle, winnie o; dowd, marie kavanagh, kitty kenny, bottom l to r, maura mc callick, marie coffey, frances o' brien, nuala kelly, nora o' keeffe, marie flynn, and one other click the picture to enlarge
bolands were established in the dublin area in the 1800s, and had flour mills, bakeries for bread and confectionery, and biscuit factories. their mills in dublin were the scene of fighting during the 1916 revolution .
wartime rationing. the government had its ration books, but bolands also had a system of controlling supplies. bread was a very important staple diet then .
in the 1893 directory, retail shops are shown at 14 cumberland street and at 9 upper georges st. both had exceptionally ornate design .
the cumberland st shop was located in the position where the offices of goal charity is now .
the shop at 9 upper georges st was just 1 door away from the junction of mulgrave street, at the point where the bernardos charity shop now stands. however, in 1901, the street was widened at that point. the street widening involved the demolition of the frontages of all shops in that block, and the rebuilding of new frontages about 14ft back. the shop did not re - open, and the site was idle for some time before the kingstown picture house was constructed there about 1912
the shop at 115 upr georges st opened some time in the late 1930s, but was one of the buildings demolished to make room for the building of dun laoghaire shopping centre which was built about 1975 .
i started in the stores. mr, conway was the store manager he was from rialto, he was very meticulous but fair and i enjoyed working there. one of my jobs was to receive and store all the paper goods and other incidentals that were required in the running of a factory of 2 to 3 hundred people. another was to fulfil the requisitions, as they were called, for the materials to wrap the biscuits. each morning a list of items was submitted and i would deliver them to the different areas where they were required. one of these areas was known as the hand wrapping band and i can' t say that i ever enjoyed delivering to it. these bands were staffed by anything up to 40 girls and you felt that all their eyes were on you and they were just waiting to slag you and no one was immune to their clever and savage wit. i remember one time i' d been going out with a girl for some months and i had decided that it was a little too young to be going steady so i told her. the next morning as i was walking down by the hand wrapping table they all broke into singing
to young to go steady
, by that table i thought i' d never get. you just could not put a foot wrong and that went for everyone. looking back on it now it was great fun and them girls were just so smart in the use of song to heighten peoples embarrassment. you always knew that walking the gauntlet of the wrapping table that some song would be sung that would hit a sensitive nerve .
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' 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 ) , 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . 
' 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), 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
' 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), 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.