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THE FORMER MANAGING director of the Bewley’s tea and coffee company and the great-grandson of the company’s founder Patrick Bewley has died aged 77.
Tributes have been paid to Bewley, who passed away after a long illness, and was involved in the Dublin institution for 53 years.
After his time at a Quaker school in Co Waterford, Patrick Bewley began his career as an accountant, but he summed up his experience there as “it didn’t like me, and I didn’t like it”.
Patrick then joined Bewley’s at 21, working behind the counter making coffee for six months, later moving to front-of-house, serving beans and ground coffee to the public.
“When I started out in this business, instant coffee was only just coming in, and you couldn’t get any fresh ground coffee in shops other than ours,” he said some years ago.
He then became the manager of the Westmoreland Street Bewley’s café before serving as managing director of the company from 1977 to 2003.
Patrick imported the first Fairtrade Certified coffee to Ireland in 1996.
Family history
Patrick was born in 1944 in Knocksedan House, a farm in Swords in north Dublin.
He remembered going into the famous Grafton Street café aged five or six, walking to the second floor and having a treat from the menu.
Patrick Bewley’s great-grandfather, Joshua Bewley, founded the company in 1840 and his grandfather Ernest expanded the business from Sycamore Alley to South Great George’s Street in Dublin, selling tea and sugar across the counter.
The company started selling coffee wholesale out of its Westmoreland Street branch, but its primary focus remained the cafés.
The business was later shared between Ernest’s three sons – Victor, who ran the firm; Alfred, the baker; and Joe, Patrick’s father.
Tributes
Paddy Campbell, whose family acquired the Bewley’s business in 1986, led tributes to Patrick Bewley today:
“In his own quiet, determined way, Paddy Bewley made an immense contribution, not just to the success of Bewley’s over the past 35 years, but to improving the lives of others in need. Paddy did tireless work for the Hospice Foundation and the Mendicity Institution, among others.
“He was one of the finest people I have known in my business life, a great sportsman and a true friend indeed.”
Jason Doyle, MD of Bewley’s Tea & Coffee Limited said: “When people speak to me about Paddy, I’ll always think about the question he used to ask people in the business; ‘What value did you add today?’
The value Paddy added over his lifetime, not only to our business but to the wider Irish coffee industry is incredible. Anyone who is anyone in the Irish coffee industry has come through the Paddy Bewley school of coffee.
“His enthusiasm and willingness to share his knowledge was always infectious and I wouldn’t have the love that I have for coffee today without Paddy.
“He was a man who embodied the founding values of the Bewley’s business, he was fair, good to work with and always a bit of craic.
“On behalf of all his friends at Bewley’s both past and present, I’d like to share our condolences with his family.”
Patrick married Cork woman Shirley Dagg in 1969, the couple later settling in Dalkey, south Dublin. Patrick is survived by Shirley, sons Craig and Simon and six beloved grandchildren.
Might as well just criminalise depression while you’re at it too.
@Jamie McCormack: You don’t think talking depressed people into committing suicide is wrong?
@Boutros Boutros-Ghali: Of course it is, I hadn’t made that connection though. Fair point.
@Jamie McCormack: You should try thinking, it’s great.
@Boutros Boutros-Ghali: easy to do when your not suffering from depression!
@Ashling Visser Bishop: All the more reason to criminalise those who would try to talk depressed people into committing suicide.
@Jamie McCormack: There’s quite big difference between tragically succumbing to your own depression, and taking somebody else, somebosy who is likely also very vulnerable, with yoym
How on earth is making a suicide pact a criminal offence going to help stop people from doing it?? If they genuinely want to prevent people from committing suicide then they need to understand what’s driving people to it in the first place and then provide support. FFS what they gonna do follow you to the other side with a court summons?!
@Alison O’Connor: I agree, it’s a stupid approach. What is life without quality of life? Maybe they have terrible palliative care or something? Loneliness if a wife or husband dies, maybe? Or it might be poverty that drives some to it? Yes, I’m certain they could do more for their citizens if they listened to them. But who the heck is going to confide in their nurses if they’re considering what’s been turned into a criminal act?
@Alison O’Connor: it’s cheaper than investing in mental health. Korea is an even lore neo liberal kip than Ireland is and culturaly they tend not to care about anyone not “economically viable”.
S Korean society is basically based on slave labour. There is so much pressure on young men in particular to study and become a “salary man”. They only have one day off a week and during the week it is from 6am to often 9pm. At the same time pretty young women are worshiped and envied by both men and women, at the same time women do not have military conscription. Not so pretty women take out loans for plastic surgery and then wait for a rich man to marry them. It is a pretty messed up place.
You seem to have everything understood about Korea ? Koreans have 2 days off…The pressure it high to study though, that’s clear, but they work from 9am to 6, sometimes later
@Séamus McCallion: ‘A pretty messed up place’ is a sweeping generalisation for a country of over 50 million. Korean society has its problems like most developed countries, a high suicide rate the one that grabs all the headlines, but it’s a wonderful country of wonderful hospital people. I lived there, and with Koreans, for almost a decade and know what I’m talking about. You clearly do not, however.
@davidMbyrne.com: ‘hospitable people’ even!
@Séamus McCallion: North korea is a lot better dispite all the media attacks.
He’s typing this from his mommy’s spare room. I live in Busan, I’m curious where he gets his made up thoughts on Korean society from. Maybe he was left broken hearted by a pretty Korean girl ?
Made up thoughts? No. I am friends with a Korean couple who tell it as it is.
@Stephen Kennedy: The west through the eyes of north korea. Youtube.
You should take a trip out of Ireland sometime to open your mind for yourself. It seems you don’t actually know anything about Korea.
A Korean couple who left Korea and are in Ireland, talking negative about the place :o Sounds like me talking about Ireland after a few pints
@davidMbyrne.com: good man Dave but left you forget everyone here knows everything better and our society is always correct
@davidMbyrne.com: your experience of a section korean life doesn’t make u an expert..a little knowledge and all that.
@Stephen Kennedy: Actually they live in Seoul right now. I agree there are many great things about Korea but for the average person life is very tough with no safety net whatsoever.
Sure it’s been an offense, here (actually wonder if it still is) that’s why we say such & such “committed” suicide, because was (or is) a offense.
@Censorship is modern day book burning:
So you would say John/Mary “committed” suicide instead of “is” (or “are”) suicide?
Is English your first language??
@Joe Phillips: Is it yours?
@Boutros Boutros-Ghali: evidently not
I’m living in Seoul at the moment. Suicide is a big problem as they don’t support those who suffer with depression! There are no / very few groups or charities that help with depression or suicide. Also, they have little to no support for the elderly – hence the high rate in that age group. Ireland is so far ahead in their acceptance of the illness and in trying to help those in need.
Suicide pacts are evil things and this may help the rate to fall but they really need to focus on the causes!!!!!
Correct, but in Korea you can be operated on within the first visit of GP, in Ireland you wait 4 years. Old age is a big problem here tho..I do agree
@Stephen Kennedy: Some aspects of life in South Korea are very good – I agree ! but it is such a superficial society! anything that may be seen as a weakness is bad! so sad
Night out in Itaewon sorts that out
@Stephen Kennedy: hahhah – that’s where I live :)
I’m dying to see how that’ll work out.
So why a picture of a shopping street in Seoul. You wouldn’t head an article on irish suicide with a tourist shot of Grafton Street…
Punishable by death…..
I had heard that South Korea’s setting out to boost their life expectancy rates to better than North America’s. Well, there goes South Park!
@Fiona Fitzgerald: all they have to do is wait. Longevity is in decline in the USA. 78 at the moment and dropping
Anyone caught organizing these will get the death penalty
punishment will be the death penalty
Theres a reason we work 9-5 because because 9-6 might kill a niga .
Dave chappelle
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