History
The Bewley family were Quakers who originated in France and moved to Ireland in the 18th century. They entered the tea trade and in 1835 Charles Bewley landed an unprecedented cargo of 2,000 chests of tea shipped directly from China to Dublin, thereby breaking the East India Tea Company’s monopoly. The Bewley family subsequently expanded into the coffee trade and in the late 19th century they opened cafes in South Great Georges Street (1894) and Westmoreland Street (1896) in Dublin.
Following the end of the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Free State was established in 1922 and endured civil war between 1922 and 1923. The Grafton Street café was opened by Ernest Bewley in November 1927 and was a huge vote of confidence in a city and country that had endured significant turbulence. The building had once housed Whyte’s Academy, a school whose pupils included The Duke of Wellington and Robert Emmet.
Ernest Bewley undertook a complete refurbishment of the building, drawing inspiration from the great European cafes of Paris and Vienna, as well as exotic oriental tearooms and Egyptian architecture (which influenced the façade and was inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamen’s Tomb in 1922).
The grandeur and ambition of Ernest Bewley’s achievement resulted in Bewley’s Grafton Street immediately becoming an essential part of the literary, cultural, artistic, architectural and social life of Dublin. The café became a haunt for some of Ireland’s most famous literary and artistic figures, including James Joyce (who mentioned the cafe in his book “Dubliners”), Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett and Sean O’Casey. Bewley’s Grafton Street has equally acquired a special place in the hearts of all Dubliners and visitors to the city alike.
Since 1986 Bewley’s has been owned and operated by Campbell Bewley Group Limited (“Bewley’s”), which belongs to the Irish entrepreneur, sculptor and artist, Patrick Campbell, and his family. Patrick Bewley, a direct descendant of the founder Joshua Bewley, still works with the company.
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