Behind "The Foods of Athenry" is an enthusiastic farm family. Like many farm families - baking breads, tarts & cakes for their own kitchen table.

Paul inherited the farm from his parents Maureen & Albert around the time of his marriage to Siobhan back 25 years ago. Siobhan, not coming from an agricultural background, settled in as best she could and became the country wife! Being slightly removed from local shops and with money being more than a little tight – all that was learned in Home Economics in her schooldays came in very handy. We were relatively self sufficient – vegetables were grown, cows were milked and the hens laid.

Recipes were tweaked and there was ample opportiunity for experimentation as Paul proved to be a very willing man to feed. (With the exception of Apple tarts – he happened to say one day that Siobhan’s were not as good as his mothers, and the result of that was no apple tart for at least 15 years! )

The years rolled by and five children arrived. Good Food became more important than ever and now there were six willing tasters in the house. What ultimately inspired us to start a Food Business on the farm was a mixture of necessity, opportunity and a love of good quality food!.
Paul, was an intensive dairy farmer but our land quality was poor and our owned milk quota small. We needed additional income and therein was the necessity – generate more revenue but in a way that was not going to impact too much on the lives of the children.
The opportunity arose when it was suggested by a good friend that Siobhan should put her culinary skills to good use. It started small and grew from there. We started in a converted bicycle shed and as the demand for the products grew, the cows were sold in 2004 and the bakery moved into the now empty milking parlour.

The love of good food is something that was, and still is , a family passion. We operate a ‘clean label’ philosophy in the Foods of Athenry and our motto is that if we were’nt prepared to feed something to our own children then we shouldn’t try to feed it to yours.

The Foods of Athenry have made a name for themselves as home producers of healthy wholesome baking and this is very much in keeping with the ethos and life style in the Lawless household producing wholesome products that represent the healthier option. The passion for wholesome fresh food guarantees that only the finest freshest ingredients are used and that there is no room for any artificial food additives.
Our gorgeous tasting breads and cakes are just part of what we are doing. We take care to step very lightly on the environment. We have gently adapted the old farm buildings to house our bakery , office and packing area. In an effort to reduce traffic to the farm we are extending our storage areas to enable us to take larger quantities of ingredients and packaging at one delivery , thus ordering less often and be more carbon efficient.
Our focus is on greener packaging . We use a 100% biodegradable and compostable paper wrapping which has a biodegradable film and is one of the first of its kind in Ireland. Work is underway to have a cornstarch insert.

In 2007 and 2008 we received national recognition when we were featured in the Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, which lists the ‘Best in Ireland’ of artisan produced foods such as our Foods of Athenry baked goods.

The hard work and attention to detail paid of . From 2007 through to 2010 we have been featured in the Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, which lists the ‘Best in Ireland’ of artisan produced foods such as our Foods of Athenry baked goods. We are a member of Good Food Ireland . And , between 2008 and 2009 we have carried off 8 taste awards for a cross section of our products rubbishing the myth that healthier food is boring or less tasty!.

Our ethos has always been that if we weren't happy to feed the products to our own children then we shouldn't try to feed them to yours. We use quality fresh ingredients to make from scratch baked goods. No mixes. No nasty added ingredients. No fuss

Bain taitneamh as. Enjoy!