Ben Dunne Sr.

Ben Dunne (19 May 1908 – 14 April 1983) was the founder of Dunnes Stores.

 Life 
Ben Dunne was born Bernard Dunne on 19 May 1908, in County Down, Ireland. When he was young, he would often pick berries and help at a butcher’s shop. He went to St. Mary's School until he was 14 years old.

In 1926, when he was 18, after deciding not to emigrate to the United States, Dunne moved to Drogheda and worked in Anderson's Drapery store there, he then moved to Cameron's Drapery Store in Longford before finally moving to Roches Stores in Cork in the mid–1930s, it was there he met his wife Nora Maloney, they married in 1939.

In 1944, Ben Dunne left Roches Stores to open his own store, Dunnes Stores, on Patrick's Street in Cork. Police were forced to deal with crowds on opening day. He made an agreement with Des Darrer until 1952, when Darrer rebranded the Dunnes Stores as Darrers Stores, it closed down in 2007.

 Later life and death 
In 1960, groceries were introduced to Dunnes Stores, and he saw a number of changes in the 1960s and 1970s, he died of a heart attack on 14 April 1983, at the age of 74.

Category:1908 births
Category:1983 deaths
Category:Irish businesspeople