P.J. Carroll & Company Limited, often called Carroll's, is a tobacco company in Ireland, now a subsidiary of British American Tobacco.[1] Its cigarette brands were among the best selling in Ireland in the twentieth century. Its factory was for decades the largest employer in Dundalk.
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Patrick James Carroll (b.1803) completed his apprenticeship as a tobacconist in 1824 and opened a shop in Dundalk, later also manufacturing cigars.[2] Patrick James moved to Liverpool in the 1850s.[2] His son Vincent Stannus Carroll expanded the firm in the later 19th century.[2] His son James Marmion Carroll moved to a house outside Dundalk.[2] A second factory was opened, in Liverpool, in 1923.[2] The company went public in 1934.[2]
A purpose-built factory opened in 1970. Designed by Ronnie Tallon of Michael Scott and Partners, it was described by Frank McDonald as "way ahead of anything else in Ireland at the time".[3]
Carroll's was acquired by Rothmans in 1990; Rothmans was acquired by British American Tobacco in 1998. The company's share of the Irish tobacco market fell from 50% in 1984 to 19% in 2003.[4] Business and Finance magazine blamed the decline in part on expansion outside its core business and reluctance to introduce king size cigarettes and update packaging.[4] In 2002 the Dundalk site was sold for €16.4m[4] to the Department of Education and repurposed for the campus of Dundalk Institute of Technology.[2][3] Carroll's rents back a small section for its remaining factory operations.[4]
Of international brands, Carroll's manufactures Rothmans and Dunhill and distributes Winfield, Lucky Strike,[4] and Kent.[1]
Carroll's was a major sponsor of sport in Ireland until restrictions were imposed on tobacco advertising. The company had naming rights over the GAA All Stars Awards (1971–8);[6] the Irish Open in golf (1963–93); and Irish showjumping horses of the 1970s and 80s, such as "Carroll's Boomerang".[7]
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