Grants of Ireland’s certificate of incorporation dates the origins of the company back to 25th April 1880, with the establishment of the Castlebellingham and Drogheda Breweries by William Cairnes, a Tyrone born brewer.

The breweries went through many phases of metamorphosis over the years including four changes of location and a host of merges and amalgamations. The first change came in 1933 when the Castlebellingham and Drogheda Breweries became Cairnes Ltd., before being renamed again in 1960 as Preston Bros. & Co. 1964 saw the final change to the name above the door as Grants of Ireland Ltd was born.

Grants of Ireland, as it exists today, is the result of an amalgamation of several smaller companies. From the Dublin area were: T.W. Beggs & Co., Hoggs & Co., Campbell & Co., Thompson D’Olier. From further a field came Prestons of Drogheda, Smyth & Co., Daly’s of Cork, Carew of Tipperary and Foleys of Sligo.

In 1968, Grants of Ireland was once more involved in a merger, and became one of the many factions of the extensive C&C Group, an organisation which today plays parent to Bulmers and C&C Wholesale. Allied Brewers an English based company held a 51% share of Grants of Ireland and Guinness Ire Ltd owned the remaining 49% share.

In 1998, Guinness formed an alliance with UDV, an amalgamation which heralded the sale of its 49% interest in C&C. Allied Domecq (formerly Allied Brewers) took this opportunity to become 100% shareholders in the group. This acquisition was short lived as the Group was acquired from Allied Domecq in a leveraged buy-out later in the same year.