O'Briens Irish Sandwich Cafe, also known as O'Briens, is an Irish franchise sandwich cafe chain founded in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in 1988 by
Brody Sweeney. As of October 2009, O'Briens was operated by the AIL Group, who owns
Abrakebabra.
Foundations
In 1988, Irish businessman,
Brody Sweeney set up his first sandwich shop in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.
Sweeney reportedly chose the name O'Brien's because it was the most common name in the phone book and he wanted a very common Irish
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
in the event of expansion overseas.
In 2009, the company went into liquidation and was purchased by Abrakebabra Investments Limited.
Initially operating only in Ireland, the chain once operated sandwich bars in Australia, China, Gibraltar, Indonesia, Bahrain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
See also
*
List of Irish companies
This is a list of notable companies based in Ireland, or subsidiaries according to their sector. It includes companies from the entire island. The state of the Republic of Ireland covers five-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of th ...
References
External links
O'Briens Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:O'briens Irish Sandwich Bars
Restaurants in the Republic of Ireland
Fast casual restaurants
Fast-food chains of Ireland
Irish brands
Sandwich restaurants