Our Heritage

The Bewley family were Quakers who originated in France and moved to Ireland in the 18th century. They entered the tea trade and in 1835 Samuel Bewley and his son landed an unprecedented cargo of 2,099 chests of tea shipped directly from China to Dublin, thereby breaking the East India Tea Company’s monopoly. The Bewley family subsequently expanded into the coffee trade and in the late 19th century they opened cafes in Georges Street (1894) and Westmoreland Street (1896) in Dublin.

Following the end of the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Free State was established in 1922 and endured civil war between 1922 and 1923. The Grafton Street Cafe was opened by Ernest Bewley in November 1927 and was a huge vote of confidence in a city and country that had endured significant turbulence. The building had once housed Whyte’s Academy, a school whose pupils included The Duke of Wellington and Robert Emmet.

Ernest Bewley undertook a complete refurbishment of the building, drawing inspiration from the great European cafes of Paris and Vienna, as well as exotic oriental tearooms and Egyptian architecture (which influenced the facade and was inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamen’s Tomb in 1922).

The centrepiece of the Cafe remains to this day the six magnificent stained glass windows commissioned from the renowned artist Harry Clarke who completed them just prior to his death in 1931.

The grandeur and ambition of Ernest Bewley’s achievement resulted in Bewley’s Grafton Street becoming an essential part of the literary, cultural, artistic, architectural and social life of Dublin. The flagship Cafe became a haunt for some of Ireland’s most famous literary and artistic figures, including James Joyce (who mentioned the cafe in his book ‘Dubliners’), Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett and Sean O’Casey, and more recently Bob Geldof and Sinead O’Connor. Bewley’s Grafton Street has equally acquired a special place in the hearts of all Dubliners and visitors to the city alike.

Visit the Café today and experience the warm welcome, the friendly smiles, the irresistible aroma of freshly ground coffee and the buzz of conversation hanging in the air. Little has changed since Ernest Bewley first opened the doors in 1927. People loved it back then and they still love it now.

True to tradition, we still hand roast our coffee beans on site (the fourth floor to be precise), guaranteeing you the freshest cup of coffee in Dublin and our craft bakery is the stuff of legends. We also have a great range of delicious pizzas, pastas, salads and sandwiches, all freshly made to order.

Did you know

• The Cafe cost £60,000 to build in 1927 – that’s the equivalent of over €15 million in today’s terms.
• Over 1 million customers visit the Café every year – not bad if you consider that Ireland’s population is about 4 million.
• With over 400 seats and 18,000 sq ft of space Bewley’s is the largest café and restaurant in Ireland
• Dublin City Council has described Bewley’s Café as being an essential part of the character of Grafton Street.
• All of the coffee served in the Café is Fairtrade certified using 100% Arabica beans.
• Bewley’s Café is Ireland’s only CarbonNeutral Café.