Fallon & Byrne acquired by owners of chicken brand Rosie & Jim

Popular Dublin food venue Fallon & Byrne has been acquired by the owners of Rosie & Jim, which produces premium breaded chicken products for retailers.

The business has been taken over, for an undisclosed sum, by Jimmy and Rosie McLoughlin, who founded their Dublin-based chicken products group in 1997.

The pair became investors in Fallon & Byrne in 2021 when their financial adviser, the late John Delaney, co-founder of the Beacon Medical Group, asked them to participate in a restructuring of the business. They have been members of the board for five years.

They have bought the business from Delaney’s wife, Edel Delaney.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Jimmy McLoughlin described Fallon & Byrne as an “extraordinary brand, which has been through a lot in his 20-year history”.

“Under the supervision of the late John Delaney, our close friend and colleague, the business survived an examinership process in 2012 and later underwent a corporate restructuring in 2020,” he said.

“Rosie and I joined the new board in 2021 as co-investors with John to secure the future of the Exchequer Street store. Over the past five years we’ve had the opportunity to understand this business from the inside, its challenges, and its enormous strengths and potential.

“Following John’s sad and untimely passing, the opportunity arose to acquire Fallon & Byrne and we feel privileged to be leading this much-loved brand into the future.”

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Having largely been loss-making in recent years, Fallon & Byrne returned to profit in 2025, according to its managing director, Vincent Belingard, who previously worked at Harrods, Aer Rianta International, Brown Thomas and Donnybrook Fair.

“Turnover reached €14.3 million, up 2.3 per cent,” he said. “We realised a net profit of €26,000 following a €396,000 loss in the previous 12 months. The last four years have been about rebuilding the business and getting the fundamentals right.

“We are delighted to formally welcome Jimmy and Rosie as new owners and are committed to continuing this journey together, improving the business, and further enhancing the experience we offer to our customers.”

McLoughlin pledged to repay the €2 million in warehoused debt owned by Fallon & Byrne to the Revenue Commissioners, dating from the Covid pandemic.

“Protecting the brand and business reputation is everything to us and every cent will be repaid to an agreed plan, with another €220,000 payment made throughout 2026,” he said.

Rosie McLoughlin said her family were keen to expand the business.

“We’re keen to explore extending beyond bricks and mortar through premium event catering and, of course, further developing ecommerce. There are very exciting times ahead,” she said.

Fallon & Byrne was founded in 2006 by the late Fiona McHugh and her husband, Paul Byrne. The building on Exchequer Street comprises a restaurant, basement wine bar, a food hall, a ready meals manufacturing unit and an online business. It also hosts events, including about 100 weddings a year.