celebrate your history as a book, audio or film

In 1920, William McMullan, an apprentice chemist, and his brother JG McMullan registered a new business in Dublin that sold and distributed lubricating oil and paraffin. Following an alliance with one of the country’s foremost hauliers, McMullan Brothers fortune was greatly boosted in 1921 when, on the eve of the partition of Ireland, they became the sole distributor of a popular petrol called Mex Motor Spirit across the thirty-two counties.

By the close of the 1920s, the company had one of the largest truck fleets in the country, and twenty-three fuel depots. Known today as The Maxol Group, the family-owned business is now one of the biggest energy providers in Ireland, and a global leader in terms of food innovation and convenience retail on the forecourts of its 237 service stations.

Maxol’s pioneering stamp can also be found in matters of distribution, publicity, welfare and green energy, as well as in the gas industry, where it was integral to the success of both Calor and Kosangas. 

The company has enjoyed a long history as a patron of multiple sports and sporting events, with a particular fruitful focus on the ‘all-Ireland’ sports of amateur boxing, rally driving, rugby and the GAA. A constructive, cross-border outlook also enabled Maxol to complete a successful integration of its northern and southern management teams in the 1990s, providing an inspirational blueprint for other companies seeking to do likewise. 

Replete with episodes of brilliance, ingenuity, serendipity and success, this sweeping book tells Maxol’s fascinating story from the formative years of the McMullan family through the drama of global wars, oil crises, political conflict and economic hardship to its present-day responses to climate change, Covid 19 and technological advance.  

The book was designed by Graham Thew and edited by Helen Wright. 

*****

'Bunbury delights in digging out untold stories and delivering them in an entertaining way, as readers of his books will know. True to form, he has drilled down into the foundations of Maxol and come up with a wealth of stories reflecting the company and its colourful founding family. The result is over 250 pages packed with tales and images of former employees and events, well as the growth of motoring, industry and motorsports across Ireland.’  The Belfast Telegraph

In his second collaboration with Adare Manor, Turtle Bunbury traces the swift and remarkable voyage that has established it as one of Ireland’s principal culinary landmarks. History appears in this new book too, with Adare’s culinary heritage stretching back to an 8-day festival held on the estate almost 800 years ago. And yet this book is also very much a story of today’s Ireland. It looks at the exceptional work of the kitchen staff across Adare Manor, at their gastronomic odysseys around Ireland and at the multiple artisan suppliers they work with. 

Much of the success is down to the chefs, bakers, chocolatiers and pastry makers who are constantly nurturing and developing their creative flair and ingenuity. The quality of the produce is also key. Most of the ingredients used have been sourced from artisan farms, gardens, orchards and coastal waters across Ireland that the head chefs visited during their two groundbreaking culinary road trips.

The dining areas are an integral part of the tale. Breakfast and afternoon tea are served in The Gallery, one of the most majestic rooms in Ireland, completed over 180 years ago.

The Oak Room, whose Michelin Star was confirmed again in 2021, offers the exquisite delights of the Market Menu, complete with a superb wine list and one of the finest cheese trolleys in the land. This chapter also looks at the brilliant wine collection, for which Jurica Gojevic, the founding sommelier,  won the inaugural Michelin Sommelier Award in 2019.

It also details the behind-the-scenes activity in the kitchens (including a dedicated Chocolate Room) and dining areas, the brilliant wine collection (for which Jurica Gojevic, the founding sommelier, was awarded the inaugural Michelin Sommelier Award 2020), an exciting new collaboration with Midleton Distillery and a plethora of cocktails from Ariel Sanecki, one of the world’s champion mixologists. There’s also a dozen delectable recipes for good measure.

The Carriage House brings a contemporary clubhouse ambience to another part of the 840-acre estate, while weddings, banquets and corporate dinners take place amid the splendour of The Grand Ballroom.

In the subterranean world of The Tack Room, world champion cocktails are served alongside whiskey from an exceptional collection that includes Adare Manor’s collaborations with the Midleton Distillery and its new Garden Gin. 

The book was designed by John Power and edited by Yvonne Gordon, winner of the Travel Extra Irish Travel Journalist of the Year award in 2017 and 2019. It was printed by W&G Baird, Northern Ireland.

Adare Manor has always been remarkable. Its story began eight centuries ago when the original manor was granted to a Norman knight while a substantial monastic community was established on the nearby riverbanks. 

From the seventeenth century to the 1980s, Adare Manor was home to ten generations of the Quin, or Wyndham-Quin family, including the seven Earls of Dunraven.

In 1832, the 2nd Earl and his countess, Lady Caroline, started work on a new Gothic Revival mansion; the project was completed thirty years later by their son Edwin, the 3rd Earl. An equally impressive project got underway in 2016 when the present owner initiated a meticulous conservation of the existing mansion, along with the construction of a new wing. 

At the same time, the championship golf course at Adare Manor was thoroughly redesigned by Tom Fazio with the specific goal of hosting tournaments.  The course will host the Ryder Cup in 2027. 

In  2019 Adare Manor won the  Condé Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Award for European Resort, retaining a Top 10 position in 2020. The Oak Room was awarded a Michelin star in 2019, while the Adare Manor sommelier won the inaugural Sommelier Award for Britain and the UK at the same ceremony. Adare Manor was named as Ireland's Leading Hotel at the World Travel Awards for three years in a row, 2018, 2019 and 2020. It was also voted Ireland's Favourite Hotel at the Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards 2020.

The book was designed by John Power and edited by Yvonne Gordon, winner of the Travel Extra Irish Travel Journalist of the Year award in 2017 and 2019. It was printed by W&G Baird, Northern Ireland.

Turtle Bunbury’s book traces Adare Manor’s wonderful journey from medieval manor house to its 21st century status as a shimmering 5-star hotel.

In 1869, Thomas Weir, a Scottish jeweller, moved to Dublin to establish what would soon become one of the biggest and busiest jewellery and silverware manufacturers in the city. Based at 3 Wicklow Street, the store subsequently expanded around the corner into a fabulous Victorian redbrick block at 97-99 Grafton Street.

Over 150 years after Thomas Weir’s arrival in Dublin, Weir and Sons continues to be run by his descendants, Chris, Lucinda and Natasha Andrews, who represent the fifth generation of the family. 

Written by Turtle Bunbury, this celebratory book tells the story of the Weir family from their Glaswegian origins to Thomas’s rise through the ranks of Dublin jewellers and onwards into the twentieth century when his charismatic sons and grandsons built the business up into one of the world’s largest privately-owned chains of jewellery stores on the eve of the Second World War. 

Offering a behind-the-scenes insight into the romance and ingenuity of the jewellery, silverware and watch trade, the book features cameos by actresses such as Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth, as well as connections to the brilliant philanthropist Sir Isaac Wolfson and the political icon Michael Collins. It also explains the origins of the Liam McCarthy Cup, the All-Ireland Senior Hurling trophy, and the Dublin Horse Show’s famous Aga Khan trophy.