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BUDDY KIERNAN MILLING PROUD OF ITS CAVAN ROOTS SPECIAL FEATURE
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Part of the management team at Kiernan Milling, l/r: Garrett Carroll, Ciaran Nally, Mark Kiernan and Sean McGlynn
here is hardly a person in Cavan who hasn’t heard of Kiernan Milling whose distinctive blue and gold-coloured articulated trucks have been a familiar sight on the county’s roads for over 30 years. Although based in Granard, Co. Longford, the company has strong links with the Breffni County as commercial and technical manager Sean McGlynn explains. Recently rebranded Buddy Kiernan Milling in memory of its long-time driving force who sadly passed away in 2010, the company has grown from a small operation in 1978 to the largest single-site feed mill in the Republic of Ireland with a turnover in excess of €100 million. Born in New York to Leitrim parents,
Patrick ‘Buddy’ Kiernan was 14 when the family moved back to Ballinamore. In the early 1950s, ‘Buddy’ purchased a public house and grocery shop in Kilnaleck, at the back of which he reared pigs. It was from these humbling beginnings that ‘Buddy’ became one of the biggest pig producers in Europe. ‘Buddy’ had 12 children (eight sons and four daughters), eight of who are now involved in pig production. The family as a whole has approximately 24,000 sows and produces in excess of 550,000 finished pigs every year and which also operates pig units in Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, Sligo and Tipperary. This business accounts for 16 per cent of the Irish pig production market Kiernan’s involvement in the pig business led to him establishing HKM
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Milling along with Benny Maguire and Peter & Pat Hanley in 1978. In 1988, Buddy became sole owner of the Granard-based company, which was later renamed Kiernan Milling. As well as contributing enormously to the economies of both Longford and Cavan, ‘Buddy’ was a generous sponsor to local sporting organisations. The GAA was particularly close to his heart which isn’t surprising considering he played football for Ballinamore, Mullahoran, Ballymachugh and the Leitrim juniors in his younger days. He rarely missed a game whether it was club or county and the Kiernan family continues to have a close affiliation with the Ballymachugh club to this day. Indeed, players from Ballymachugh, including seniors, underage and ladies, provided a guard of honour at