Business says farewell after decades of serving the community

17:23, 10 Nov 2025Updated 17:27, 10 Nov 2025

The Anthony O’Sullivan Traditional Butcher team in 2023(Image: Facebook: Anthony O’Sullivan Family Butcher)

A butchers in Ballincollig will be closing its doors this month after an amazing three decades in business.

Anthony O’Sullivan Traditional Butcher in Ballincollig has been a staple of local diets and dinner tables for more than a generation. The team posted a notice in the shop thanking customers over the last 34 years, and confirmed to CorkBeo that they will be serving up their last chops on Saturday, November 22.

Loyal customers expressed an outpouring of support for butcher Anthony as he approaches his retirement, as well as sorrow at the closure. One wrote: “Going to miss Anthony so much. He is a lovely man, always there for the chats. Also a great butcher. I will miss calling in.”

Another added: “Wishing you all the best in your retirement, Anthony. I am going to miss going in and getting exactly what I wanted. You were always so accommodating and helpful, and very pleasant.”

One customer remembered: “So sad, sorry see it close, Anthony. It was a pleasure to order spiced beef from you when I was home from Reading. Hope you enjoy your retirement.”

The farewell notice, shared in the popular Ballincollig Community HUB social media group(Image: Facebook: Ballincollig Community HUB)

It’s not the first stalwart Cork business to bid farewell in recent months. In October 2024, the legendary Jackie Lennox’s chipper closed after more than seven decades of serving families on Leeside. Since that closure, popular fish-and-chip chop Catch of the Day has taken over the site.

Elsewhere, Bantry’s much-loved pub The Snug announced its own closure, also after 34 years of trading, with publican Maurice O’Donovan taking well-deserved retirement. The same month, a pub in North Cork closed after 64 years in business. Staff O’Connell’s Bar in Charleville – which opened 64 years ago back in 1961, when the price of a pint was just 8p – took their last orders on Thursday, October 30.

And in the city last week, the owner of a busy, Cork-founded beauty salon chain has said that she’s closing her business with a “heavy heart” and all future appointments “must be cancelled.”