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\n Francis explained that ham and turkey remain their top sellers, with turkeys cooked in-house and all meats freshly carved daily to ensure zero waste by their 4:00 PM closing time.\n <\/p>\n
DROGHEDA \u2014 Local radio station LMFM surprised one of Drogheda\u2019s most enduring family businesses on Friday morning, as broadcaster Gerry dropped in unannounced to congratulate the Hurley brothers on celebrating 40 years in business on Narrow West Street.<\/p>\n
Owners John and Francis Hurley were caught mid-trade by the surprise broadcast, reflecting on a four-decade journey that John described as passing “in the blink of an eye.” The brothers opened the shop when John was just three years married, welcoming his second son a mere ten days after first opening the doors.<\/p>\n
Over the last 40 years, the retail landscape in Drogheda has shifted significantly. When the Hurleys first started, there were no shopping centres in the area. Today, changing commuter habits have altered mid-week town center footfall, but the brothers have remained a steadfast anchor for the historic street.<\/p>\n
Originally operating from a small unit across the road, the business relocated to its current premises in the early 1990s. Despite the gradual decline and dereliction of parts of Narrow West Street, the shop continues to draw a robust and loyal customer base. Footfall is sustained by people walking between Fair Street’s council offices, health centres, and local hair salons, though Saturdays have surprisingly become their quietest day as the regular weekday workers clear out.<\/p>\n
The shop is famed locally for its fresh food, particularly its handmade lunch rolls. Francis explained that ham and turkey remain their top sellers, with turkeys cooked in-house and all meats freshly carved daily to ensure zero waste by their 4:00 PM closing time.<\/p>\n
The brothers attributes much of the shop’s longevity to their tight-knit team, praising long-serving staff member Jane O\u2019Rourke, who has worked alongside them for over 38 years. Joining the broadcast, O’Rourke noted that the daily “good crack” and friendly banter with customers have made the decades fly by, joking that she plans to stick with the brothers for a while longer.<\/p>\n
Born and raised just around the corner on George Street in a busy household of 11 children, the Hurley family is deeply woven into the fabric of Drogheda. Their late father, Charlie Hurley, was the legendary secretary of Drogheda United Football Club, a sporting passion John and Francis still carry today. The counter regularly transforms into a lively forum for football debate ahead of weekend fixtures, drawing passionate banter from locals as well as visiting Dublin supporters who have relocated to the area.<\/p>\n
To mark the historic milestone, the family is hosting a celebration this weekend, returning to the crossroads where their journey originally began for drinks and food with the community that has supported them for a generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Francis explained that ham and turkey remain their top sellers, with turkeys cooked in-house and all meats freshly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4263,4262,93,61,60,3323,4259,4258,4265,4266,4264,4260,4261,278],"class_list":["post-496897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-drogheda-radio","tag-dundalk-radio","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-job-search","tag-lm-fm","tag-lmfm","tag-lmfm-breakfast-show","tag-lmfm-late-lunch","tag-lmfm-podcast","tag-louth-radio","tag-meath-radio","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}