Doing The Business

The sweet spot: Siobhán Lawless of The Foods of Athenry on growing her gluten-free bakery business

Lawless and her husband, Paul, have been running their company from their farm in rural Galway since 1994

Siobhán Lawless, co-founder with her husband Paul of The Foods of Athenry, which specialises in free-from and gluten-free foods. ‘People say, ‘wow, hadn’t you great foresight’, but I’m like ‘no, I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right product’’

When Siobhán Lawless first moved to rural Galway in the 1990s, baking was barely a hobby and ‘gluten-free’ was not in her vocabulary.

But in 2024, along with her husband Paul, she will officially celebrate 20 years of The Foods of Athenry, their thriving bakery business that specialises in free-from and gluten-free foods.

“People say, ‘wow, hadn’t you great foresight’, but I’m like ‘no, I was in the right place, at the right time, with ...