View source for Carroll's

{{Short description|Irish cigarette manufacturer}}
{{Other uses|Carroll (disambiguation){{!}}Carroll}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox company
| name = P.J. Carroll & Company Ltd.
| logo = Bat pjcarroll logo.png
| logo_size = 200
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| former_name = 
| industry = [[tobacco industry|Tobacco]]
| fate = 
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = {{start date and age|1824}} in [[Dundalk]]
| founder = Patrick James Carroll
| defunct =  
| hq_location_city = [[Leopardstown]]
| hq_location_country = Ireland
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = 
| products = [[Cigarette]]s
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = [[British American Tobacco]]
| website = {{url|http://www.pjcarroll.ie/#|pjcarroll.ie}}
}}

'''P. J. Carroll & Company Limited''', often called '''Carroll's''', is an [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] manufacturing company of [[tobacco]]. Having been established in 1824, P.J. Carroll is the oldest tobacco manufacturer in the country, and currently a [[subsidiary]] of [[British American Tobacco]].<ref name="irex">{{cite news|url=http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2004/11/05/story562750406.asp |title=Carrolls profits slump by €20m |last=Guider |first=Ian |date=5 November 2004 |work=Irish Examiner |accessdate=20 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217035521/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2004/11/05/story562750406.asp |archivedate=17 December 2004 }}</ref> 

Its cigarette brands were among the best selling in Ireland in the twentieth century. Its factory was for decades the largest employer in [[Dundalk]].

==History==
Patrick James Carroll (b. 1803) completed his apprenticeship as a [[tobacconist]] in 1824 and opened a shop in Dundalk, later also manufacturing cigars.<ref name="dundem1">{{cite news|url=http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/dundalknews/Carroll39s-Factory-The-Carroll-and.4724139.jp?articlepage=2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217214830/http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/dundalknews/Carroll39s-Factory-The-Carroll-and.4724139.jp?articlepage=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 February 2013 |title=Carroll's Factory: The Carroll and Burns associations |last=Bellew |first=Seamus |date=26 November 2008 |work=Dundalk Democrat |accessdate=20 February 2010 }}</ref> He moved to [[Liverpool]] in England in the 1850s.<ref name="dundem1"/> His son Vincent Stannus Carroll expanded the firm in the later 19th century.<ref name="dundem1"/> His son James Marmion Carroll moved to a house outside Dundalk.<ref name="dundem1"/> A second factory was opened, in Liverpool, in 1923.<ref name="dundem1"/> The company [[Initial public offering|went public]] in 1934.<ref name="dundem1"/>

A purpose-built factory opened in 1970. Designed by Ronnie Tallon of [[Scott Tallon Walker|Michael Scott and Partners]], it was described by the journalist [[Frank McDonald (journalist)|Frank McDonald]] as "way ahead of anything else in Ireland at the time".<ref name="it20110222">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0222/1224290502270.html |title=Dundalk relights fire in former factory |last=McDonald |first=Frank |date=22 February 2011 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |accessdate=22 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224040113/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0222/1224290502270.html |archivedate=24 February 2011 }}</ref> In 1974, to mark the 150th anniversary of its founding, P.J. Carroll published an illustrated booklet by the writer James Plunkett: ''P. J. Carroll & Co. Ltd, Dublin & Dundalk - A Retrospect'', outlining the development of the company in its historical context.

Carroll's was acquired by [[Rothmans International|Rothmans]] in 1990; Rothmans was acquired by [[British American Tobacco Plc]] in 1998. The company's share of the Irish tobacco market is around 17%. In 2002, the Dundalk site was sold for €16.4m<ref name="bandf">{{cite journal|date=6 May 2004 |title=Carroll's cigarettes – a burnt out case? |journal=Business and Finance |location=Ireland |url=http://www.businessandfinance.ie/index.jsp?p=450&n=471&a=1789 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721122856/http://www.businessandfinance.ie/index.jsp?p=450&n=471&a=1789 |archivedate=21 July 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref> to the [[Department of Education and Skills (Ireland)|Department of Education]] and repurposed for the campus of [[Dundalk Institute of Technology]].<ref name="dundem1"/><ref name="it20110222"/> Carroll's rented back a small section for its remaining factory operations, until finally ceasing its Dundalk operations in 2008. Carrolls remains an Irish company with deep connections to hundreds of retirees and nearly 40 staff based in their Dublin offices.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

PJ Carroll agrees that the Government should regulate on smoking and health issues; this regulation should be informed, evidence-based, and proportionate.{{cn|date=April 2022}}  PJ Carroll and BAT acknowledge that smoking is a cause of various serious and fatal diseases, including lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and cardiovascular diseases.<ref>{{cite web|title=British American Tobacco/ Health and Science|url=http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52AD87?opendocument&SKN=1|publisher=BAT|accessdate=21 January 2014}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2022}}

In 2013,<ref>{{cite news|title=Bill to outlaw tobacco lobbying defeated in Seanad|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/bill-to-outlaw-tobacco-lobbying-defeated-in-seanad-1.1632311|first1=Marie|last1=O'Halloran|first2=Michael|last2=O'Regan|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=19 December 2013|accessdate=9 September 2020}}</ref> some lawmakers suggested PJ Carroll should be prohibited from speaking with lawmakers on the basis of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).  PJ Carroll comes under the definition of <ref>{{cite web|title=Article 5.3 FCTC|url=http://www.fctc.org/media-and-publications-20/media-briefings/industry-interference/718-article-53-framework-convention-on-tobacco-control-tobacco-industry-interference|publisher=WHO|accessdate=21 January 2014}}</ref> Tobacco Industry as set out by the FCTC, but the FCTC does not prohibit engagement between tobacco companies and public representatives, but puts in place strict rules relating to transparency.

==Brands==
{{multiple image
|perrow = 
|align = right
|direction = horizontal
|total_width = 350
|header =  
|image1 = Carrolls Number 1.jpg
|caption1 = Carrolls Number 1 cigarettes
|image2 = Major20s.jpg
|caption2 = Major cigarettes
|footer =
}}
* "Carrolls Number 1", its first [[filter cigarette]], was launched in 1958.<ref name="dundem1"/>
* "Carrolls Additive Free* Red" and "Carrolls Additive Free* Blue" was launched in 2013 as additive free* cigarettes started to gain popularity across Western Europe. (*No additives in the tobacco blend does NOT mean a less harmful cigarette){{cn|date=April 2022}}
* "Pall Mall" is one of PJ Carroll's strongest growing brands.{{cn|date=April 2022}}
* Vogue is PJ Carroll's premium cigarette brand.{{cn|date=April 2022}}
* "Major"<ref name="bandf"/>

Of international brands, Carroll's manufactured [[Rothmans, Benson & Hedges|Rothmans]] and [[Dunhill (cigarette)|Dunhill]] and distributed [[Winfield (cigarette)|Winfield]], and [[Lucky Strike]]{{cn|date=April 2022}}
* "[[Sweet Afton (cigarette)|Sweet Afton]]", launched in 1919, was named after "'Afton Waters" by [[Robert Burns]], whose sister Agnes was buried in a graveyard opposite the old Carrolls factory in Church Street, Dundalk.<ref name="dundem1"/> Sweet Afton cigarettes were discontinued in the Autumn of 2011.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

==Sponsorship==
Carroll's was a major sponsor of [[sport in Ireland]] until restrictions were imposed on [[tobacco advertising]]. The company had [[naming rights]] over the [[GAA All Stars Awards]] (1971–78);<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/claremuseum/news_events/rewarding_cream_of_crop.htm|title=Riches of Clare: Rewarding the Cream of the Crop|last=Mc Donnell|first=Fidelma |date=23 July 2004|work=Clare Champion|accessdate=20 February 2010}}</ref> and Irish [[showjumping]] horses of the 1970s and 80s, such as "Carroll's [[Boomerang (horse)|Boomerang]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/show-jumping-mourns-paul-darragh-276749.html|title=Show jumping mourns Paul Darragh |last=Parkes  |first=Louise |date=5 January 2005|work=Irish Independent|quote=by the mid-1970s [Paul Darragh] had joined Eddie Macken to compete under the banner of the tobacco company PJ Carroll in a sponsorship deal that ran for 12 long and very successful years. |accessdate=20 February 2010}}</ref>

In [[golf]], Carroll's was the sponsor of several professional tournaments including the [[Carroll's International]] (1963 to 1974), the [[Carroll's Number 1 Tournament]] (1965 to 1968), the [[Carroll's Irish Match Play Championship]] (1969 to 1982),<ref>{{cite news |title=P. J. Carrolls sponsor £2,000 match-play |newspaper=Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal |location=Leinster, Republic of Ireland |date=21 February 1969 |page=3 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002330/19690221/031/0003 |via=British Newspaper Archive |access-date=2 June 2020 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and most notably the revived [[Irish Open (golf)|Irish Open]] from 1975 to 1993.{{fact|date=September 2020}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official|http://www.pjcarroll.ie/#}}

{{British American Tobacco}}

[[Category:Tobacco companies of Ireland]]
[[Category:Dundalk]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1824]]
[[Category:British American Tobacco]]
[[Category:1824 establishments in Ireland]]