KILMEADEN witnessed the end of an era last week with the closure of the gates of its famous cheese factory for the final time. Since Glanbia controversially ceased production of cheese in Kilmeaden in October 2005 with the loss of a small number of full-time jobs and around 40 seasonal positions, the site had still been used for storage purposes.
However, this came to an end last Thursday February 28th when those still working at the site departed for the last time. Despite the switching of production of Kilmeaden Cheese to Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, the award winning cheddar was still being brought to the Kilmeaden site for storage up until last week.
The cheese also continues to be sold under the Kilmeaden name. Robert Power and Patrick Curran had been managing the stores on a full-time basis, with Anne Walsh working as a part-time administrator.