H Williams was a supermarket chain in Ireland founded as a grocer in the late 19th century.[ citation needed]
In 1959 it opened the first supermarket in Ireland, in Dublin's Henry Street. [1] Though publicly listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange for many years, the Quinn-McArdle family controlled its board and provided most of its senior management. [2] In the early 1980s it was sold to a its managing director, John Quinn, and property developer Finbarr Holland.
H Williams collapsed in 1987, following a price war that led to the 1987 amendment to the Groceries Order in an effort to protect the market from further concentration. [3] The former H Williams supermarkets were sold to other supermarket chains. H Williams' head office was situated in Dundrum, Dublin.
Other Dublin stores included ones located in Rathmines, Terenure, Tallaght (now a Lidl) and Killester. Outside Dublin, there was a store in Mullingar [4] – the present-day Fairgreen Shopping Centre is located on its former site as well as a store in Tullamore which was purchased by and still operates as a Dunnes Stores.