Connie Doody, the late co-founder of Lir Chocolates, with her granddaughter Eimear Hehir from Ballyea, Co Clare, during a 2017 promotion for Lir Chocolates. Photograph: Andres PovedaConnie Doody, the pioneering Irish businesswoman who cofounded the confectionery company Lir Chocolates, has died aged 76. Ms Doody died on Saturday following an illness and was buried in Dublin on Tuesday morning.
Ms Doody, who originally hailed from Roscommon, was a late convert to entrepreneurship and did not start the business until she was 40. Originally, she had worked in the Civil Service and also as a teacher. The business originally traded from Dublin’s East Wall and later moved to a large premises in Navan, Co Meath. It makes its own brand of luxury chocolates, as well as private label chocolates for retailers such as Dunnes Stores. It has also had a long association with Diageo, which makes popular chocolates flavoured with its Baileys liqueur.