Andrew Heffernan, husband to Dunnes Stores matriarch Margaret, has died

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Andrew Heffernan, husband to Dunnes Stores matriarch Margaret Heffernan, died on Sunday.

Heffernan, who previously worked as a consultant endocrinologist at the Blackrock Clinic, died “peacefully, surrounded by his loving family”, in the care of the doctors and nurses of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, according to his death notice.

He was described as the “beloved husband of Margaret and much-loved father of Anne, Michael, Andrew and Bernard”.

It said he will be “sadly missed by his wife, children, grandchildren, great-grandson, daughters-in-law, son-in-law, sisters Ellen and Anne, sisters-in-law and extended family”. His funeral took place on Tuesday.

A number of people left tributes to him on bereavements website Rip.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times.

Evan Arkwright, racing and sponsorship manager at the Curragh Racecourse in Co Kildare, said his thoughts were with the Heffernan family “at this very sad time for them”.

“Andrew was always a very welcome visitor to the racecourse both as a trainer and as an owner and the huge achievements of the HOS syndicate must have given him great pleasure in recent times,” he wrote.

Margaret Heffernan (83) is the eldest of six children born to Ben Dunne snr and his wife Nora Dunne (née Maloney), who has transformed Dunnes Stores into the retailer it is today.

Dunnes Stores is currently the leading grocer in Ireland, holding a 24.8 per cent market share. It maintains the top spot, closely followed by Tesco (24.4 per cent – 24.8 per cent) and SuperValu (19.3 per cent – 20.5 per cent).