HB, Ireland’s, favourite ice cream, is celebrating 80 years of business this year. To celebrate, retired employee Paul Mulhern and his friend, journalist Kieran Fagan, have produced a book which takes you back to the company’s beginnings at the Hazelbrook Dairy, where William Hughes set up his business in farming.

In 1926 his three sons established a bottle milk dairy and began to make ice cream with the surplus milk. The independence of HB as a family firm ended in 1939 when it was taken over by the Royal Bank. In 1963 W&R Grace bought out the Dairy and as the ice cream end of the company grew, it was taken over by Unilever in 1973.

These days colours and flavours are all being replaced by natural ones and there are also Swirl Kiosks where you can actually choose your own flavours and ingredients to create your own personal ice cream. There are low-fat products such as HB light, Solero and now Frusi, a snack made from frozen yoghurt, real fruit and cereals.

Bertie Ahern, Maeve Binchy and Joe Duffy are among those recalling what ice cream has meant for them over the years and there are plenty of pictures which will bring back fond memories for many people.

‘The Story of HB– 80 years of Ireland’s favourite ice cream’ is available in selected book shops and from Unilever Ltd.