The Belleek pottery was established by John Caldwell Bloomfield and his partners an architect Robert Williams Armstrong and a merchant David McBirney. In the Castlecaldwell estate belonging to Bloomfield were found deposits necessary to run the pottery business. The Irish village of Belleek was chosen as a location for the pottery. The foundation stone was laid in 1858.
Bloomfield hired 14 craftsmen from Stoke-on-Trent. The pottery in the beggining produced domestic wares as mortars, washstands and floor tiles. In 1863 the factory started to produce Parian, a bisquit porcelain imitating marble. But until 1920 earthenware was the principal product.
The factory provided for domestic Irish and English markets but also exported its products to the United States, Canada and Australia. Bloomfield's business partners died in early 1880s. The company gained new local investors and in 1884 started as a new venture the Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltd.
The WWI was a difficult period for the company. In 1920 it was acquired by Bernard O’Rourke. Another period of struggle came during the WWII.
After the war, the factory was modernized and concentarted on producing Parian. In the late 1970s changing customer's tastes made running the business more difficult. In 1980s the Belleek Pottery Limited was sold a few times.
In 1989 was opened the Belleek Visitors Centre and just one year later it was acquired by Erne Heritage Investments. In 1993 the company took over Galway Irish Crystal and in 1997 Aynsley China. In 2000 the group was enlarged by Donegal China.
