Galway Whiskey

[An Púcán Whiskey]

Hi all -

I've done a lot of research and can't find any distillery in Galway after Persse's closed, or any bottlings after that either - anyone know of any others since that I may have missed?

Cyril

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

There was also a Distillery Called Burkes briefly on Key Street. The site is the now Jury's Inn hotel and they possibly were on the other side of the street too. I have very limited information but will post when I have time. I am actually away currently so will have a look when I return

[An Púcán Whiskey]

Great, yes - I had heard of that alright - was also knowns as The Quarter Barrel as they sold that quantity to households. I think that one closed even before Persse's though? Thanks for taking the time!
Much appreciated.
Cyril

[IrishWhiskey.Com]

Hi Cyril,

Looking at my copy of Ryan's Lost Distilleries of Ireland, the 22 Galway based distilleries of the late 1700's had been reduced to two by 1822.

These were John Joyce and Catherine Haurty and both were closed by 1807. By 1823, a Patrick Joyce was running a distillery on Nun's Island. He did well and peaked at 100,000 Gallons in 1833. However things went down hill after that and he was gone by 1840, possibly due to competition from Burke's Quarter Barrel, Richard Lynch and Burton Persse, who had two distilleries (Newcastle and Newton Smith) which at their peak were producing over 120,000 gallons per year. By comparison, Allmans from my own home town of Bandon were producing 500,000 gallons a year at their peak.

Burton Persse's son bought the old Joyce distillery buildings in 1840 and after using them for a few years as woollen mills, converted them back to what we now know as the Nun's Island distillery. It continued such until the Great War with output of their "Galway Whiskey" peaking at around 400,000 gallons a year. As the new distillery took off, their existing smaller distilleries in Newcastle and Newton Smith were abandoned.


In the years before the Great War, the Dublin distilleries began making inroads into the west of Ireland and it was this increasing competition which finally closed Galway whiskey and Nun's Island distillery.

Kind regards,

Stuart

[An Púcán Whiskey]

Hi Stuart and thanks for the very useful information, I'm getting a good deal from it!
All the best from Galway,
Cyril