The rise, decline, and rebirth of the Irish whiskey industry has been an important chapter in the history of the whiskey industry. At its peak, Irish whiskey dominated the world whiskey market. In the mid-19th century, Ireland had 88 licensed distillers, more distillers than Scotland. But the industry fell on hard times, and before its more recent revival, it dwindled to just a tiny handful of producers. In this story, we examine the first half of Irish whiskey’s history: from dominance to decline. In an upcoming story, we’ll trace its more recent history, following its astonishing revival.
When Alfred Barnard chronicled The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom in 1887, he visited 28 Irish distilleries, many of which were among the largest in the world. At the time, Irish distillers controlled about 70 percent of the world whiskey market. Two out of every three bottles of whiskey sold in London were Irish. It was the bestselling imported whiskey in the United States, second only to bourbon. Even in Scotland, Irish whiskey outsold Scotch whisky.
Between 1823, when the British Parliament passed the Excise Act which permitted the licensing of whiskey distillers, and 1900, the production of whiskey in Ireland quadrupled. Belfast, Cork, and Derry all became major distillation centers. It was Dublin, however, that was the center of Irish whiskey distillation. Dublin had six distilleries, four of which (John Jameson, William Jameson, John Power and George Roe) dominated the trade. These four distillers alone had a capacity of around five million gallons of whiskey.
Old Midleton by IProspectIE (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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