SPOOKY IRISH WHISKEY TALES

 IRELAND’S WHISKEY inheritance

UISCE BEATHA: THE WATER OF LIFE

Ireland lays claim to the earliest documented mention of whisky. In 1405, the Annals of Clonmacnoise reported the death of a local clan chief, Richard Magrannell, after supping on the water of life, his death preceding an internal fire into the pit of his stomach. The water of life ironically became the water of death for this chief.

The arrival of the “e” in whiskey which separates it from its Scottish neighbours, was very much a late addition to the process and was added to mark clearly the difference between the two Celtic products. The two spirits are produced in very different ways, and it is Ireland’s more refined distilling process that brought a Scotsman to their shores to distil one of Ireland’s most famous whiskies!

Kilbeggan – Ireland’s Oldest Distillery and the Ghost of a Monk

Whiskey had to be regulated, which means it could only be officially distilled by licence. In 1608, King James I granted a licence to Sir Thomas Phillips, who owned property and land in County Antrim -Bushmills to be precise! This does give Bushmills the claim to fame of being the oldest surviving grant of licence distillery anywhere in the world. They cannot however, lay claim to being the oldest working distillery, as they did not register to trade until the late eighteenth century.

The honour instead, goes to the Kilbeggan Distillery in County Westmeath, which is also home to the oldest working pot still in the world, at more than 250 years old. In 1757, Matthew McManus began the distillation of the whiskey with his family for almost 100 years before it passed to John Locke.

During his tenure, a vital piece of equipment was damaged, projecting a halt to the production of Kilbeggan whiskey. John Locke put out the word in what could be described as an early ‘Go Fund Me’ move, which saw the people of the town of Kilbeggan make donations that enabled the broken part to be replaced and production to be continued.

This wasn’t the only time the townsfolk got together to protect the distillery – In 1878, a fire broke out and barrels of whiskey were set ablaze. The community once again came to the rescue, breaking down warehouse doors, going up against fire and smoke to rescue the ageing barrels of whiskey, rolling them down the street to safety. While many did go up in flame, the swift actions of the locals saved the distillery once again! Kilbeggan itself is haunted by at least two former residents. The first is the apparition of a monk, believed to be a part of the Cistercian order that had an Abbey founded very close to the distillery, dissolved in the mid-16th century. Murmuring, whispering and unexplained noises are also rife throughout the distillery.

The other is the spirit of founder Matthew McManus, who is seen walking through the distillery, no doubt checking the process is running as smoothly as the whiskey itself. Unfortunate circumstances would hamper the McManus link with the distillery. Matthias’s son, John McManus, the then manager of the distillery, was also a member of the United Irishmen who rose in rebellion against English rule and was executed in Mullingar for his part in the local uprising.

For some time now, locals and staff have told of close encounters and strange noises around the grounds. But all that was just hearsay until the Irish distillery became so well known for its spooky reputation that it attracted the attention of the legitimate ‘psychic’ Derek Acorah. He said previous owners of the distillery continue to roam the grounds, including Matthew McManus, his son John and a lady descendant of the Locke family.

The Scottish Freemason Who Created Irish Whiskey

To the dismay of many an Irishman, the fine Jameson whiskey was actually created by a Scotsman!

John Jameson was a Scot who married into the Haig distillery family. On arrival in Dublin in 1774, he immediately started networking and joined the Freemason chapter Convivial 202 in the capital city. A few years later, ‘The Liberator,’ Daniel O’Connell would join his own Dublin Freemason’s chapter and become pivotal in the demise of the Irish whiskey industry. In 1780, John Jameson obtained existing distillery premises on the legendary Bow Street site, already home to several distilleries and began the famous Jameson whiskey legacy. Four of his sons continued in the whiskey industry, with one continuing to run Bow Street and the others opening rival distilleries. One such son, Andrew, moved to County Wexford and while his own distillery didn’t achieve much, he went on to be the grandfather of Italian aristocrat and inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi.

An American Slavery Abolitionist, An Emancipator and a Priest

In the 1830s, a priest called Father Theobald Mathew started the Cork Total Abstinence Society. Solicitor and politician, Daniel O’Connell took the pledge and heightened awareness and status of the movement. O’Connell was invited as a guest speaker in Cork, with his new friend, black slave and advocate of the abolition of slavery, Frederick Douglass. Inspired by Father Mathew, Douglass also took the pledge and befriended the priest. Frederick had already whipped up a frenzy travelling and speaking around Ireland so once again the strength of Rev Theobald Mathew’s cause was at an all-time high. The friendship between the two men was short-lived, however, as Rev Mathew visited America, only to slight Douglass by refusing to return the favour at an abolitionist rally.

The damage was done and the demise of the Irish whiskey industry had begun. A solicitor had raised the bar for Irish whiskey distilling and another solicitor brought it down. The Temperance Movement peak was swiftly followed by the Irish Great Hunger – no grain meant no whiskey. Following on there was an ongoing battle for independence in Ireland, harsh tax levies, two world wars and the introduction of Prohibition and The Great Depression, plunging the Irish whiskey industry into a decline of epic proportions.