Irish Whiskey Pt. 4: Lords, Kings, Irish Whiskey, U2 and the Unforgettable Fire // Old Carrick Mill Distillery

Transcript

How The Irish Lost Ireland

There was a hint of panic in the air as Lord Thomas Fitzgerald summoned the council at St. Mary's Abbey in Dublin. He had just received the news that his father Gerald, the 9th Earl of Kildare and Lord Deputy of Ireland, may have been executed by his distant cousin Henry VIII of England - and that he and his uncles might be next for the blade.

The Fitzgeralds were a family with strong roots in Ireland, developed through their conquests in the early days of the Norman occupation. But in a way, it would be the Gaels that would conquer THEM. Over time, the Fitzgerald's would so assimilate into the Gaelic culture, it would be said that they were "more Irish than the Irish themselves,” as most freely embraced the Irish language and local traditions.

This split of loyalties, and the threat of death at the hands of the king, pushed Thomas into a rash decision. A decision that would put in jeopardy all of the power gained by his father and his father’s father over the troops and supplies within the English Pale (an area the covered Dublin and lands to the north). For Thomas was about to renounce his allegiance to Henry VIII, the king of England and Lord of Ireland. 

To assist him, he raised a force of 140 mercenaries. Known as the gallowglasses, these warriors could be easily discerned, thanks to the silk fringes they wore on their helmets. Riding towards the abbey they must have been a chilling sight to see - his association with them would earn Thomas the nickname Silken Thomas.  The Archbishop attempted to talk Thomas out of this rash move, but Thomas would have none of it. 

He began to persuade others to join his cause, but when Dublin Castle refused, Silken Thomas and the gallowglasses attacked! But a swift and decisive battle ended up going against the plans of Thomas and his mercenaries. And not only was his force routed, but tradition suggests his orders were misunderstood and the Archbishop, who was only there to mediate, was mistakenly killed by agents of Silken Thomas. With the loss of support by the clergy, Thomas had to retreat to his home base at Maynooth Castle. But even his home base wasn’t safe, as a journey to find reinforcements left the castle without leadership - it would be captured and its inhabitants put to death.

In the end, he would learn that his father was in fact still alive, although he died from illness shortly after. Knowing he’d made a grave mistake, Silken Thomas asked for the King's mercy and a pardon for his offenses. The newly appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, Leonard Grey would guarantee his safety, if he would travel to London to see the king. But when he reaching London, he was thrown in the tower and was executed along with his five uncles. 

What started as a misunderstanding, turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. And from this day forward, King Henry VIII would take a harder stance against the Irish, declaring the island a kingdom and he, its king.

The Failed Spanish Plot

For the world of whiskey, English control over Ireland in the 16th century would bring two major shifts to the primitive version of the spirit that was at that time referred to by the Irish as uisce beatha or aqua vitae.

The first would happen in 1556, when the Irish Parliament met at Drogheda (DRA-huh-dah) and for the first time restricted the distillation of spirits by instituting a license, issued at the behest of the Lord Deputy. Yet, this early law was easily ignored by most of the country, as most of the crown’s influence was confined to The Pale. This failure of enforcement wasn’t exclusive to distilled spirits though, and when Queen Mary took the throne, she stepped up efforts to seize control by colonizing Ireland through a process of planting English citizens to the west and then south of the Pale into an area known as Munster, the homeland of the FitzGeralds. 

In 1580, a brash 28 year old Englishman named Walter Raleigh would be sent to Ireland to put down a rebellion driven by the FitzGeralds and FitzMaurice Dynasties in Munster. During the siege of Smerwick, Raleigh’s forces would behead some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers who had come to support the Irish. The action would cause the handsome young soldier to win favor with Queen Elizabeth I. She bequeathed him 40k acres and his holdings gave him title as the mayor of Youghal- all in an effort to draw more English to the Irish plantations. However, he would fail in his mission, yet he would be no friend to the Irish. The only good deed, it was surmised, was that it was Raleigh who introduced the beloved potato to Ireland. A fable that survived centuries, even though at the time, Raleigh likely didn’t know a potato from a turnip. 

One wonders if this story evolved out of some Englishman’s mind as the ultimate insult to two of his enemies, the Irish and Spanish - who always seemed to be thorns in their side. The fact is, the potato came from conquered Spanish territory in South America and was already established in Europe long before Raleigh ever set sail for the new world. And it likely traveled up through the frequently accessed trade lanes between the Spanish and Irish. 

  

But I digress.

The second event that happened in the 16th century that would impact the world of whiskey would be the plantations themselves. Where Walter Raleigh failed, others succeeded, especially in Ulster to the north. And this colonization would lead to rebellion as former enemies Hugh Roe O’Donnell and Hugh O’Neill would bring their clans together and gain the support of King Philip II of Spain. For nine bloody years war would rage on, as the Irish tried to throw off their English usurpers. It would all come crashing down at the Battle of Kinsale, where the English won a decisive victory - a victory that legend suggests came at the hands of a traitor who gave up the battle plans to the English for a bottle of uisce beatha. Gaelic rule ended with the subsequent Flight of the Earls, as O’Neill and O’Donnell would head to the continent to find reinforcements, yet never returning to their homeland. It was 1607, and for the first time, the English could claim control over the Irish.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, her lack of an heir would eventually lead to the rule of the Scottish Stuart kings under James I. Land would be confiscated from the Irish Lords mainly in Ulster and Munster. The Irish Catholics would be forced off of their lands, in favor of protestant immigrants from the border regions of Scotland and northern England. And this was the second great impact on whiskey with its seeds in the 16th century. The plantation system devised under the Tudors would start to ramp up under the Stuarts and these Ulster-Scots, as they became known, would bring their distilling traditions to Ireland and then a century later would transfer them to the new world. There their name would eventually be deemed Scotch-Irish and then after scotch became popular as a type of whiskey, it would be shortened to Scots-Irish.

Meanwhile, the humiliation for Hugh O’Neill would be impacted one more time as the English would move to impose a monopoly system in Ireland, where Lords would be granted exclusive patents for distilling. The first whiskey patent or license was granted by Lord Deputy Chichester (O’Neill’s great rival), to a Charles Waterhouse in Munster, the second would go to his deputy Sir Thomas Phillipps in Ulster, in a stretch of land known as the Rowte. This 1608 patent is mentioned by Bushmills as their property's first license to distill. However, the truth is, this gave right to an area that dwarfs the current property. And Bushmills as a brand wouldn't be established for another 177 years.

2022 OLD CARRICK MILL

After a somewhat abbreviated slumber in Mullingar, I grabbed a quick shower, tossed on my clothes and then headed down to the ground floor of the hotel to get my complimentary full Irish breakfast. I guess I wasn’t entirely awake, because I kept staring at the buttons in the elevator trying to figure out if I should go to the first floor or to zero or zed as they say here. Then I remembered that in Europe, the first floor is usually the floor above the ground floor.

I likely could have rested longer, but today was filled with three distilleries to visit. The first would be the longest haul, a good 90 minutes through the backcountry to the Old Carrick Mill Distillery. 

Can’t say the backroads were very friendly. I seemed to collect every lorry within 100 km. Oh, it was beautiful, but a bit frustrating at half speed. 

I was sure I was going to be late - but apparently Google Maps anticipated the slow journey. What Google Maps also likes to do is take you down the smallest roads it can find. As cars whizzed by me on the narrow curvy roads, my nerves began to fray. Many of the locals are well skilled at taking these blind curves quickly and the stone walls that butt up right to the edge of the road don’t seem to bother them not at all. 

I reached the mill right at 9:30 as planned, turning up a dirt path looking for signs of life and a place to park. I saw a car parked up behind the mill and pulled in along side. At first, I had no idea where to go. I walked down to the mill, but there were no signs of life. I looked in through the opening to see a palate of bottles - so I at least knew I was in the right place. There was a sign on the house next door that said they were closed Monday and Tuesday, but this looked to be another business. The proprietor stepped out and saved the day. I told him I was there to see Steven Murphy the distiller and he told me to head to the large metal shed behind the mill.

As I made my way back up, Steven appeared, greeted me warmly, and pulled open the gate to let me in. 

The website for this one had me excited to find out more information about two legends. One was the story of the mischievious Black Ram of Derrylaven. Noted for its playful nature, this playful creature loved to sneak up on travelers as theyy reacheda nearby stream. As they stopped to ponder their crossing, he would suddenly thrust his horns at them, knocking them face first into the water. 

The other story was about a young man from nearby Carrickmacross that was arrested for having one too many sips at the local public house. Hauled in before the magistrate for drunkenness, his only defense was that someone had been spiking his tea with whiskey! The magistrate shook his head saying, “From Carrickmacross to Crossmaglen there are more Rogues than Honest Men.” That line would later be immortalized by local poet Patrick Kavanagh in his book The Green Fool. 

When we walked into the metal building suddenly a distillery was revealed. Steven showed me his gin set up and talked about his passion for distilling and how he wanted to really stretch the limits of both gin and whiskey. Then we walked over to whiskey distilling equipment.

To be honest, it was kind of overwhelming looking at the equipment and trying to keep up with how Steven was describing the process. For some reason, I had prepared myself for a simple setup. Instead he started describing how he would make whiskey in one pot still, then send the vapor through a heat exchanger and then back in for another distillation, making 3 cuts, and then potentially running it through a six plate column or another run in a pot still. It was a complex system he had developed with the help of another master distiller and had the stills custom designed by a Chinese company, when counted as the first time I’d heard of Chinese stills. His goal was to be able to have the most versatile system possible, being able to make whiskey multiple ways.

But for the moment, the stills lay silent. He said he has had these in place for three years, just waiting for his whiskey license. A whiskey license? I said. You’re already making gin, you need a separate license of whiskey? Yeah, apparently in his area, a license has to be granted for each type of spirit. I thought, what a boon for the local revenue office! Surprisingly, this wouldn’t be the last time I’d hear that story. 

As we jumped into a discussion about the crazy laws around spirits, he pulled over a box and revealed one of the coolest looking whiskey bottles I’ve ever seen. It was a rounded ornate bottle topped with horns and a bolt above the cork. That is when he told me the story of the Black Ram of Derrylavan. The horns were in honor of that local legend and the bolt was designed in a similar shape to the ones he had found in the old mill. The brand name of this sourced whiskey is May Lóag, which in the Irish language means “the one that stands out from the crowd.” In terms of the bottle design, mission accomplished. I sampled three of his blends and then we stepped outside and made our way down to the old stone mill. 

He walked me inside and described the process of replacing the old wood and iron roof. Then we walked outside and he showed me an old iron water wheel that was inside the building.  Then he told me how he had traveled to Seattle while he was thinking through how to start a distillery and was told every distillery needs a story. He came back to Ireland to find a home and discovered this 300 year old flour mill. He bought it, not really knowing what story it had to tell, but through his research, he found that it was once owned by an Irishman named Thomas Barton, who in 1725 sold the mill and moved to the Bordeaux region of France. It was there that he started the Barton & Guestier winery which is world renowned today. 

But just as I was really getting into his stories and history, I felt my pocket start to vibrate. Knowing how easily I can lose time while getting deep into conversations, I had set my alarm to go off when I had 10 minutes before I absolutely had to leave for my next appointment. 

I thanked Steven for taking an hour of his morning to show me around and made my way back to my car. This had been just the kind of small craft distillery I’d hoped to find during my journeys. 

As I prepare to tell you about my experience down the road at Slane Distillery, let’s take a moment to check in with my 19th Century counterpart who is just about to visit the largest distillery in Ireland, George Roe and Co’s Thomas Street Distillery.

THOMAS STREET DISTILLERY (GEO ROE & CO)

This Distillery is situated on the south side of the River Liffey, and nearly opposite the main buildings of Messrs. Guinness & Co.’s Brewery. The entrance to the establishment is most striking, and unlike any other Distilleries we have seen, reminding us of some of the chateaux in France, with their ivy-covered walls and flower beds. The locality in which it is situated is sacred to the memory of several Irish patriots, it having been the scene of many a battle and much strife, from the early time of the Danish occupation down to the rebellion of ’98. It was in that year, and close to the Distillery, that Lord Edward Fitzgerald was arrested on a charge of high treason, shortly after an engagement with the red-coats, at which he was wounded, and soon afterwards died in prison.

Dublin is remarkable in that it contains two cathedrals - St. Patrick’s and Christ Church, or the Blessed Trinity. Christ Church Cathedral was built A.D. 1038. Christ Church, which stands in the centre of the city, was originally built on a range of arches, erected by the deans as stores for merchandise, and in those vaults St. Patrick first appealed to the inhabitants on behalf of the Christian religion. In 1283 the steeple, chapter house, and cloisters were destroyed by fire, together with one side of the street called Skinner’s Row; but the citizens, with commendable piety, subscribed for the restoration of the Cathedral before their own houses were repaired. Before its restoration, it was so disfigured by buttresses built up against the side walls, and altogether was in such a ruinous condition, that only sufficient remained to indicate its former stateliness.

The old Mill, which rises from the centre of the Distillery, which has been left standing as a distinguishing feature and a relic of the past, is a land-mark for many miles round. It is of solid construction, some 70 feet wide at its base, and rises to the great height of 150 feet. Crowning its summit is a vast cupola, surmounted by a brazen figure of Ireland’s patron saint, mitre and crozier in hand. In olden times this Wind-mill used to supply the entire motive power for the Distillery. The racket courts of the old Marshalsea used to adjoin, and now form part of, the Distillery, and the rollicking debtors - say old roysterers - like boys at school, used frequently to send their tennis balls flying into the Distillery premises, with the object of arousing the sympathies of their neighbours, but we fear with little effect.

The Thomas Street Distillery was purchased by the late Mr. Peter Roe in the year 1757. At that time it was quite a small concern, but every few years, as his trade increased, the proprietor kept building and making additions, while within the last twenty years alone his successors have expended upwards of £70,000 on the works. Mr, Henry Roe, the late proprietor of the Distillery, in which, although he has given up the active management, he still holds a large interest, is a man of princely liberality, and Dublin may well be proud of the man who, at a cost of £220,000, restored Christ Church Cathedral, and has thus left behind him an enduring monument, which, as long as the fabric lasts, will bear witness to his noble deed. The Distillery is now in the hands of a limited Company, under the personal management of one of the Directors, who has a practical knowledge of the business, and devotes his entire time to its conduct.

The following is a brief description of this undertaking: - The factors contract to deliver the corn direct into the Grain Lofts, which communicate with the Kilns, and are capable of holding upwards of 100,000 barrels of grain. After the grain is dried, it is dropped through slides into the Dry Grain Deposit Room, and from thence is conveyed by belts into the Grain Store. These belts are the invention of Sir Wm. Armstrong, whose name is associated with warlike implements rather than such peaceful apparatus and appliances. When the grain is cooled it is once more started on its journey, and passes by elevators to the Mill, which contains eight pairs of stones, capable of grinding 1,500 barrels daily. The meal then passes by continuous screws to the Grist Loft, where it is weighed into bags ready for mashing, and dropped into the three Mash Tuns below, the largest of which being 36 feet in diameter and 7½ feet deep. From here the liquor is drained into Coolers, and sent through the Morton’s Refrigerators, of which there are five, into the Fermenting Vats, of which there are sixteen, each with a capacity of 40,000 gallons. From these Washbacks the wash is pumped up into a Wash Charger, a large wooden vessel, holding 40,000 gallons; from here it goes by gravitation into the Wash Stills, each having a capacity of 20,000 gallons, and, after undergoing three distillations, the spirit is pumped into the Vats in the Racking Stores. Here the spirit is reduced to 25 over proof, and racked into puncheons or casks, weighed, branded, and sent to the Warehouse.

The Still Houses contain eight Pot Stills - there are no patent stills on the premises. There are five powerful engines averaging from 16 to 30 nominal horse power all the engines are models of brightness and cleanliness. There are seven boilers 30 feet long by 8 feet in diameter, and four sets of three-throw pumps; also a powerful brass pump in the Still House.

The Storage Warehouses, one of which is over 360 feet long, are capable of holding 23,000 casks, representing upwards of 1,250,000 gallons; but this is only a part of the storage capacity connected with this Distillery, for the Company own large Warehouses and vaults at Mount Brown and elsewhere capable of containing 6,000 casks. The Company also have at Mount Brown large maltings, capable of making 16,000 barrels of malt per autumn. The Kilns and Maltings at this place are most complete in their arrangements, and cover nearly as much ground as the Distillery at Thomas Street.

The works at Thomas Street cover in all seventeen acres, and extend to the Quay, crossing two streets in their progress, and it is possible to enter the building on the left-hand entrance in Thomas Street, and by means of bridges and gangways to keep almost under cover till you find yourself again at Thomas Street, having completed the circuit of this fine work. 

The Cooperage is a work of itself, covering nearly an acre of ground; here are to be seen casks in every stage of their existence, fifteen to eighteen men being continually employed in their manufacture, repairing, purifying, &c. The Stable and Cart Houses adjoin the Cooperage, and cover an equal area; here also are Smiths’, Engineers’, Fitters’, and Carpenters’ Shops. Two hundred hands are employed at the Distillery.

The water used comes from the Vartry and the Grand Canal.

The Whisky is Dublin Pot Still of the finest quality. The annual output has reached in some seasons the enormous quantity of nearly 2,000,000 gallons. Like that of the other Dublin Distilleries, however, it has been reduced considerably during the past few seasons. The Whisky is shipped to all parts of the world, the foreign exports being more particularly to Canada, the United States, and Australia, and is well known and appreciated everywhere.

2022 SLANE DISTILLERY

After Alfred’s relating of Irish history to Christ Church Cathedral, it was hard to know what to expect from my next destination. Driving south from Old Carrick Mill, I came upon a large stone fence bearing the words Slane Distillery. 

I had been looking forward to this stop for quite some time. Slane was the first blended Irish whiskey that made me stand up and take notice, but it wasn’t just the whiskey that had me interested, it was the adjoining castle. I knew nothing of its history and was excited to learn. 

When I arrived, I stopped at the closed gate and decided to snap a picture of the castle from a distance. But just as I got out of the car, another car pulled up beside me and immediately the gate opened. I snapped a quick shot and then hopped in the car and followed the other down, gawking at the beautiful scene of a castle, river, and a set of buildings which turned out to be the distillery.

My host Gary came out to greet me, but first he had to tell the people in the car ahead that they were closed. As they politely turned around and headed out, Gary opened the gate again and as the first visitor left, another came driving in. Gary had to deliver the same message. It was quite comical actually. And it showed how easily a view of a distillery and castle can draw in someone who was simply passing by. 

I had a nice chat with Gary and he let me know that before my visit to the distillery, I was going to get a real treat. A tour around the castle with its proprietor, Alex Conyngham, the Earl of Mount Charles. I tried to recall if I’d ever shaken the hand of someone with a hereditary title before. As we walked up to the castle, Alex stepped out to greet me with his two dogs at his side. It seemed somewhat surreal. But Alex’ easy going nature put me at ease right away. He invited me into the castle and invited me to hear the story of the castle through a video of his father.

That’s when I learned, the real heartbeat of this castle had little to do with rebellions, lords, or epic battles - no, this was a castle that had adopted music deep in its soul. 

It seems this castle, which had been in the family since the early 1700s was causing the family financial issues as the Troubles in Northern Ireland began spilling over into the area’s economy. Alex’s grandfather, the 7th Marquis Frederick Conyngham reached out to his son (and Alex’s father) Henry the Earl of Mount Charles who happened to be attending Harvard University at the time. The Marquis was ready to move on and decided to give his son a choice, leave Harvard and take over the Castle or it would have to be sold. Henry had a passion for the castle and made the decision to head home and save it.

A few years into his time there, he got an idea. Below the castle and on the banks of the River Boyne sat a perfect natural amphitheater - an incredible setting for a concert. Born with a rebellious spirit, and seeing the success of the Knebworth concert series in England, he felt it was time to bring music to the bend in the river. Plans were set and on an August day in 1981, nearly 20k fans made a pilgrimage to the banks of the Boyne to hear the legendary Irish band Thin Lizzy and an upstart Dublin band enjoying some success with their first album- the group was U2. The event was a big enough success that Lord Henry made the bold step of reaching out to one of his favorite bands, the legendary Rolling Stones. In the midst of the Troubles, it was a bold step inviting an English band. But they accepted. 

The appearance of the Rolling Stones legitimized Slane Castle as a top notch music venue and annual concerts would continue with the likes of David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and their biggest draw Freddie Mercury and Queen. And U2 became such friends with the Conynghams that they would take up residence in the castle for six months and recorded their album The Unforgettable Fire on-site. That perked my ears up, since that is one of my favorite albums by the group. 

Sadly though, and ironically, it would be an unforgettable fire that would gut a large portion of the castle in 1991. Lacking insurance, it would take Lord Henry and his wife ten years to get the castle back in shape with the help of continued concerts on the property, including acts like Guns ‘n’ Roses, REM, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, and Van Morrison. The success with this concert series earned Lord Henry the title of the “rock and roll aristocrat.”

While the concerts were great, the financial strife of the past made the family consider a plan of diversification. One day Alex was out walking and stopped by what was referred to as the “meeting tree,” the landmark that concert goers would use as a reference in case they were separated from their friends. It was there that Lord Henry suggested, why don’t they bring whiskey into the equation. Alex had already dreamed of a distillery and was immediately sold.

Soon Alex, Henry, and Frederick the Marquess were tasting samples of whiskey from John Teeling’s Cooley Distillery. They agreed on a blend and released Slane Castle Irish Whiskey. But just as the whiskey was gathering acclaim, John Teeling made a deal to sell Cooley to Jim Beam - and as part of the agreement, all third party arrangements for sourced whiskey had to be canceled.

But with Alex’ energy and Lord Henry’s child of the 60s rebellious spirit they agreed that the only way to solve this problem was to dig in and build an actual distillery. And the perfect location would be the horse stables. Abandoned when the Marquis had to let the staff go during the downturn during The Troubles, a lot of time, care, and investment would be needed to bring these buildings back to life.

Alex went looking for support and a Luncheon in London would change everything. It was there that he met Garvin Brown, himself an ancestor of a legendary figure George Garvin Brown, the founder of Brown-Forman. They were two family run companies and the match was perfect. The Kentucky company invested 45 million euro in turning those horse stables into a fully functioning distillery. 

As Alex ended up the Castle tour, we made our way over to meet Slane’s distiller and to tour the distillery and to a tasting.

Whiskey Lore is a production of Travel Fuels Life LLC

Production, stories, and research by Drew Hannush

If you can’t get enough whiskey history, make sure to check out my other podcast Whiskey Lore: The Interviews, where I turn the tables and let distillers, historians, authors, and distillery founders tell their stories. If you want to learn more about Slane whiskey, check out my recent interview with Alex Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles and hear the full story of this historic castle and distillery and more. That’s Whiskey Lore The Interviews.

Also keep up with the visuals from my journey across Ireland by following Whiskey Lore on Instagram and Facebook. And make sure you’re subscribed to this podcast because next week the Irish journey continues as I come face to face with a 140 year old bottle of whiskey, Alfred continues his stay in Dublin, and the first boom of illicit distilling begins, as it always does, with a tax. 

Thanks for listening! I’m your host Drew Hannush and until next time, cheers and slainte mhath!

For show notes, transcripts, and links to books and social media, head to whiskey-lore.com.