100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #24 – Smithwick’s Poker Cards (c. 1957)

Someone behind drinks ale,

And opens mussels, and croaks scraps of songs

Towards the ham-strung rafters about love.

Dirk deals the cards.

Excerpt from The Card-Players – Philip Larkin

Gaming and drinking are hardly new bedfellows, and it would be fair to say that the practice goes back many centuries if not millennia, so it was hardly a surprise that sometime in the late 1950s someone within the greater Smithwick’s brewery fold of marketing gurus had the brainwave to produce a poker game that could be used to advertise their drinks. It was at a time when many drink companies were exploring ways to brand their output and advertise their beers more in newspapers, and promote them with items such as branded glassware, beermats and other bits of ephemera. Colour printing was becoming more affordable and the use of graphics and images in newspaper advertisements was starting to become more the norm than the exception, and marketing brains were becoming more inventive in their pitching of concepts and ideas in that alleged golden age of advertising. So, it isn’t completely surprising that a brewery would go down the route of producing something a little unusual like this, a giveaway item, as a form of promotion - assuming that it was used in such a way.

The game was designed by Domas Ltd, an advertising and marketing company who also dealt with the newspaper advertisements and other marketing for Smithwick’s, and was printed by the firm of Bailey, Son & Gibson Ltd, both of whom were based in Dublin, so this is truly an Irish originated item - even if the images on the cards seem to have somewhat of an English slant? Based on the general style of the imagery and the typeface, plus the words ‘Everybody’s Drinking Smithwick’s’ on the reverse of the cards which was used in Smithwick’s advertising on the island of Ireland in the 1950s, it is from that period. The era can be narrowed down further as Domas appear to have taken over the advertising for the brewery in the second half of the decade, and the exact line-up shown by the counters was only available in Ireland at this time too, so although there are not dates on the pack it is an educated guess to state it dates from the latter half of the 1950s given the information at hand. There is also an assumption it was made specifically for the Irish market, which may not be the case of course.

As to the game itself, it comprises of 19 cards - 2 pairs of 8 different faces plus one joker - a booklet of instructions, and 24 counters showing the labels of 3 different types of beers, Smithwick’s No. 1 ale, plus their barley wine and their export ale. There are 4 different games listed in the booklet all if which seem relatively complicated, and one would think that with drink taken they would be quite a challenge! It is clearly a marketing tool aimed very much at men, which is hardly a surprise given the era we are dealing with. Some of the colour illustrations were no doubt thought of as cheeky at the time and certainly would not be tolerated nowadays. They are somewhat Gilroy-esque (the well-known Guinness illustrator) and there is something familiar about the style, although sadly the artist is not mentioned on any printed piece in the game or its packaging. (Incidentally, the illustrations in the instruction booklet clearly show the use of the flared pilsner glassware which had become the ubiquitous style used with bottled beers, as well as the standard shape used when ordering a ‘glass’ - the Irish terminology for a half-pint - of beer.) The whole game is very well designed and constructed, and they were presumably made in their 100s of not 1,000s, although they seem to be a relatively rare item now in this complete state.

-o-

But what of those ales featured on the counters and Smithwick’s beers in general in the 1950s? What do we know of them, if anything? Well, during this period these three products seem to have been the main output of the Smithwick’s company, with the Kilkenny brewery having chopped and changed its beers over the previous century or so depending on the tastes of the times, and other issues.

By far the most important and commonplace was ‘Smithwick’s No. 1 Ale,' which was predominantly a bottled product but was also available in draught form. This was a clear, golden ale - as were most Irish ales at this time - and could possibly trace its origins and popularity, at least, to the pale ale which was the mainstay of the brewery in the previous century. The travel guide writer George Measom, a visitor to the brewery in 1866, stated that there were 'two enormous pale ale vaults' in which were stored '4,000 hogsheads of ale.' Interestingly, he also mentions the malting process within the brewery and how carefully it had to be dried 'to prevent the slightest tinge or colour being imparted to the malt,' and also with regard to the boiling process he states that the coppers are uncovered 'to preserve the colour of the wort, which would be darkened by higher pressure,' so they were truly going to great lengths to keep the beer as pale as possible. It would be wrong to absolutely link this pale ale to the Smithwick’s No. 1 of almost a century later, especially as the brewery produced other beers such as what they termed Mild and Bitter ales in the latter half of the 19th century, and listed India Pale Ale, XXX, XX and X, along with various porters, toward the very end of that century. The ‘No. 1’ could be related to that XXX ale either, as that beer would certainly have been classed as such by some breweries, although XXX ales would generally be quite strong and as we shall see the No.1 ale was possibly not very alcoholic, although it may have just been weakened over time. But regardless of the nomenclature or origins - the first advertisements seem to date from the 1930s - this 1950s version of a pale ale was the breweries most popular product at this time, and it lived on for a while after the brewery changed to the Time branding for its beers in 1960. It was certainly still available in the mid-to-late sixties as advertisements show, but - sadly - is now only remembered by the ‘No.1’ printed on the bottles of modern Smithwick’s ale. A beer which it certainly is not.

That Time rebrand in 1960 also helps with our knowledge of Smithwick’s Export Ale, as this beer was rebranded as Time Ale - or Time Beer - and an advertisement for this product describes it as ‘full of golden goodness,’ which at least gives us an idea of the colour. It was presumably the weakest of the three stablemates in the Time collection, with Time Extra sounding like a stronger version of the same beer (see below), and Time Barley Wine being the strongest. Smithwick’s Export Ale only became available in Ireland in 1955 - the brewery had been exporting their beers since the middle of the 19th century - and was called ‘Smithwick’s No. 1 Export Ale’ in newspaper adverts from that year. This iteration of their export ale appears to have been available beyond these shores since 1949 before finally surfacing here.

That last product in the Time line-up can be assumed to be just a rebrand of the barley wine from the 1950s as seen on the tokens in the poker game, although that label does not appear to be as common as other designs. Whereas the previous two Time beers were served in half-pint bottles the Time barley wine came in a third of a pint version, and it is possible that this was also the case in the fifties. The beer is helpfully described in Time advertisements as ‘rich, ruby [and] heartwarming’ which gives us a colour change at last at from it pale stablemates.

Sadly, we can only guess at the strength of these beers as the Smithwick brewing records are not available to the public. In later years with the brewery wholly in the hands of Guinness, well after the end of the Time rebranding experiment and the launch of the now ubiquitous Smithwick’s Draught, the barley wine was - at 5.5% abv - surprisingly weak, and was also now available in half-pint bottles. If that was also the strength of the product in the 1950s - and there are no available records that can confirm this - then export was weaker again and No. 1 possibly the weakest? It is quite possible that 1950s and 1960s barley wine was somewhat stronger and perhaps may have weakened over the years? (This may not be the case, as a poster in a Kilkenny pub showing the prices for beers in 1962 state that a pint of Time Barley Wine could be bought for 2 shillings and 2 pence versus a pint of 'plain' Time ale at 1 shilling and 6 pence. It would be unlikely to be very strong if sold in pints, and at that price.)

There were some other Smithwick’s ales around this time, such as one called ‘Black Diamond’ which was possibly a nod to the coalmining district of Castlecomer in Kilkenny, which isn’t far from the city, plus a beer called SS, which may have stood for ‘Special Strength,’ and was the intermediate beer in the Time rebrand, where it became Time Extra.

-o-

So this poker game is more than just a piece of inconsequential, fifties brewery marketing, it is a snapshot of the general output of the Smithwick’s brewery in the middle of the 20th century, before its Time rebrand and its complete regroup around Smithwick’s Draught, the then new English-style keg ale launched in the mid-sixties that we are so familiar with in the pubs of Ireland.

This is a tangible - and relatively playable - piece of Irish brewing history.

And we certainly appear to have been playing games with Irish brands and beers ever since …

Liam K

You can read more about the Time rebrand here.

Please note, all written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source, and a link back to this post. The item featured is from the author's own collection. The game it is copyrighted and used here for educational, non-profit purposes. All sources, where mentioned, are available on request. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #7 - Time Beermats from Smithwick's Brewery (1962)

'The manufacturers of Time Beer have produced a number of new drip mats with some very amusing little designs, all based on well-known and popular Irish tunes such as ‘The Mountains of Mourne,’ ‘Come Back Paddy Reilly,’ ‘The Pride of Petravore’ and ‘Phil the Fluter’s Ball.' These Percy French melodies are as popular throughout the country as ever and it is certain that they will be known even more so now through this original idea of these manufacturers.’

The Drogheda Independent - 2nd July 1962

Beermats are a part of pub paraphernalia which are very much taken for granted these days, as the hold very little interest to most drinkers apart from their practical use in absorbing spills from overloaded pints, or for soaking away the condensation that forms on a cold glass. They also have less obvious uses such as their use in letting others know you’ll be back shortly to finish your pint if you place one on top of your glass in a pub, not to mention their extremely important use as dewobblers for tables. And as much as they are still used for marketing beer and other products and services, they really have become just a practical object stacked on the bar with the paper straws and swizzle sticks.

The history of the use of beermats in Ireland probably goes back to the early part of the 20th century in one form or another but it was only in the 1950s and 1960s that the became more commonplace in Irish pubs, where as well as being used to reinforce establish brands, they were also used to tout a plethora of new beers that were arriving on to the Irish market from home and abroad to satisfy the changing taste of the modern drinker.

And one of those beer brands was called Time.

Smithwicks – or St. Francis Abbey Brewery to give them their proper title – launched the ‘Time’ rebrand of most of their ale range in March of 1960 to coincide with their "250th" anniversary celebrations. During this upheaval their best-selling 'No. 1' pale ale would remain unchanged but their ‘Export Ale’ would become ‘Time Ale’ and their ‘SS Ale’ would become ‘Extra Time Ale.’ Their barley wine would also be rebranded in October of the same year to ‘Time Barley Wine’ and a few years later in 1963 a new lager called ‘Idea’ was launched and these five beers would form the Smithwicks’ range at that time.

The rebranding appears to have been an attempt to bring the brewery’s image into the modern world of the sixties, which was a time of huge change in Ireland and not least on the brewing side of consumerism, when many of our breweries were about to go through changes and launch new beers, and English brands - some brewed in this country - were starting to creep into public houses around the country. Phoenix with its modern image had been launched in 1956 and it was making inroads into the sales of some of the established ale brands, which - keep in mind - were relatively small to begin with compared to the volumes of the bigger porter brands.

There was a further minor attempt and modernisation around 1962 when the word ‘ale’ was replaced by ‘beer’ in advertisements, labels and other marketing material. It could be assumed that the former was seen as too old-fashioned - stuff that your grandfather drank - whereas the latter sounded fresh and modern to the trendy ears of that era. Smithwicks also had an eye on the export market so a name and branding such as this would certainly have been helpful in that endeavour, as it was easy to communicate, not to mention simple to pronounce.

There are few records remaining of what these beers looked or tasted like but advertisements from this time describe Time Ale as 'full of golden goodness', while Extra Time was 'so smooth, so mellow,' and Time Barley Wine was 'rich, ruby and heartwarming'. Time Ale itself was served in half-pint bottles and on draught, Extra Time came in half-pint bottles, and Time Barley Wine in smaller bottles again.

In 1964 Guinness announced that they had acquired 99% of the ordinary shares in Smithwicks brewery and around this time public tastes were changing from paler relatively sharper ales towards those that was darker and sweeter, and Smithwick’s Draught was created by Guinness the following year to meet this demand. This was probably driven by the introduction of Watney’s Red Barrel (first imported and then Cork-brewed in Murphy’s Lady’s Well Brewery) and other similar keg ales to this country, and with the launch of this new beer the Time branding disappeared, leaving behind just a reasonable amount of marketing baggage, beermats and labels to show that it existed for a short period in the first half of the 1960s. The Guinness controlled Smithwicks’ Brewery continued to operate in Kilkenny until 2013, when it was closed and the production of all St. Francis Abbey Brewery beers was moved from their home as part of a consolidation of their total production.*

These beermats were issued in 1962 around the time that the minor rebrand from ale to beer occurred and feature part of the lyrics of songs by Percy French combined with illustrations by Bob Fannin. They appear to have been launched in two batches with the second set of four differing from the originals by including a copyright notice for 'Keith Prowse, by arrangement with Piggott’s' instead of just a copyright for the beer brand, and also with the word ‘Printed in Germany’ now appearing under the brand. Percy French lyrics were handled by a number of publishers including Piggot & Co. in Dublin and Keith Prowse in London, hence their mention. In addition to the lyrics printed on the first batch the second are comprised of the following of French’s songs ‘McBreen’s Heifer,’ ‘Little Bridget Flynn,’ ‘Are ye Right There, Michael!’ and ‘Slattery’s Mounted Fut.’

They are quite substantial compared to modern beermats being twice as thick and around ten percent wider. There is embossing around the lines of the drawings and the logo adding to that sense of quality. and they are - obviously - similar to some of the beermats produced for the German domestic market at this time. It is curious that given the contemporary feel of much of the other marketing for the range that these seem to be more traditional in tone and content, although perhaps the cartoons were perceived as having a modern look in the sixties which is harder to gauge from this vantage point. Another set of beermats produced for the brand feature football, bowling, golf and hurling and are also printed in Germany, and they certainly have a more modern feel with a similarly very well designed and produced look. That batch were designed by Adsell Ltd. in Dublin and the Percy French/Bob Fannin range were most likely designed by the same company, as they handled much (or probably all) of the marketing and advertising for Smithwick’s around this time. There were also square beermats being produced with just the brand name which were being printed in England, as well as a round version - both of these are lighter in quality than the German made mats and may date from later in the brand's brief history. (By the way, Smithwick’s lager brand - Idea - used at least some beermats printed in Ireland.)

But this wasn't the first time these lyrics and cartoons were used by Smithwicks, as with a little detective work it can be seen that they were first published by them in a calendar in 1960 to mark that alleged 250th anniversary of the founding of the St. Francis Abbey brewery, and at roughly the same time as the range was rebranded. It contained twelve illustrations some of which were used for the beermats two years later, although the brand itself appears to get no mention in the calendar. The illustrations are all signed by Bob Fannin, whose signature is sadly missing from the actual beermats and this calendar might be the only record remaining of who drew these illustrations outside of a dusty folder in a lost filing cabinet in Kilkenny or Dublin.

William Percy French was born in Roscommon in 1854 and was a prolific writer and entertainer. He was educated in both Ireland and England, and lived in the latter for a time, as well as travelling to America and Europe to perform. He is probably much better known in Ireland than in England as most of his more famous songs are very much Irish in content, humour and language and he is probably best known for ‘The Mountains of Mourne’ and ‘Come Back Paddy Reilly’ which have been sung by many artists, the former was even covered by Don McLean in the 1970s. Percy French died in 1920 and is buried in Lancashire in England.

Limerick born Bob Fannin produced cartoons for publications such as The Irish Field and The Evening Herald and should perhaps be better known given the level of detail and expressiveness of these drawings. He died at the age of 75 in late 2000.

-o-

Given their physical qualities as well as their design, these illustrations and verses from a now defunct brand are arguably the finest looking beermats ever produced in this country. There are few if any other examples that have all the qualities that these possess, and if the business and brand history of the St. Francis Abbey Brewery had taken a different turn they might be being touted, reproduced, and exalted in the timeline of Irish brewing history. These illustrations might adorn t-shirts in shops and poster in pubs around the country, instead of falling into the large bin of discarded Irish beer history - a purged part of our brewing heritage from the early sixties that doesn’t quite fit into a prescribed and promoted timeline.

They are perhaps a fitting symbol of the Irish brewing history that we lost but which we can rediscover, champion and promote - given time, research and access to the right material.

Our brewing history isn’t dead, it sits on shelves, and in binders, drawers and cupboards - just waiting to be rediscovered.

(Here's the link to object #8)

Liam K

* Adapted from a piece on the Time brand I wrote about here, which lists any references from this section.

References:

The William Percy French Collection in Roscommon County Library

Smithwicks Calendar - De Búrca Rare Books Catalogue 130 Summer 2017

Bob Fannin obituary via The Irish Times

Further Beermat Reading:

Boak & Bailey - FAQ: When did beer mats come in?

Martyn Cornell - Beer Memorabilia published by Apple 2000 ISBN 1-84092-214-1

Please note, all written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its sources, and a link back to this post. The beermats and the attached image are the authors own and cannot be used elsewhere without the author's permission. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive.

Tales from a Kilkenny Brewery #1: 'The Cavalcade of Loaded Drays' ...

Kilkenny has always been a city of events and fairs, which is a trend that has continued right to the present day with its hosting and support of the arts, comedy and food festivals. In the 1960s and 1970s it hosted a very successful beer festival which probably paved the way for all the other events that followed in the city, but if we go back to the 19th century it was famous for its fairs, where the emphasis was mostly on the serious business of the buying and selling of livestock more so than entertainment and experiences.

The Spring Fair held in March of 1858 was such an event, where the city was thronged for a weekend with people from all over the country and further afield for the purpose of trading in farmstock. It was purported to be the largest fair ever seen in the city by the reports of the day to the point that there were complaints about lack of space to be had for both people and animals, with the latter occupying every available free spot in the city. The hotels and other accommodation were packed to bursting and the city heaved with the movement of all those cattle, sheep, pigs, horses and of course people. One would imagine that the various sounds and smells, combined with the sights and general bustle of the city, made for a unique experience!

By Monday the trading was mostly done but the city would still have been crowded and full of activity as the logistical issue of getting the livestock from the seller to the buyer began. Huge amounts of cattle and sheep were being transported on that day by various methods including four special trains put on by The Great Southern and Western Company, with another having to be sent the following day such was the volume of animals in need of finding a way to their new owners.

On such a busy day it is probable that no one paid much attention at first to a drayman and his cart leaving Edmond Smithwick’s St. Francis Well Brewery and turning left on Parliament Street, as this would have been quite a common sight for the last couple of decades or so. But that drayman was quickly followed by another, and then another, and yet another until a column of drays and horses formed a slow-moving cavalcade that worked its way through the crowds of people and livestock as it headed down what was then King Street before turning left on to Rose Inn Street and jigging right on to John’s Bridge and over the fast-flowing Nore.*

By the time the procession had stopped emerging from the archway at the brewery it was an incredible fifty-three drays long. The size of each dray is not known but if we estimate they were possibly five metres long including horses and the rig itself, and allowing for another two metres or more between drays that makes almost 400 metres of a convoy of drays loaded with ale and porter. This would mean that as the first dray was going over the bridge the last one was only just exiting the brewery.

This is must have stopped people in their tracks – literally. The newspapers of the time states that ‘sensation caused by the passage of the vast cavalcade of loaded drays through the fair was great in the extreme.’ The use of those words - ‘sensation’, ‘vast’ and ‘extreme’ - give an inkling of what a sight it must have been to behold. (Note: I must admit to taking all of this with a small grain of salt, as it seems like a huge amount drays for a brewery to have, although they may have called in favours from other establishments. The reporter - quoted above - seems to imply it was all one delivery but of course the drays might have gone back to the brewery to be loaded again. How fifty-three drays, horse and drivers would even fit inside the walls of the brewery is another issue too ...)

This enormous quantity of ale and porter was destined for the export trade via the railway station at the eastern end of John Street, and specifically a train from The Waterford and Kilkenny Company who would bring the load (probably) to the docks in Waterford and from there onwards to other ports across the sea and thirsty palates in 'foreign' inns and taverns. It would appear from reports at the time that the stock had to leave that day regardless of the fair in order to make its sailing, as time and tide indeed do not wait for man - or brewery.

As to what beer was on those drays we do not know, but at the time the brewery was selling Pale Bitter Ale, XXX and XX ale and also XX Stout Porter. The load may have been mostly their stout porter as two English newspaper advertisements of the time carry advertisements for Smithwick’s Kilkenny Stout Porter, although the Kilkenny report mentions both ale and porter.**

I can find no record of how many barrels were sent but if we calculate that the drays could have held a double stack of perhaps 6 plus 4 to make 10 Irish barrels this would make 530 Irish barrels***, which in modern terms would be about 75,599 litres or 42,960 Imperial pints.**** Indeed the reporting of the day does say that the quantity sent was ‘immense’, so although there is a huge amount of guesswork here we could be looking at those sorts of figures – but be aware again there is no record of quantity.

(For context, Guinness were exporting 848 hogsheads of porter a week around this time and relatively smaller brewers like Watkins were sending 289 - a hogshead was roughly a barrel and a half in size.*****)

But by anyone’s measurement, that long line of drays and horses piled high with ale and porter must have been hugely impressive ...

Liam K.

(Adapted from a report in The Kilkenny Moderator on the 31st of March 1858)

*This is the route I assume it would have taken but it is not reported.

**The Worcestershire Chronicle on the 7th of April 1858 and The Gloucester Journal of the 22nd of May 1858

***This is at best an educated guess but I may not be very far off in my calculation, also I have seen images of drays with anything from two to perhaps twenty barrels stacked on them so this is an average guess. There is absolutely no proof of the quantity – THIS IS NOT FACT!

****I am assuming a barrel is an old Irish Barrel by liquid volume which would be 40 Irish gallons. An old Irish Gallon is 3.566 litres so an Irish Barrel contained 142.64 litres. FYI, tierces were slightly larger and dry volume barrels were also different.

***** The Waterford Mail - Tuesday 20th April 1858

All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its sources, and a link back to this post. Newspaper image © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) from whom I have received permission to display this images on this site.

Giving it Both Barrels: 19th Century Sketches of Smithwick's & Sullivan's Kilkenny XX Porter

The history of brewing in Kilkenny is a topic I keep returning to again and again as there is such a wealth of real history to be mined in old newspapers and publications online, as well as in physical books. Although sadly, I am not aware of any publicly accessible archives for any of the breweries in the city, which is also very much the case for most of Ireland's lost breweries with a couple of notable exceptions such as Perry's in Rathdowney and Murphy's in Cork. My own hometown of Carlow also has some brewing history of course, but its beers and breweries are not as famous and never reached the successes of the two main breweries in the neighbouring city down the road, and although I am still sporadically researching the brewing history of this town - and I have amassed a sizable file about it - it is more often the case that I come across something relating to Kilkenny as far as any local-ish brewing history is concerned.

That was the case with two 19th century Irish scenes by Edmund Fitzpatrick that appeared four years apart in The Illustrated London News, and both of which I chanced upon at different times. In both cases my eyes were drawn to the casks in the corner of the illustrations and the names printed on them, names I was quite familiar with from my interest in Kilkenny's brewing history - although you would have needed to be living a very hermitic life to have never heard of Smithwick's St. Francis Abbey Brewery in this country, or further afield. Sullivan's Brewery, which was on James's Street, has been rebooted or reborn in recent years too, although its new brewery tap is on the opposites side of the river.

Edmund Fitzpatrick was and illustrator and painter who was either originally from Freshford in Kilkenny or certainly lived there for a period. According to one source he was born there 1822 and died in London in 1896 and he was certainly residing there in 1858 as he advertised in The Kilkenny Moderator in November that year that he had 'lately arrived from Paris and London' for a short stay and that he was available for commissions. (The Library of Ireland has a short but interesting biography about his life on their website here.) He has some paintings hanging in Kilkenny castle, so his finer artwork was also held in high regard it appears, which is hardly surprising given the quality and dynamism of his newspaper sketches.

He was quite prolific with his work and created many illustrations for newspapers, some of which were Kilkenny focussed so it has hardly a surprise that he was familiar with the two biggest breweries in the city, and that he decided to include them in his works. The first illustration appeared in The Illustrated London News of March 15th 1853 to accompany a piece about how St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in Ireland. It is a joyful picture of someone's home and full of interesting-looking characters and imagined stories. It also perhaps gives an insight to the dress of the day and what people drank, and what they consumed those drinks from - whiskey and porter at the very least, from stemmed glass and pewter tankards. How real or imagined it is I do not know but I quite like the picture when I first came across it and especially when I noticed the 'Smithwicks XX Porter Kilkenny' on the barrel. The accompanying text and other illustrations certainly have issues that I will not raise here, but it is just nice to see a name check for a famous local brewery.

Drowning the Shamrock on St. Patrick's Night - Drawn by E. Fitzpatrick

The second image is also from The Illustrated London News, this edition from January 24th 1857 and it shows a few travelling school masters debating various subjects. Again, it is full of wonderful characters and more importantly for us we can see a cask of 'Sullivans XX Porter Kilkenny' sitting once again in the right hand corner. And again, the accompanying text is full of 'Oirish' words but I quite like the actions and expressions here too, even if the drawing seems a little cruder and perhaps a little more hurried.

The Irish Schoolmaster - Drawn by E. Fitzpatrick

Regardless, it is good to see Mr. Fitzgerald being fair and giving equal advertising space to both of the big Kilkenny breweries! It might raise the question as to whether he was berated by the Sullivan's into including them in an illustration having used Smithwick's porter in the other one?

Of course, we cannot get too excited about these, after all it is not like the are factual records or photographs, but maybe that is not the point.

Perhaps we should just appreciate the illustrations and the recorded anecdotal history for what it is, just another way of getting the information about our lost brewing history out and findable, and in to the public eyeline - highlighting actual beers that really did exist in Kilkenny in the middle of the 19th century.

And they do say a picture is worth a thousand words ... so perhaps I need not have waffled on so much?

Liam K.

The original images and accompanying articles can be found here and here via Google Books. These images were originally posted by me on my Twitter account on the 18th of August 2019 and on the 15th of November 2021.

All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source, and a link back to this post.

Brewing History: Irish Red Ale Part III - Immigrant or Emigrant?

Well here we are at last, and in this the final part of my trilogy on Irish Red Ales, you can once again expect more questions that definitive answers, and more vagueness than actual facts, but I will certainly do my best to steer this difficult topic onwards towards a conclusion that is less of a grinding halt and more of a squeaky trundle towards a slippery patch of black ice ...

In part one of this series I dealt with the ancient records of red ale in Ireland, and part two concentrated on the complicated case for the availability of ‘red’ (amber) ales in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century which brought us rushing past the 1950s and now lands us squarely in the 1960s, where Irish brewing was going through a revolution with regard to drinking habits, accompanied by an onslaught of new brands all vying for the attention of the modern, trendy beer drinker. Bright lights, bright bars and bright-ish beers were what a large percentage of younger people craved and wanted.

Of course the 60s were a decade of change in Ireland on many fronts but relevant to our story are those changing tastes of the young (and not so young), fickle Irish beer consumer. Lagers and imported ale brands pushed by modern marketing techniques and clever wording began to influence what was being drunk in both pubs and at home. Our brewing heritage was also being 'consolidated' as a certain brewery flexed its stout muscles and wrapped its arms around most of the smaller Irish brands and breweries that were unable to compete with the bigger domestic breweries or deal with the influx of foreign brands and brewing companies that arrived on our shores in this period.

And so, with practically all of the major domestic ale brands now in Guinness’s warm and all-encompassing embrace, that behemoth of Irish brewing decided to bring the fight for the small-but-growing ale market in Ireland to the frontline of the pub countertop and to repel the assault of the English kegged ale brands that were making relatively large noise in the marketplace. (They were to have a second battle on the lager front but that is a story for a different post.)

And it is from this point that our story continues with a tight focus on a certain so-called Irish Red Ale …

If you ask anyone within these shores to name an Irish red ale almost all will say ‘Oh, Smithwick’s of course!’, but the curious thing is that Smithwick’s Draught seems to have never branded or advertised itself as a red ale - in print at least - until sometime after it launched its Pale and Blonde ales, so within the last decade or so. The reason for this was of course because ‘Irish Red Ales’ as a term did not really exist in the vocabulary of Irish beer drinkers until the early to mid-1990s at a push, as far as I am aware, and even then it was not a well-known term outside certain circles. That is not to say that reddish coloured ales did not exist in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, as they clearly did, but they were just called ales or - at a real push - Irish ales or 'Traditional' ales from what I can see from advertisement, labels, and beer mats.

But let us go back to the turmoil of the 1960s that I mentioned above, and to a time just after Guinness had finally taken over Smithwick’s completely in the mid-sixties and it had launched Smithwick’s Draught as a new brand in 1966/67 along with a bottled version called Smithwick’s ‘D’. This just after the period when most of the Smithwick’s beers had been rebranded as Time ales. Smithwick’s No. 1 ale seems to have survived that rebranding, and indeed after the bold experiment that was Time was brought to an end it was being promoted quite heavily in bottle only in newspapers during this period of the mid-sixties, with advertisements promoting its ‘rich golden colour’ by the way! Considering that ‘No. 1’ was an award-winning ale that had survived from at least the early 20th century it is perhaps a little surprising that this ale was not used as a launching pad for Smithwick’s Draught and that instead Guinness appear to have gone for a completely new beer, not least in colour. So why invent this new amber-ish coloured ale instead of a rich golden one? I do not know the actual reason of course but I believe there is more than just one reason for this decision...

The first issue is that Guinness & Co., of course, already had in its stable a successfully marketed, bestselling, and attractive ‘bright’ pale ale in Phoenix, which had been launched the previous decade and was doing very well domestically at this time in keg and bottle. Phoenix had already taken sales from Smithwick’s No. 1 in the past so it would make little sense to pitch one pale ale against the other, as it would have meant stagnant revenues and a pointless war amongst themselves. What may also be relevant if that Beamish & Crawford launched Celebration Ale - another ‘bright’ beer - in early 1966 and that was enough competition for Phoenix. (Perry’s ale still existed too, as did Macardles of course, bot controlled by Guinness but perhaps neither brand merited a rebrand at this time - Perry’s at this point was just an occasionally available draught ale.)

Secondly, they saw the real enemy as the English brands and breweries that were looking long and hard at the Irish market - but in particular Watney’s Red Barrel which was making serious inroads¹ into kegged ale sales in Ireland and was being heavily advertised from 1964, and especially so when it began being brewed in Lady’s Well Brewery in Cork - then owned by Watney Mann - in mid-1966. Red Barrel was not 'red' of course, although what appears to be a publicity shot of a tankard of the ale in ‘The Murphy Story’ certainly shows it as ‘red’ as modern Smithwicks.¹ There may also have been a subliminal perception that it was somewhat darker than it actually was given its name. Having said that, Boak & Bailey’s post on Red Barrel show a dark golden(?) beer when it was rebrewed, and the brewing records shown in their post states it was 27 EBC (Or maybe 24 EBC in Ron Pattinson’s linked-to version within their post), so approaching amber in colour perhaps. (Michael Jackson's Beer Companion says that Smithwick's was 29 EBC by the way.) More proof of its darkish colour is in the replies to that post, where Gary Gillman from Beer et seq. flags a video that clearly show Red Barrell being poured in the 60s and it is indeed quite an amber colour very like Smithwick's Draught's shade in this advertisement. It was also moderately hopped at 30-32 IBU and was 3.8% ABV according to that post, so certainly not a dissimilar beer to what we believe Smithwick was when launched, if perhaps a little more bitter and (perhaps) a little less 'red'. It is worth noting too that other advertisements from this period such as the one flagged above appear to show Smithwick's Draught slightly paler than today’s version, and I am assuming it might have gone through one or more changes or tweaks in the interim - although I have no proof of that and images, and especially those from publicity material, can be notoriously unreliable but I am not sure if there was a huge difference between Red Barrel and Smithwick's colour-wise at launch

I have very little doubt that Red Barrel was Guinness's target, and a darker coloured Irish keg ale with a good provenance suited their portfolio too, plus it distanced Smithwick's Draught from Phoenix. Also, it might be no coincidence that just like Time ale before them they used a barrel or keg as their pump font, as perhaps a dig at the little red barrel that Watney’s used for their ale font, albeit Smithwick’s version was white and more stylised. (Intriguingly there was an alcohol free version of Smithwick's made in the 80s or 90s I believe - I have undated labels - that was sold as Smithwick's AFB - alcohol free bitter!)

A report on Smithwick’s ‘275th’ anniversary in The Kilkenny People in 1985, admittedly 20 years after the launch of its kegged ale states that ‘public taste […] for ale had begun to change and a demand for a darker, sweeter ale became apparent late in 1965. Smithwick’s draught keg was developed therefore to meet demand.’ So this also seems to rule out the possibility that Smithwick's Draught was a rebrew of an older XX ale or similar from Smithwick's wonderful repertoire of ales from the 19th and early 20th century, more is the pity, and seems to show that they were indeed mimicking in a way, another kegged ale that was selling well at the time - Red Barrel. (Incidentally, these few sentences in an editorial advertisement no doubt approved by the company, blows a large and gaping hole in the Smithwick’s brand’s current - and ridiculous - assertion that their beer has been going since 1710!)

What is certain is that Guinness desperately needed a ‘new’ keg ale to compete with newcomers and that the direction they chose to go was a success, as they soon made progress in the Irish ale market to the point that in a couple of years¹ they were ahead of all competitors - including Phoenix by the way - although they would be soon challenged and pushed by Beamish & Crawford brewed Bass on its introduction in 1968 /69.²

But how or when did Smithwick's become known as an Irish red ale in Ireland? As I mentioned earlier, I think it was only since the last rebrand that included the blonde and the pale, so that is just in the last few year - although I am not quite sure I believe that myself even though I can find no evidence in advertisement and bottle labels to the contrary. It may have been marketed as a red ale on foreign shores before that time but apart from it being lumped in with other ‘red’ ales in newspaper reports in the late nineties and editorials I cannot see it branded as such.

But its nitrogenated distant cousin Kilkenny Ale, certainly was…

Kilkenny was launched by Guinness first in Germany in 1987 and was later released on the Irish public in 1995, as Guinness no doubt felt that Caffrey’s ale was trying to sneak into the market with its nitro ale. The export version of Kilkenny was 5% abv and the Irish version was a little weaker at 4.3%, but it is important to point out that the kegged version was not just a nitrogenated version of Smithwick’s according to any sources I can see in newspaper reports, it was a new formulation to piggyback on the success of the international success of Killian’s Red Ale in my opinion. (Killian’s Red was the subject of a great deep dive by Martyn Cornell, which I have posted a link to at the end of my post.) The bottle export version was also 5% and presumably not nitrogenated in any way and Kilkenny was certainly marketed and mentioned as a red ale in most, if not all, markets. (It is currently sold in Ireland as an Irish Cream Ale - certainly a term that did not exist here until very recently either - and is 4.3% abv, which suggests a recipe change since its original German launch.)

One curious mention I found was for the launch in Ireland in 1993 of a 5% red coloured ale called ‘1710 Export’ in bottle. A mention in the Evening Herald’s ‘The Diary’ - a social gossip column - in November mentions the beer and states that Guinness’s Smithwick’s marketing manager said that it ‘was not just Smithwick's with a fancy new image “It’s based on and American red beer recipe” … “it’s a totally new product.”’ A smoking gun you say...?

Am I the only person who thinks that this may have been a bottled version of Kilkenny ale, which was being brewed in Kilkenny for export at this time? Why would Guinness develop another 5% export red beer when they already had one being brewed in the same brewery? I can find very little more information on this product but if it is not export Kilkenny then and if the quote is to be believed, it shows that Guinness via the Smithwick’s marketing wing was looking into replicating and improving on certain American red beers at this time, or at least one being sold there as an Irish Red Ale. If '1710 Export' was Kilkenny ale being trial launched on the public then the above quote certainly highlights its actual original provenance, and that if far from these shores. 

So, the final iteration of ‘Irish Red Ale’ did not really originate here at all but in America and other foreign markets, although a reddish ale did exist, in Smithwick’s Draught, it was never known as such here. I am not sure where the other traditional ‘red’ that is Macardles ale fits into this colour-wise or otherwise - it is possible it morphed into a darker ale sometime in the 60s or early 70s, like Phoenix may have done at a later date, but it was marketed as a 'Traditional Ale'. (Another ale, brewed for export in Dundalk by Guinness, called Twyford was marketed as an ‘Amber’ ale sometime in the 80s I think.)

The other big culprits in this whole red ale saga are homebrewers, and microbrewers who lifted the term as it applied to international ‘Irish Red Ales’ and made it into a believable style, that was then reimported back into Ireland under that name by the early batch of Irish microbreweries aided and abetted by other macrobrewed versions like Murphy’s Red Ale launched in Germany first in 1995 and Beamish Red which was launched in England the following year.

Suddenly we were swamped in red ales by name and style, apart from as I have mentioned, the one ale that most people think of as a red ale - Smithwick's - which makes me wonder why I have spent so long discussing it!

And yes, I am aware it is an Irish ale that is red...

So it looks to me like this age of red ales had no real, provable connection with the two previous eras of red/amber ales apart from the obvious one of the actual colour. There is most probably a connection between Kilkenny Ale and Killian's Red and therefore at a push that Enniscorthy Ruby Ale allegedly brewed up to 1956, and that may have some connection with the older amber ales of the previous centuries but again I can find no proof - and of course they would have been completely different formulas and recipes, unless some of them just coincidentally happened to taste very similar - but we will probably never know that …

That last point brings me towards the conclusion of what has turned out to be quite an interesting - in a niche way and relatively speaking - if convoluted journey in Irish red Ale, and towards an important question that I mentioned in the last post.

Does any of this really matter? Is any of this significant in any way?

Personally the answer is yes, as the importance for me lies in the research and the recording of the facts - with some amount of conjecture admittedly - that I have put into these posts. For too long we have let the marketing gurus of Irish breweries twist the facts to suit their flawed narrative, It is high time we set the record straight on as much of Irish brewing history as we can - and many have been doing this a lot longer than me I must add.

There are huge gaping holes in this incomplete history that I cannot currently fill that may bridge the gaps between centuries, styles, and recipes that I may discover in the future, and I am quite sure that this is a subject I will return to time and time again. If and when I come across new information then my hope is that these posts will evolve in time and perhaps my conclusions and opinions will change give new information.

But for now, I am happy to reiterate that there is no link between the three Irish Red Ale eras, although a red coloured ale of sorts probably existed in all of these times.

I am also happy to repeat what many knew already, which is that Irish Red Ales (in capital letters like that) as a moniker for a group of similar-ish beers is a very new term.

But I am most happy to report that the same group of beers brewed by some of the many microbreweries on the planet are one of my favourite styles, so let us not fixate too much on the subject of labels and just drink and brew more red ales, although I fear it is too late to stem the arguments - and also that I might just have made things worse...

Cheers!

(There is an epilogue of sorts to these posts here ...)

Liam

(Martyn Cornell's Killian's Red Ale article I mentioned above is here.)

All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without my permission, full credit to its source, and a link back to this post. References to newspaper is available via email or DM to me. The image at the top of the post is my own.

¹ Chapter 9 of The Murphy Story by Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil & Donal Ó Drisceoil

² Beamish & Crawford - the History of an Irish Brewery by Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil & Donal Ó Drisceoil

Please let me know of any errors you see in this piece and I will do my best to rectify them - or argue my case ...

Brewing History: Some Notes on Pre-Twentieth Century Kilkenny Breweries

From 'The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway' - 1866

[Revised & Expanded - May 2025]

The early brewing history of Ireland is a murky place to visit, especially when it comes to trying to pinpoint the exact position of the breweries and the names of the brewers that operated in any give town. Even finding a mention of their very existence is a tricky job until we get to the era of commercial directories, better record keeping, accurate maps, and - most importantly - the archived content of newspapers. Even after that point the real history and development of breweries can be difficult to track, especially beyond The Pale where much of our brewing history and the actual records of the breweries have become lost or locked out of sight in the many brewery closures and takeovers that occurred over the centuries.

Kilkenny's brewing history suffers from similar issues in one way but is somewhat different in another, as much of that history is difficult to clearly see due to being muddied by decades of marketing spiel which has been repeated and reprinted over the years - ironically - by those business which survived.

But there are a couple of helpful - although not primary - sources that can be used in trying to track down the historic commercial breweries of Kilkenny. The first is ‘The Brewing Industry in Kilkenny’ by T. B. Halpin which was published in the ‘Old Kilkenny Review’ in 1989. The second is the ‘Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 10, Kilkenny’ by John Bradley, who references Halpin's article quite often in his own work. Along with these two excellent sources we have other information from both online resources and archived papers which give some interesting insights into brewing in the city in the 18^th and 19^th century. These are backed up by various commercial directories of the time, where many similar names crop up over the years, often in different locations which adds to the headache of unravelling who brewed where in the city. We also need to be careful with some references, as malt houses can confused with actual breweries by some historians - both then and now. These are often separate entities although both can coexist on the same site of course. When quoting names, it is also worth mentioning that the lessor, lessee and the actual brewer in these establishments were quite often different people, which adds yet another layer of complexity to any research into names associated with any potential brewery sites.

-o-

A snapshot of the ebb and flow of breweries is given by Bradley as:

In 1787 there were ten breweries in the city, by 1824 the number had declined to five, and in 1837 it had fallen to four. There was evidently a flurry of activity in the years immediately following because by 1839 the number had increased to eight, but the expansion was short-lived. In 1841 there were five breweries and by 1856 there were only two — St Francis' Abbey (Smithwicks) and James's Street (Sullivans).¹

The earliest reference for a brewery location is on Pudding Lane in 1660, and the earliest mention of a named brewer is for a Miles Lyons in an unknown location in 1691 but the earliest mention by name and location is James’s Street Brewery established by a person named Archdeakin in 1702¹, and Bradley suggests there was brewing on this site before this date. (Some years later a Mathias Archdekin[sic] occupied a brewery and Distillery near Blackmill up until 1821⁴ which I have not seen mentioned elsewhere.) The brewery on James's Street appears to have passed through different hands - A John Hennessy was a brewer on this street at least in 1788³ - before becoming vacant in 1790. It was purchased and reopened by William Sullivan and William Loughnane in 1810⁴. 'Messrs. Sullivans Brewery' is mentioned in a newspaper article in March 1815¹³ when a fire broke out in the malt house there. (Indeed a portion of the brewery was destroyed by fire in October 1880¹⁴ while the funeral was taking place of the then owner James Sullivan's brother Francis - grandsons of William and sons of Richard Sullivan M.P.) The company - which employed 150 people - actually consisted of two breweries and a bottling store for mineral water and soft drinks when a new brewery was completed not far from the original site in June 1877¹⁵, the fire three years later destroyed part of the old brewery, not this new premises. It appears to have stayed in the Sullivan family - albeit after becoming a limited company in 1903 - until it finally closed 1919, after being taken over by the rival Smithwick’s brewery and closed with the employees receiving 'a fortnight's notice that their services will be dispensed with.' according to one newspaper¹⁷, with parts of the premises being subsequently used as a maltings by Smithwicks⁴. Unfortunately, most of the site is now a carpark for Market Cross Shopping Centre, although I found a c.1946 photo of the ivy-covered entrance to the brewery in Halpin’s article and online here with another view here. This entrance appears to have been built in 1896 when James's Street itself was widened and this gateway built¹⁶.

An interesting aside to the actual brewing process, which helps to point to all the auxiliary jobs associated with breweries that are rarely considered, is that in 1897⁶ only Sullivan’s were using solely local cut corks to bottle their beers, Smithwick’s used a mix imported and locally made ones.

Advertisements like this one from 1895⁷ show that Sullivan’s were brewing a pale butt, a double stout, sparkling ales and hop bitters as well as manufacturing and bottling Mineral waters at this time, and note the plural 'breweries'. We can be relatively sure that they were brewing more than just these styles over the years too.

Here is another from The Kilkenny City and County Directory and Guide from 1884:

---

Curiously there is also a mention of a Hibernian Anchor Brewery¹⁸ on James’s Street in 1859 which Bradley suggests may be the same site as Sullivan’s Brewery, and I now believe it was where Sullivan's built their new brewery. The Anchor brewery was owned by a T. Dunphy and Son and were brewing 'superior porter and ales' ¹⁹ at this time. There is a George Reade brewing in James' Place in 1839 so perhaps there is some confusion over sites, or the names of the actual brewers working in the breweries owned by others, which - as mentioned - is often the case in brewing history.

-o-

The biggest mover and shaker in Kilkenny brewing was started by Edmund Smithwick who opened St. Francis Abbey Brewery around 1827 after leasing the site of Bren(n)an’s distillery in that year. (Just to note that Brennan is a surname that crops up repeatedly in the names of brewers/distillers in the various commercial directories – although admittedly it if a very common local name.) The site is listed as a distillery at St. Francis’s Abbey run by Patrick Brenan[sic] in Pigot’s Directory of 1824, and the following year he was producing 26,000 gallons of spirit according to custom and excise reports for the period. An advertisement for its letting at this time clearly say it is a distillery that could be converted into a brewery⁸. Edmund is listed as a grocery and a wine merchants in Pigot’s also in 1824 and was in partnership with and Owen C. O’Callaghan - this partnership was dissolved in July 1827 along with a similar partnership for a corn, flour and boulting business⁹, so his commercial interests were extensive - as were his fathers - but there appears to be no mention of brewing until after the leasing of the distillery site.

As mentioned, the site was only leased by Edmund in 1827, here is a note of the sale of that lease by Dudley Brennan son of the Michael Brennan above in 1867 via a solicitor's journal. The name William Archebald seems to be the earliest one connected to this lease.

So if there was any commercial ale brewing on the site before this time there is no reliable record of it (which means just that of course), although Halpin – who worked in Smithwick’s - suggests there may have been brewing for personal consumption on or near this site by an ancestor of Edmund - John Smithwick - when he was in partnership with a Richard Cole. [In fact, Cole's site was nowhere near the St. Francis Abbey, it was near the Black Abbey and whose rough location can be seen in a more detailed post referenced below.] A messy article celebrating the brewery’s 275^th anniversary¹⁰ mentions first brewing dates of both 1706 and 1710 as well as mentioning a free farm grant for a brewery and distillery close to the brewery site given to the above-mentioned Cole. Curiously and article in the same paper 25 years before states that the firm (not brewery) of Smithwick’s was established in 1710 at the same time that Cole established a brewery, although as mentioned this seems to have been a brewery for household consumption if it existed. Any reliable articles I have come across state there is little evidence of beer brewing on the site prior to 1827 and some even point out that the site's connection with the Smithwick’s family was broken with the death of John anyway.¹¹ There is a story that the Smithwick’s could not officially declare their interest in the brewery prior to Catholic Emancipation due to Catholics not being allowed to own businesses, but it does not explain why Edmund, who owned a business in 1824 with O'Callaghan as we can see above, could not have put his name in directories or elsewhere at this time as a brewery owner with a different partner if such was the case? A better claim may be that the Smithwick family were in business in Kilkenny from 1710 but - perhaps - not always in brewing ... maybe others can add more factual information to this. [Please see the link at the end of this section of the article regarding the Smithwick's brewery.]

George Measom in ‘The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway’ mentions a visit to Edmond Smithwick’s brewery in 1866 where he sings the praises of the beer and the brewery while giving a nice description of the premises and supplying an excellent illustration of the site, which I have used at the start of this post. Interestingly he gives the date the brewery was established as 1828, presumably with the brewery's blessing at that time...

Anyhow, in 1897 Smithwick’s were brewing stouts and mild and bitter ales as well as an East India pale ale and a dinner ale¹², and like Sullivan’s they also bottled mineral waters.

Here is another advertisement from The Kilkenny City and County Directory and Guide from 1884 where they are showing off their depots both in Ireland and overseas:

It is probably worth noting too that the Smithwick family do not seem to have owned the abbey itself until quite late on in their story, as according to George Henry Bassett in The Kilkenny City and County Directory and Guide:

The outlook from it is into the yard of Messrs E Smithwick and Sons St Francis Abbey Brewery. In this yard many tablets originally belonging to the Abbey are set into the walls. The Abbey itself with a very choice fruit garden and cottage was sold a few years ago for 600 to the late Mr William Morrissey hardware merchant Mrs Mary Morrissey his widow is now in possession. She has had the floor of the chancel laid with a carpet of living green and takes great comfort in her proprietorship.

So it appears that in 1884 it was not owned by the brewery itself, nor was it part of it by my reading of the above, and indeed in a meeting of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland in 1868 there was concern for the condition of the tower and the following was said:

The ruins of the Abbey including the tower were possessed by a person who had not the means of doing anything to preserve them. Although they adjoined the Brewery of the Messrs Smithwick, unfortunately they did not belong to those gentlemen - if they did, no subscription would have been thought of, for the work would have been done at once without assistance from any other source. The Messrs Smithwick had most liberally headed the subscription list with a donation of £10, and would afford any facility and assistance in their power.

So, generous indeed but not the owner of the abbey...

(The Smithwick's brewery was closed by its then owners Guinness in 2013 with production moved to Dublin.)

[It is worth reading this post for further and expanded information on Smithwick's brewery and the claims regarding its founding date and the age of the current beers brands.]

-o-

There were plenty of other breweries in the city of course, such as St Mary's Brewery, Coal Market (now Parliament Street) ran by Robert Terry & Sons which he bought around 1862 and was up for sale again just two years later in 1864. What is interesting about this is that it lists all of the equipment in the brewery at the time of sale, such as an eight-horsepower steam engine, an O’Reilly’s large refrigerator, a sky cooler and fermenting squares, not to mention 600 casks.

The brewery was being sold by a Thomas Murphy in 1861 under the same name, having been recently renovated²⁰. As a curious aside James Stephens, a noted republican and founding member of the IRB, was thought to be hiding in the remains of the brewery in 1866 while on the run from the authorities^21. The brewery dated back to at least 1828, having been ran by a John Meighan until it was put up for sale in 1839²¹. 

There was also a substantial brewery at Newgate being sold as a going concern in 1837, which 'with an additional fermenting Tun' would be capable of producing 10,000 barrels a year²². An Edward Smith and James Innes are brewing 'Ales and Beer' there later in the year. It is called the New-Street Brewery at that time but is most likely the same location²⁶. The partnership was dissolved early the following year, with Smith carrying on the business on his own thereafter²⁷.

John Street also had a brewery at one time, where a Denis Cormack²⁴ - a surname that appears relatively often in connection with brewing or distilling - was in trouble for letting what was once a brewery, but had been converted into a distillery by this point, end up in a state of severe disrepair. It was described as a 'brewhouse, malthouse, mill and mill-race' when it was leased to a Henry McCreery and John Kinchela in 1786 by an Anthony Blunt's widow before eventually coming into the hands of Cormack via his father of the same name. A brewery in the possession of a Alexander Gray along with a malthouse was being let in 1823 near this location but may not have been the same premises²⁵.

There was an 'Old Brewery' in Irishtown being let in 1812 that had been in the possession of one William Brandish up until late that year, when he passed away²⁸.

Incidentally, according to Halpin⁴ there is a Kilkenny connection with two famous Dublin brewery names as John Brennan, a brewer in partnership with a Cormick⁵ in Pennyfeather Lane, who moved to Dublin when their brewery closed in 1841 and became manager in O’Connell’s Brewery. His son Charles later bought the business and it became the Phoenix Brewery.

Many of these premises can be seen on the older OSI maps for those who need to pinpoint them exactly, and this is my no means a complete or exhaustive list, but it gives a good indication of the level of brewing in the city in the past.

Liam K.

(I should point out that I am not a Kilkenny local and have relied purely on sources referenced above and cited below for this post, nor am I a historian so I would welcome clarification of any the issues, dates or comments made here. Please feel free to read any of the articles, newspaper clippings and other sources I reference and get back to me on any points.)

(Expanded 7/1/2020 & again on 27/10/22 & yet again on 14/5/2025)

All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without full credit to its source and a link back to this post. Research was via my local library, The British Newspaper Archive, Google Books and other sources mentioned. PLEASE DON'T STEAL THIS CONTENT!

References:

¹ John Bradley, Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 10, Kilkenny. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 2000 (www.ihta.ie), text, page 8.

² Finn’s Leinster Journal – 17/11/1821

³ Lucas’ Commercial Directory

⁴ ‘The Brewing Industry in Kilkenny’, T. B. Halpin, Old Kilkenny Review 1989, pages 583-591

⁵ Shearman’s Commercial Directory

⁶ Kilkenny People – 2/10/1897

⁷ Kilkenny People – 9/11/1895

⁸ Finn’s Leinster Journal – 20/1/1827

⁹ Finn’s Leinster Journal – 7/7/1827

¹⁰ Kilkenny People – 27/9/1985

¹¹ DAR - Section 2 Understanding the site History and Chronology - Draft Masterplan for Abbey Creative Quarter (Former Smithwick’s Brewery and Bateman Quay/Market Yard area)

¹² The Tuam Herald - 10/7/1897

¹³ Saunders's News-Letter - Thursday 9th of March 1815

¹⁴ Kilkenny Moderator - Wednesday 27th of October 1880

¹⁵ Freeman's Journal - Thursday 7th of June 1877

¹⁶ Kilkenny Moderator - Saturday 3rd of October 1896

¹⁷ Carlow Sentinel - Saturday 25th of October 1919

¹⁸ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 9th of April 1859

¹⁹ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 16th of April 1859

²⁰ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Wednesday 6th of February 1861

²¹ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Wednesday 10th of January 1866

²² Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 8th of June 1839

²³ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 11th of March 1837

²⁴ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 1st of August 1846

²⁵ Dublin Evening Post - Saturday 30th of August 1823

²⁶ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Wednesday 27th of September 1837

²⁷ Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Wednesday 10th of January 1838

²⁸ Kilkenny Journal and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser - Saturday 9th of May 1964