Beer Myths on Beer Mats? A Closer Look at the Legendary Marketing of Smithwick's and Kilkenny Ales

There are two much-captured street views in the extremely photogenic city of Kilkenny, one is the view up the steps on St. Mary’s Lane that frames the same-named church, while the other is down a cobblestone alley off Parliament Street that leads to a wide-doored archway over which are, in raised red lettering, the words, ‘E. Smithwick & Sons Limited.’ The other commonality between these two views is that both lead to places of worship of a sort for many pilgrims – or more accurately tourists these days - as St. Mary’s now houses the Medieval Mile Museum and the latter what was a world-famous brewery.

Both are of historic importance but the Smithwick's brewery - or the St. Francis Abbey Brewery to give it its proper name - is an establishment that I am mildly obsessed with for a number of reasons. It was the last of the great local (to me) breweries to close its doors; it was a huge employer for over the years to the people of Kilkenny; it was the originator of what is probably the first great Irish festival the Kilkenny Beer Festival in the 1960s, and as early as the 19th century its beers were celebrated beyond these shores and especially so in England. I could go on but suffice to say it brought wealth, pride, and recognition to the smallest city in Ireland and rightly deserves to be remembered, lauded and revered for the huge impact it left on Irish brewing history.

But is there a nagging issue, a grey murkiness that muddies its history, which means that the brewery has lost more than it has gained in the promotion of ‘Brand Smithwicks’ and becoming for the most part a single product within the portfolio of a much larger global company? This is a subject I have written and commented about before, both in a short history on brewing in Kilkenny and in a piece on the dubious history of Irish Red Ale, but I have never explored these legends one by one, so here I hope to do just that. I have picked three stories from Smithwick’s - and Kilkenny ale’s - marketing that come up in much of the advertising for these two brands, and which are used on their promotional material and advertisements.

Any history has its seeds of truth but unfortunately when marketing and monetary gain are added to the mix it can often lead to the blurring, inventing and erasing of history in order to create a marketable narrative, but is that the case with Smithwick’s and Kilkenny ales?

I will let you decide ...

Legend #1 - The Brewery was Founded on the site of St. Francis Abbey

Here is the back of an undated 'Kilkenny Irish Beer' beer mat where it says:

'Kilkenny Irish beer is brewed in the famous Smithwick’s Brewery. Founded in 1710 on the site of St. Francis’ Abbey, the brewery is set amidst the rolling green hills of Kilkenny. The special beer is made from only the finest natural ingredients and brewed to the highest of traditional standards.'

Ignoring that 1710 date for now plus the fact that the brewery was always in extremely urban surroundings with few if any 'rolling green hills' even visible from the site, we will focus on the admittedly loose implication that the brewery was founded on the actual site of the abbey building - an image that is often used with the Kilkenny brand, and a link that is used in the advertisements for Smithwick’s too. (Incidentally, as I have discussed previously in that article on red ales, Kilkenny beer was launched as a new beer in 1987 and was not available in Ireland until 1995 so its heritage has no real historical age. It was developed as a reaction to other Irish-touted beers in the late 1980s.)

The abbey building itself is not mentioned on the lease description from 1867, or when the site was sold in 1827 (both of these can be seen or accessed via that Kilkenny brewing history article), and in the 1868 Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland report concerning the condition of the tower it states that:

'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.'

It was both magnanimous and logical that the Smithwick's family would assist in the upkeep and repair of the abbey but they clearly did not own it at this point.

Indeed the abbey building was up for sale in 1880 as can be seen in an advertisement in The Kilkenny Moderator on the 15th September 1880 which states:

CITY OF KILKENNY

AUCTION OF VALUABLE FREEHOLD PROPERTY AND FRUIT GARDEN.

MESSRS. McCREERY BROTHERS have received instructions from Mrs. Hayes to Sell by Public Auction. in one Lot, on WEDNESDAY. 22nd SEPTEMBER, 1880, At the City Court House, Kilkenny. at 12 o'clock, noon, Her Interest (Freehold) in the Dwelling House and Premiers, known as St. Francis' Abbey and Gardens. situate in the Parish of St. Mary's and City of Kilkenny (adjoining Messrs. Smithwick's Brewery). 

We can again see that it was adjoining and not part of the brewery at this point.

It is also worth quoting George Henry Bassett in The Kilkenny City and County Directory and Guide from 1884 states that:

'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.'

So although it was called ‘The St. Francis Abbey Brewery’ (which just followed on from the same named distillery) it was originally situated beside the abbey building but not part of it. There may have been a portion of it leased by the brewery of course but it certainly was not part of the property as such at this time, although the cooperage may have extended right up to the knave of the abbey as mentioned my George Measom in his guidebook in 1866 (More on this later). In other words the walls of the abbey building may have been used as the outer walls of some of the brewery structures.

The Kilkenny Moderator from Saturday 19th of May 1894 mentions some archaeologists visiting 'places of archaeological and antiquarian interest in the city, including St. Francis' Abbey, now [my emphasis] portion of the premises by the great Brewery establishment of Messrs. E. Smithwick & Sons' and in the same newspaper on the 6th of September 1902 in an article about the abbey it states that:

'The ruins of Francis Abbey, standing in an orchard the property of Mr. George Stallard, and adjoining the premises of the sell-known brewery, the property of Messrs E. Smithwick and sons, Ltd.'

Although three days previously they had printed the same article, but stating that the abbey was inside the Smithwick's property. Whether this was an error corrected by the later publication or not I do not know, or if it was around this time that the existing abbey structure finally came into the hands of the Smithwick's business. It certainly appears to be in the possession of the brewery by 1907 as when talking about the abbey in Journal of the Irish Memorials Association of that year a Colonel White states that 'it is now a store in Mr. Smithwick's Brewery.'

One of the best sources for Kilkenny history is the Irish Historic Town Atlas for the city, and one of its maps for c. 1842 (based on the OSI maps) clearly show a starch manufacturer abutting the walls of the abbey building, with the brewery itself to the south of that business. That enterprise may have been part of the general Smithwick's business – I am unsure – but it served a different purpose to brewing. My contention would be that the brewery spread north over the course of the 19th century and into the 20th to eventually take over the whole site to where the Breagh river meets the Nore, the footprint it had when the brewery closed in 2013.

For fairness and clarity I must point out that in ‘Kilkenny and its Vicinity’ published by Browne & Nolan in 1851 and writing about the condition of the abbey, and commenting on how it was now being used as a ball alley, says that 'parts of the building form a portion of Mr. Smithwick's Brewery establishment,' although my interpretation of that is as I have already stated, that some of the walls form the boundary of the property rather than them being within the site itself, indeed I came across a mention in the Historic Environment Viewer for the site of the brewery regarding the removing of a cooperage structure that they had built up against the abbey itself. Also for balance yet again, in The Builder Vol.36 from 1878 there is a mention of 'the ruins of St. Francis Abbey in Smithwick's brewery' but I believe this was just an assumption made by people getting a general tour of Kilkenny.

So was the brewery founded on the actual site of the existing abbey building? I can find no verifiable evidence that the abbey was in Smithwick's ownership or occupation until around 1900, although the term 'site of' is open to the interpretation of being somewhere close to the abbey itself (Even the distillery of Patrick Brennan that became the brewery is mentioned as being at St. Francis Abbey in 1824 - more on this below) but the implication in some of the marketing could be interpreted in a way that implies the extant abbey building has been part of the brewery for centuries. It is possible and indeed likely that the grounds of the original general abbey site - and the other buildings and land that no doubt existed around the building - may have become home to the brewery site, but that much-advertised building has no verifiable ancient historic connection to the brewing of any Smithwick's beer. If what is meant by some of the marketing is that the brewery was situated on the general abbey environs then that may indeed be accurate.

It is a grey area in some ways but crystal clear in others, depending on the interpretation of the narrative.

Legend #2 – That Smithwick’s ale was first brewed in 1710

There are round fish-eye discs attached to the front of many pubs - in Kilkenny anyhow - that proclaim:

SMITHWICK'S

First brewed in Kilkenny in 1710

Still enjoyed at [pub's name] in 2010

There are also beer mats that proudly state 'Superior Irish Ale since 1710' or sometimes something as definitive sounding as 'Over 300 years ago in 1710, John Smithwick began brewing his famous ale at the St. Francis Abbey Brewery.’ Some are slightly less blatant with the phrase 'crafted and perfected since 1710' but all of the marketing again suggests, or in most cases states, that the same Smithwick's ale that is available today has been brewed for over three centuries, practically stating that nothing has changed in those three centuries. Almost all advertisements, including recent ones on mainstream television, also appear to imply this to be a true fact.

But there are many issues with this assertion of course, and again we will side-step the 1710 founding date for now and look at something relatively more recent. Firstly, I will repeat here a paragraph from one of my own aforementioned red ale posts:

"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 [my emphasis] 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 - [Watney's] Red Barrel."

The original article I quote clearly states that what we think of now as Smithwick's ale was created in 1965 - not 1710.

If we want further evidence we can look at what was their most popular beer prior to this period - Smithwick's No.1 - which was a pale ale and not a red ale, as attested to by adverts such as one in the New Ross Standard on the 20th August 1966 that clearly mentions 'its rich golden colour'. We can look back to older adverts which mention other beers too, such as one in the Kilkenny Journal and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser on the 31st of January 1852 that champions a 'Pale Bitter Ale', and we can also mention 'XXX & Pale Ales' from the same publication on the 15th of January 1868. Very importantly we can quote the Kilkenny Moderator on the 12th of March 1828 and in what was one of the first mentions of beer production from the St. Francis Well Brewery mentions:

'Porter, Pale Butt, & Strong Ale, in Wood and Bottle, of their own brewing.'

These are for sale in Edmund and Patrick Smithwick’s shop on High Street in Kilkenny. None of these sound anything like the current offering that is Smithwick's Draught, and if you had a 'famous red ale' would you not be mentioning it in your own advertisements for your own beers? It cannot be the porter as that was dark, the pale butt beer was - well - pale, and the strong ale may have been amber or reddish but the current version of Smithwick's can hardly be classed as a strong ale by any definition of the term.

Also, in a report on a breach of the public spirit licence in The Kilkenny Moderator of 3rd of May 1862 'Smithwick's pale ale' is mentioned in the context that it was a common commodity, and the Waterford Mail from the 10th of September 1869 in another court report about some of those accused 'testing the strength of Smithwick's "pale butt".'

An article in The Waterford News and Star from September 1873 mentions a strong, aged amber ale but that certainly sounds nothing like modern day Smithwick's apart from the colour perhaps - I would think that this is the XXX mentioned above.

Admittedly other various adverts from the 19th century mention just ales or mild ales in general but none mention this 'famous' reddish coloured ale that Smithwick's claims to have brewed for centuries. Again, just for clarity and fairness an advertisement in The Cork Daily Herald on the 11th of February 1882 for a Cork agent for the brewery's beers list their East India Pale Ale as well as that XXX ale mentioned above, plus an XX and an X ale. All of these may have been darker than their pale ale and possibly amber in colour as described above but I have given my thoughts on amber ales previously and although they did exist it is a stretch to connect any of those beers with Smithwick’s modern 1960s' keg ale.

Most interestingly, George Measom in ‘The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway’ mentions a visit to Edmond Smithwick’s brewery in 1866 and talks about the ale production there, noting that there were 'two enormous pale ale vaults' in which were stored '4,000 hogsheads of ale.' 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...' (no other malt or roasted barley are mentioned) and also with regard to the boiling of the wort he states that the coppers are uncovered 'to preserve the colour of the wort, which would be darkened by higher pressure.'

Does any of this sound like anything even remotely red-tinged? It sounds like pale ale being brewed with pale malt and being store in a 'pale ale vault'. The brewery was of course also brewing porter at this time, which just gets a mention in the heading but not later on. India Pale Ale gets a mention as being 'extensively brewed' by them so I am assuming that porter was in relatively small quantities, as were any other ales.

In 1892 according to The Dublin Daily Express of the 16th of August the St. Francis Abbey Brewery showed a 'large quantity of East India pale ale' at The Distillers, Brewers and Allied Trades Exhibition in The Rotunda in Dublin, implying that this was their bestselling ale at the time perhaps? Indeed the were awarded a Diploma of Merit for that beer and it was deemed to be 'equal to some of the best of the English brands' according to a later report in The Kilkenny Moderator. If they were brewing a famous red ale would they not exhibit it here too?

Moving forward a few decades an advertisement in The Sligo Champion on the 10th of December 1965 states that the pale Smithwick's No 1 was being called "Ireland's legendary ale. The clearest call of true Irishmen for over two hundred years.' and has the by-line of 'Ireland's traditional ale' so how can this product, which is obviously not the same as the new kegged ale offering, be this alleged historic ale as well as the modern kegged brew? (Not that the new brew was being touted as such at its launch, that assertion came much later.) In my opinion it simply cannot, it is just that the marketing shifted from one beer to the next when No. 1 was side-lined, even if bottles of the modern branding currently have a rather cheeky 'No. 1' on its label!

When Smithwick’s briefly rebranded much of their ale to the ‘Time’ name there were advertisements that listed their produce and none sound like an old red ale recipe, in fact the whole Time rebrand was a modernisation of their beers and the closest sounding at a push – Extra Time – still does not sound like our modern Smithwick's ale. You can read more about that branding hiccup in my post on the subject.

Finally, Michael Jackson in his Beer Companion book published in 1993 can tell us that Smithwick's was then brewed with 'highly modified pale ale malt, three percent roasted barley and 20 percent corn syrup' plus various hops. That certainly does not sound like a recipe that has been around since 1710, and although Jackson may have been wrong about certain facts on Irish brewing this seems to be too accurate a recipe not to have been acquired in or from the brewery itself. And in Iorwerth Griffiths' much read and appreciated Beer and Cider in Ireland published in 2007, he gives a recipe that he says may not be up to date, but the implication is that it was certainly the recipe at one time, which sounds quite like Jackson's and may be from the same source. The fact that they both mention roast barley as an addition to the brew is of interest as roasted barley, as distinct from roasted malted barley, was not to the best of my knowledge in use in the early- or mid-19th century and certainly not in 1710.

Even if we dismiss all of the above and we did consider the assertion that it is the same beer that was brewed when the brewery began, then by considering the changes that would have taken place in the brewing process, and the ingredients and the equipment, the only way any claim can be entertained that it is the same beer from centuries ago is to employ Trigger's reasoning from Only Fools & Horses regarding the broom he had all his working life. He just changed the head 17 times and put 14 new handles on it.

If you do that with a beer can it still be the same beer?

Legend #3 – That the Smithwick's brewery was established in 1710

Just about every advertisement, label and beermat makes this claim, the implication being that essentially the Smithwick’s family has being brewing in the same site for over 300 years. Many sources, which perhaps come from information from the brewery itself, mention the name of a Richard Cole as having a brewery on the site and that he was somehow connected with a John Smithwick who commenced brewing in 1706 or 1710 depending on the source.

This is a problematic assertion to prove in many ways, mostly caused by lack of available evidence, and a story regarding an almost hidden brewery - or owner - existing for over a century in plain sight in Kilkenny, which because of the Irish Penal Laws forbidding ownership of certain property by Catholics, had to be kept hush-hush ...

Let us look at what we do actually know about the brewery and its owners, for example Pigot's Trade Directory of 1824 does not list any Smithwick's as brewers and indeed mentions Patrick Brennan as a distiller at St. Francis Abbey. Although a Smithwick and O'Callaghan are shown as both grocers and wine merchants, so clearly Edmond Smithwick was not afraid to be known to be connected with a premises and business at this point in time. Quite the opposite in fact, as he was a well-known businessman, as was his father John before him. And no, that John is not the one who allegedly founded the brewery although some histories I have read seem to suggest he was, as they somehow lose a couple of generations of the family! This seems to be a problem with most of the purported history, both official and repeated - that these two Johns are conflated and we are somehow to ignore a whole generation of the Smithwick’s clan - namely the 'first' John's son and  the other John’s father – an enigmatic Peter Smithwick. Even if you look at a video from the Smithwick's Experience here, it shows various members of the family but seems to combine those Johns into one character. It would be wonderful to hear more about that Peter and how he influenced - or perhaps did not - his son to become a merchant and in turn influenced his grandson Edmond to build his brewery but I can find almost no information about him in any of the available brewery information, which is remarkable given that according to the alleged history of the brewery he would surely have inherited the 'secretive' business at one point.

More evidence of Edmond’s own business interests is shown in a notice of a partnership dissolution between the aforementioned Edmond Smithwick and Owen O'Callaghan in Finn's Leinster Journal on the 7th of July 1827 where he is shown to be a merchant dealing in 'grocery, wine, spirit, oil and colour, soap and candle' as well as a 'corn, flour, and boulting business'. O'Callaghan received the latter business and Edmond partnered with a Peter Smithwick (probably his brother who may have been named after his grandfather who I mention above?) on the former. So he was certainly a well-known business man and unafraid of having his name attached to these businesses prior to his involvement with the brewery, even before he went on to be a mayor of Kilkenny.

The advertisement from when the site where was up for lease is in my post on Kilkenny breweries as mentioned above, and the site is described as an 'Extensive Distillery, Malt House, Corn Stores, and Water Mill' which was 'now in full working order.' (Implying it is a relatively new reconstruction.) The advertisement says that the distillery could be converted into a brewery at zero cost, implying that it was not a brewery at that time. To make spirits in a distillery you need to make a ‘beer’ of sorts first so it would make perfect sense that it could be converted into a brewery as much of the equipment was the same.

So it appear by looking at these advertisements that Edmond Smithwick took over the lease of the distillery property in 1827, with beer production commencing some time after that and beer was certainly being produced by 1828 as per the advertisement mentioned above.

The Brennans still owned the actual site up to 1867 when it was in The Court of Chancery. And according to a petition in The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal, Volume 1 of 1868 the site was due to be auctioned later that same year, as referenced in my Kilkenny article. So at this time the Smithwick’s family did not own the site, it was just leased to them. An interesting note on the petition states that the site was held in two leases, one dated from 1753 from William and Anne Archbold to an Ambrose Evans, and the other from 1780 by a Rev. George Evans to and Edward Evans. No mention of a Cole or Smithwick at those dates.

George Measom again in ‘The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway’ states in the title of his description that the brewery was established in 1828, and it seems strange to me that the brewery would allow this date to be published if they knew it to be wrong. Indeed Measom would surely have had to ask someone when the brewery was established in order to get the date for his publication so why at this point did they not say 1710, as surely Edmond knew his own history?

By the way, that 1710 date seems only appear at the end of the 19th century, so perhaps that was when some paperwork was found mentioning some connection between a John Smithwick and Richard Cole and the fact that there was a brewery on Richard Coles' property, although this would have been common enough, as a brewhouse would have been a normal building to have on many farm properties or those attached to medium or large houses. The output would generally be consumed by the workers and those who lived in the house more so than for sale to the public.

There is an advertisement for the 275th anniversary for the brewery in The Kilkenny People on the 27th of September 1985 mentions Richard Cole living in Kilcreene Lodge and obtaining a 'fee farm grant' for the site that later became the brewery, although it is a little vague on the details and completely omits any evidence of brewing on the site until 1827. In the New Ross Standard 25 years earlier on the 18th of March 1960 the wording is equally vague in an article about that Time rebranding that was presumably given consent for publication by the brewery, where it states that 'The firm of Smithwicks was founded in 1710 by John Smithwick. At the same time, one Richard Cole, founded a brewery in Kilkenny. The two firms, Smithwicks and Coles, combined to be known as Smithwicks Brewery.' This hardly makes sense, as seemingly the brewery had to be kept secret according the current line of history touted by the marketing so how could it be known by that title?

Tellingly, the aforementioned Historic Town Atlas for Kilkenny states clearly that 'Smithwicks, the best-known Kilkenny brewers, acquired Brennan's distillery in 1827 and established St Francis' Abbey Brewery', and this is a serious publication - the definitive guide to the history of Kilkenny. Not infallible of course but also rarely - if ever - wrong in my experience.

In the masterplan for the redevelopment of the brewery site on the Kilkenny County Council website the authors do mention that the 'first documented brewery in operation within the grounds of St Francis' Abbey has its origins at this time. In 1706 a fee-farm grant for what is now a part of the modern brewery property was leased to Richard Cole by the Duke of Ormond. Cole established a partnership with John Smithwick, who came to Kilkenny in 1710' although they then go on to say that there 'is little documentary evidence for this first brewery, though it appears to have been a small retail operation. Although apparently successful, the business did not remain in the Smithwick family after the death of John.' [All my emphasises] Firstly I certainly find it strange that in what is a very good history of the area around the brewery that there is a certain ambiguity, and that there is no references to the source of this information given it flags the source of almost every other fact, so unfortunately there is no corroborating evidence to these assertions. Secondly it is interesting to note that they say for a fact that the brewery fell out of the hands of John after his death. Personally, I find much of this very vague and I wonder were the authors being deliberately ambiguous in order to conform to the prescribed Kilkenny history of the brewery so as not to anger multiple parties. It is difficult to know …

Another source of knowledge on brewing in Kilkenny - Thomas Halpin - who is referenced in the HTA above wrote an article for the Old Kilkenny Review (I possess a physical copy) of 1989 and in it he mentions that a 'fee farm grant for what is now part of the modern [my emphasis] brewery property was granted to Richard Cole, who lived in Kilcreene [house]' which later became the home of the Smithwick's family. Tellingly to my mind, Halpin goes on to say that 'there is no evidence available as to how [a] mercantile partnership between Messrs. Cole and Smithwick progressed.' It is worth pointing out here that Halpin worked for the Smithwicks brewery, and he skips forward in his piece on Kilkenny brewing to the site that was acquired by Edmund Smithwick in 1827, as I have mentioned above.

Yet another source is Iorwerth Griffith's book that I mentioned above. The chapter on the Smithwick's brewery mentions the Cole/Smithwick lease but states that 'that there is no mention of brewing in the document' with some authority, which of course does not mean that there was not brewing happening on the site at this time, but it seems like the author had first-hand knowledge of the original document.

In 2013 Art Kavanagh published a book on the history of the Smithwick family, and in it he states that the John Smithwick who allegedly founded the brewery in 1710 was a protestant (and descended from a military family with origins in Hertfordshire and with Cromwellian connections) until marrying his second wife and from then the family became catholic although the author seems to think that John may not have converted, although his gravestone is in St. Canice's Cathedral graveyard -it is quite visible with an archaic spelling of Smithwick. It was John's grandson - also called John and discussed above - who was involved in importing and exporting businesses and bought estates in and around Kilkenny, becoming quite wealthy and well regarded according to the Kavanagh. As I have already stated, this does not sound like a person who had a secret brewery that was set up by his grandfather. I would expect that if this later John owned a brewery he would have announced it to all, as the Penal Laws that were supposed prevent catholic from owning land, etc. seemed to have little effect on his standing or ability to do business, although I do not doubt it may have had some effect on parts of it and they are certainly not to be dismissed lightly. (To remind you again of the confusing timeline, it was Edmond the son of this second John who bought the distillery and converted into a brewery in 1827, as we have already discussed and as is confirmed by the author of this book.)

Very tellingly is a talk given by Walter Smithwick at Kilcreene Lodge to the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and published in 1960 which states that, 'Just before 1710 a young John Smithwick came from Tipperary to Kilkenny and started his business in the year 1710. Unfortunately, there are no records to show his precise business at that time.' [My emphasis.] He goes on to say that, 'In 1706 a Richard Cole of Kilcreene [house] obtained a fee farm grant from James, Duke of Ormonde, of [a] portion of St. Francis Abbey Brewery.' Absolutely no reference to a connection with John Smithwick is mentioned, and the Smithwick's did not come into possession of the house for many years after. Straight from the horse's mouth it seems ...

John (Edmond's father) Smithwick's house on High Street in Kilkenny was to be let according to an advertisement in The Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser of the 6th of July 1836 and is described as a place where there was carried out 'an extensive trade and which was lately rebuilt in a very substantial manner' and it contained 'a large and commodious shop, parlour' and other rooms - including eight bedrooms! Again, does any of that sound like a person who would need to be secretive about owning a brewery regardless of any remnants of penal laws that remained? 

So where exactly was the property leased by Richard Cole in 1705? Most sources give the impression it was close to the old brewery site, just off of what is now Parliament Street and therefore implying that there was a continuation of brewing on the site from around that period to when the brewery closed in this century. But there some issues with this if we look at the actual lease details, which we can via the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, which has a transcript of the original deed in its archives recorded by John Lodge (1692–1774) the deputy keeper of the records in Dublin Castle which reads:

Deeds of lease & release made 24 & 25 September 1705 whereby James, Duke of Ormand, for the sum of 40. 2. 8. Granted in fee farm to Richard Cole of Kilcreene, in [..] Liberties of Kilkenny,

Three thatcht [sic] tenements & gardens without [..] Black Abbey gate between the river & the city-wall.

To Hold as fully as the same were lately demised to Lady Evans, at the rent of 1£, two turkies [sic], or 5sh., receiver’s fees, & suit of courts & mills.

If we are unsure whether this is the actual lease in question there appears to be a more florid version of the lease on display in the Smithwick's Experience that can be seen and read in one of the images on this site. Apart from the additions to that one - or omissions of the one described above - we can see that they appear to be the same deed.

Three thatched cottages outside the Black Abbey gate (which still stands by the way) between the city walls and the river is quite easy to track down, as the walls and the river are easy to pinpoint and it has to be the Breagagh river that is being referred to, which flows into the Nore.

And here we can see the general site (red circle) on a map from c. 1780 – admittedly after the time of Cole – which show buildings in an area just outside the Black Abbey gate and between the walls and the river. Surely this is the site - or very close to it - given the description?

I have also placed an arrow at the end of the lane that leads to the Smithwick’s brewery site in the top picture, which is 200 meters away and across what was then the Coal Market. Not exactly close given the compact size of the city to anyone familiar with the city.

Another lease may exist but I have not found one, and as mentioned above it sounds identical to the one exhibited in the Smithwick's Experience - unless there is another there. Was there ever a brewery on this site near the Black Abbey? I do not know but I can find no reference to one in common sources.

There is no doubt that the Penal Laws did prevent Catholics from holding certain positions, property, etc. and it would certainly have prevented certain aspects of trade. I am not expert enough on this part of our history to dig very deep into how well it was enforced or not, and indeed a John 'Smithwith' [sic] from Kilkenny signed a petition that was published in The Dublin Evening Post on the 17th January 1792 imploring the authorities to rescind some of the barriers to trade, so it is important not to dismiss these laws entirely but certainly something does not seem right about the reason why the early generations of the Smithwick’s needed to be so secretive

We can see that there is no doubt that our John, the grandson of the alleged originator of the brewery, became quite a wealthy man during his lifetime and was certainly a well know public figure who owned or leased property in the city. A question that occurs to me is if he was in fear of the penal laws, as presumably was his father and grandfather, would they have risked the wrath of the authorities just to brew what was surely a moderate amount of beer? And surely at some point, given the cut-throat business ethics of the time, someone would have told the same to the authorities?

So to sum up, given the available evidence I can find nothing to say that the Smithwick’s were brewing prior to 1827. That there was a John Smithwick in Kilkenny in 1710 there can be no doubt, and he may have formed a partnership with a Richard Cole but I can find no evidence of either party brewing anywhere, although brewing for home consumption could certainly have taken place on various sites, perhaps even Kilcreene which was owned by Richard Cole but is nowhere near the modern brewery site. I can only find evidence that the brewery dates from 1827 and the first beers brewed in the Smithwick’s name were brewed in that year or the following one. It is quite possible that the John Smithwick from 1710 did indeed form some sort of business but it seems unlikely given what I have researched that it anything to do with commercial brewing.

So I will leave the reader to decide if they think that a brewery owned by anyone in the Smithwick's family existed from 1710 ...

---

The Smithwick family appear to have been good, kind and generous people - perhaps more needs to be made of that and what they gave to the community of Kilkenny - and it is worth pointing out that many of the legends grew and took flight after their period of ownership of the brewery and the brand had finished. There are many interesting tales and probably even some fun frivolous stories that could be told about the people who owned, brewed in and worked in the brewery which can be based on facts, such as Edmond saving a child from drowning in 1841, and a large eel stopped the brewery from operating in 1921, or how a cavalcade of 53 drays loaded with porter and ale made its way from the brewery and onward by train to a ship, all destined for the export market. Although there have been less positive reports too, such as a boycott of Smithwick's beers proposed by the Irish National League in the late 1880s due to a tenant's rights issues. Any of those facts plus many more that I have found could at the very least be printed on some beer mats ...

And we could listen to real interviews from those who worked on the brewery site, we could taste the actual old brews like that Pale Butt and a Smithwick’s porter, or their famous and popular 19th century IPA. There are endless real possibilities to what could be told about this inspirational and interesting brewing company. 

Wouldn't that be a better Experience...?

Liam K.

(1st and 3rd image are from the author's collection, the 2nd and 4th are via Ebay beer mat sellers.)

(Old map of Kilkenny is via Wikimedia Commons here.)

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. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk), Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, and Google Books from where I accessed much of the content.