Irish Brewing People of the Past - #1 John Smithwick

‘This is the story of an Irish industry which started 243 years ago when a twenty-year-old youth left his Tipperary home, married a Kilkenny girl, settled in Kilkenny city and started a business which is now a household word all over Ireland.’

Here in Ireland, the disconnect between the beers we drink and their origins and true history means that we are far removed from the personalities of those who founded or drove the expansion of our brewing industry in the past. We know very little about those brewery owners whose legacy has been reduced to a brand held now and brewed by larger conglomerates - and sometimes smaller entities - who may or may not care about the actual heritage of the beers that they curate. Those are the ‘lucky’ ones, as at least their names are still associated with Irish brewing, albeit with a history written sometimes by marketing people more so than researchers or historians. Add to this the unmentioned owners of the brands and breweries that are no longer known or spoken about and we have a huge number of unrecorded names and personalities who are now practically lost to the beer drinking public. Names such as Watkins, Perry, Stoer, Pim, Keily, Strangman, D’Arcy and a host of others might have a vague resonance with some people, but very little is recorded about the characters themselves, or at least not in any biographical way.

Who are these often misremembered and unknown people who gave their names to breweries and beers over the last few hundred years? Some of course have been well recorded, names such as the Guinness, both Beamish and Crawford, and Murphy have all been written about in depth in printed publications and online, but others are much more enigmatic or unrecorded.

In this new occasional series, I want to explore some of the less or unknown characters of Irish brewing and reveal a little more about their history, lives and connections to others in the brewing trade. This has been made much more possible in recent years given the online presence of genealogy sites, hard to source old books and publications, and old newspapers - and without those resources this series would be almost impossible for an armchair researcher and reporter. I hope to connect the reader with these personalities and give a little family history as well as exploring how they came to own breweries - or work them. This will still be a tricky enough task so unfortunately, we will still be in the realm of ‘perhapses’, ‘maybes’, and ‘possiblies’ as we investigate their origins and activities.

So, let's begin ...

-o-

Apart from the well-known entities listed above the next most mentioned character in Irish brewing is one John Smithwick, whose participation in Irish brewing history is rather unclear and muddied once any real digging is made into his purported history. I’ve written about the subject of the Smithwick’s brewery many times before - ad nauseam some might say - and given my opinion on its origins based on the published and available material in common sources and archives, but here I will look a little closer at the man whose personal history should be recorded as best we can, seeing as he is thought of (rightly or wrongly) as a large and important figure in Irish brewing history.

The quoted paragraph at the start is from a booklet printed in 1953 called ‘The Smithwick Story’ published by the Irish Publicity company in Dublin as part of a series they hoped to produce on Irish industrial businesses. The publication includes some pages on the history of the brewery and how it operated in the fifties as well as the challenges that lay ahead. 

And that brief quoted history of Smithwick’s origin raises a few questions about the enigmatic John Smithwick who is purported to have begun the business in 1710.

Another version of the origin story is on the Smithwick’s Experience website, and states that the early eighteenth century was ‘a time of strict Penal Laws forbidding Catholics from owning land or running for local office. Into this scene arrives the orphan John Smithwick determined to defy the odds and begin trading’ and the general story being communicated by many sources is that John Smithwick was a Catholic orphan from Tipperary who came to Kilkenny and allegedly went into partnership with a Richard Cole on the site that now houses the brewery tour, and that he began brewing a red ale in 1710 - or variants of this tale. (Just to clarify, yet again, that this continuous brewing of the same beer is not possible, given the ingredients in the current beer at the very least.)

So who exactly was John Smithwick?

Sadly, and predictably given the passing of three centuries and more, information is quite scare, but by looking at a couple of independent sources - a genealogy site plus a book on the Smithwick’s family by Art Kavanagh* - we can put a little of his history together, especially if we go back a couple of generations from John to his grandfather, Lt. Colonel Henry Smithwick. 

Henry Smithwick was a protestant born in Hertfordshire in England in 1599 and having moved to Ireland sometime in the early 1600s was in the employment - as was his father Robert - of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, a contentious figure in Irish history, to put it mildly. Henry was married to Mary Fortescue from Devon with whom he had two sons, Henry and William. He was part of the Cromwellian army and had land in Ballydarton in Carlow - where he also served as sheriff - as well as being resident in Waterford and Cork at various times. He died in 1670, and his sons both followed him into the army, with Henry junior achieving the rank of Captain in the army.

Captain Henry Smithwick was born around 1630 was listed as in ensign in 1649 in a section mentioning his father in "Depositions of Cromwell's Adherents" regarding the securing of the town of Youghal for English forces. He was registered on a census in Drogheda, Co. Louth in 1659, and as "Henry Smithwick, of Lord Lisburne's Regt of Foot, later Capt in Co Richard Coote's Regt of Foot" in Burke’s Peerage, and was still listed as being in the English army in 1692. He was familiar with Kilkenny as he removed the King James’s Royal Arms from the Tholsel (city hall) on the High Street and replaced them with King William of Orange’s. He was married to Sarah Meredith and had six children - one of whom was our John Smithwick. (This early history is set out in Kavanagh's book and backed up by the genealogy website that references Burke's Irish Family Records.)**

John was born in 1690 - there are no official, published records that tell us where, and married Jane Dunphy in 1719. Jane died in 1725 and they had no surviving children – they seem to have sadly lost 5 sons. He remarried at some point to Mary Grace who was born around 1710 with whom he had three sons, Edmond, Peter and Michael. He may have lived in Lazybush (Lousybush) just north of the city, as this is where Mary was from and where Peter was born.

There appears to be very little available history for John Smithwick but he seems to have been a protestant, like his father and grandfather, although his second wife Mary Grace was Catholic and so were her children. Kavanagh and other sources would seem to suggest that he remained protestant until his marriage to Mary Grace some time well after 1725 (given Mary's age and the date of his first wife's passing) and perhaps until his death. Both John and Mary died in 1768 and both are buried in St. Canice’s Church of Ireland Cathedral graveyard, very close to his first wife.

That's their gravestone at the top of this piece.

Of what John’s occupation was when he arrived in Kilkenny - if he didn’t already live near here - we are quite unclear, He doesn’t seem to have been mentioned in any military setting so it appears that he didn’t follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. Given who his father and grandfather were and the land they owned, it’s likely that John too was a man of some means at least at this time. Modern anecdotal sources mention a relationship with a Richard Cole as a brewer but there are no available records that show this. A Lease that claims to show the plot of land Cole being the site of the brewery near the St. Francis Abbey doesn’t mention John Smithwick and is also for a plot of land outside the Black Abbey Gate, so is clearly nowhere close to that site anyway. A short family history written by Walter Smithwick in the 1960s states that John Smithwick’s business at this time was unknown, and even the Smithwick’s Experience website now states that the brewery fell out of family hands and only returned to them in the early 19th century, so there is little history surrounding the so-called originator of the brewing dynasty.

So unfortunately, if not curiously, there is no published information for our John Smithwick being a brewer in any way – not an auspicious start to this series on Irish brewing figures! It does not mean that he wasn’t involved in brewing of course but the most optimistic scenario imaginable is that he was in some sort of business partnership with Richard Cole and that one or either had a small brewhouse at their house for the household's consumption - which was quite common – and somehow this morphed into him being a brewer, perhaps? In truth the house owner would never have been the actual brewer anyway, that would be done by one of the workers on the estate. So sadly, I can’t find any information that shows that John Smithwick started a brewery in 1710 as is often claimed, unless some more information comes to light or is released by certain parties.

The earliest written evidence of any of the Smithwick family owning a brewery was a few generations later, where through John’s son Peter, and Peter’s son John and then great grandson Edmond, the brewing arm of the business appears to have been started in 1827, having bought and converted a distillery for that purpose. There is mention in some sources that our John could not own a brewery in 1710 because of The Penal Laws forbidding Catholic ownership of businesses, but if he was protestant at this time - as reported by Kavanagh - then this law would not apply to him. It certainly would have applied to his children and grandchildren but they have never been shown to be connected to the brewery in any way by any source, and Edmond’s father John held lands and successful merchant businesses for many years prior to Edmond buying the lease on the brewery – surely he could have ‘declared’ his interest at least – if not ownership - in any brewery? The Smithwick family were certainly Catholic and staunch Nationalists by the 19th century it is worth adding.

It seems impossible to find how and why the 1710 reference was first mooted and what exact information led to this date being quoted, although it seems to first appear in print around 1892. Earlier sources such as trade directories or travel guides don’t mention the brewery, and those post 1827 don’t mention the date, nor any John Smithwick. For example 'The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Southern & Western Railway' by George S. Measom from 1866 clearly states the brewery was established in 1828, which is near the right date and probably when they started brewing in any meaningful way. Perhaps there is some mention in the family records, but that would have been published with more detail surely – especially in the write-up by Walter Smithwick?

So, our first foray into the historical characters of Irish brewing doesn’t tell us much of who John Smithwick really was business wise, but it puts a little more history to the person himself. Hopefully new information will surface to throw some light on who exactly was the ‘mysterious’ - if less so now - Mr. Smithwick.

TBC? ...

Liam K

(Note. There is also a reference to a Smithwick marrying the daughter of someone in the Cromwellian army, Richard le Harte in Tipperary. This person is mentioned as a William Smithwick on one unverified genealogy website but there is no record of this daughter - Margaret - in any online biographies of Richard, nor does her proposed birthdate tie in with his timeline and marriage, and although a John is mentioned as a son the dates again don’t match and she would have had to have him at the age of 15, which isn’t impossible but not likely. Anyhow, the other family tree is from two seemingly reputable sources, so appears to be correct, subject to finding other information.)

*The Gentry & Aristocracy Kilkenny – Smithwick of Kilcreene St. George of Freshford Wandesforde of Castlecomer by Art Kavanagh

** This connection to English or Cromwellian soldiers and personnel is more common that one would think. If you go back far enough then many of us - including myself - had actual or reputed connections with those who came here at this time.

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. I relied heavily on the Art Kavanagh book mention above and the linked Smithwick family website for much of the content printed here, added to by other online sources as linked. The photo used is from my own collection and taken by me a few years ago. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

A Shot of Beer History #8: The Case of a Naggin Too Much ...

A curious case presented itself in the village of Moneygall in Offaly in 1869 and was reported in the local newspaper, where an inspector of weights and measures found that there were many cases where the volumes of measures used in certain public houses for serving ale and porter to the customer were incorrect, but not in favour of the publican - in most cases the loss was on the side of the seller. Nevertheless, the publicans were summoned to appear in front of the local magistrates and as examples, a pair of half-gallon measures were produced belonging to two publicans, a Mr. McDonnell and a Mrs. Wafer. Both measures had been found to be correct six months previous but now held a naggin more than they previously did according to the inspector. This would equate to over 4% extra liquid per measure, which would amount to a moderate but notable loss to the publican over time.

The magistrates were at a loss as to how this could happen, but the puzzle was solved when a tinman called Mr. Waters took to the stand and gave the following explanation. He described how 'when the "buys" called for "a half gallon," and finished it, they were in the habit of "drivin' down the bottom with the butt of a whip," in order that the next "measurement" might be larger.' This could certainly be achieved quite easily with measures that had an inset rim around the base, which most certainly did by way of manufacture. He also confessed that 'when he made the vessels he did "hansell" them' himself. (A 'hansel' appears to be an old and obsolete name for the handle of a flail, so possibly also a whip.) So this seems to have been a common practice - in Moneygall anyhow - and a good reason to bring your whip on your drinking sessions!

The session chairman joked that Mr. Waters should not be allowed to make vessels for the houses in which he was in the habit of drinking, much to the laughter of the assembled audience, before another magistrate - a Captain Garvey, who appears to be a bit of a spoilsport - interjected to point out that a heavy penalty could be imposed on any person who sold unjust measures.

The bench eventually dismissed all the cases where the loss was with the seller, as no fraud on their part could possibly be intended, although all measures were to be readjusted to the satisfaction of the inspector.

Perhaps the publicans kept a closer eye on the bases of their measures and those who carried whips or flails into their house after that, but it was certainly an ingenious way of getting a larger pour of porter!

Liam K

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. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive and the quoted article appears in The Kings County Chronicle of 3rd February 1869. The photo of the measure - and the measure itself - is the author's own. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #25 – Keg Harp Tankard (1965)

Goodbye to the Port and Brandy,

To the Vodka and the Stag,

To the Schmiddick and the Harpic,

The bottle, draught and keg ...

Delirium Tremens – Christy Moore - 1985

It is probably fair to say that there are two well-known glass beer tankards engrained in the memories of Irish beer drinkers. One is - of course - the Guinness Waterford Barware tankard that is familiar to anyone with even a vague awareness of the company’s branded glassware beyond the tulip pint glass, or who has seen its image on retro signs and advertisements, or perhaps on those old-style dispensers that have become quite popular again on certain bar counters. But those fragile, thin-walled mugs had a tougher and heftier cousin in the same sixties and seventies period, which was of course the Harp tankard. Like the Guinness tankard, it was used in Harp’s marketing campaign, especially on beermats where its outline in yellow and blue stood out from others. It was seen to be drank by Vikings, and it and its contents were dreamed about by sweaty men in foreign lands longing for a piece of home, and a look from Sally O’Brien. It is certainly an iconic piece of glassware by any standard terms.

Harp lager itself has its origins in Dundalk, Co. Louth, where in 1959 Dr. Hermann Muender, a German brewmaster who had worked at the Dom Brewery in Cologne amongst other places, was charged by Guinness to build a lager brewery and create a new beer on the site of the old Great Northern Brewery. It was perhaps a reaction by the company to the perceived threat by - and increased sales in - continental lagers in recent years with brands such as Carlsberg already making inroads in Ireland, where it and other continental lagers were seen as cool and trendy by the young drinkers of the 1960s. But where there is threat there is also opportunity, and brewing commenced in 1960 with the launch of just a bottled product at first, as this was the standard way of serving lagers at this time. According to Dr. Muender the first three-dozen bottles produced were sent to Kennedy’s Railway Bar opposite the brewery on the Carrick Road, having been bottled in the bottling plant in old Cairnes brewery in Drogheda.

The next step was to launch the beer in the UK, which happened in 1961, and soon after it was being brewed there too - and the whole Harp Anglo-Irish history is a story in itself.* A stronger version of the lager variously known as Harp Extra, Harp Special or Harp Blue was launched in Ireland in late 1963 having been on sale overseas previously, and finally, a year later, a draught version of the standard lager first appeared.

And so ‘Keg Harp,’ as this draught product was first termed, became available in 1964 in Ireland, and advertisements featuring the tankard first appear in that year. In Ireland this was the decade when kegged, pasteurised and filtered beers began to dominate and replace bottled beers. Kegged Guinness had been around for a number of years in various serving formats, and there was now an influx of English ale brands encroaching on the Irish pub scene, leading in 1965 to the development of new Smithwick Draught by Guinness (having acquired 99% of the shares in the brewery the previous year) in an attempt to compete with those ‘foreign’ brands, even if some were brewed on the island. The launch of a draught version of Harp meant that from the mid-sixties the Guinness company was in a great position to compete in the three main beer styles on the emerging war theatre that was the bar counters of public house around the whole of the island, and beyond of course.

All of this meant that new glassware was now required in the shape of pint and half-pint receptacles, and at exactly this point during the sixties and early seventies there was a small craze for glass beer mugs in Ireland. Guinness Draught got the aforementioned Waterford Barware tankards, as did Smithwick’s Draught in a different style - a reuse of the Time rebrand ones from the previous year or so - plus there were quite a few others such as Phoenix, Celebration, Double Diamond and quite a few others. The original stemmed Harp glasses for the bottled products were also made by Waterford Glass’s barware division, but for their new draught lager Guinness went in a different direction. According to Martyn Cornell** it was produced by United Glass (Ravenhead) in the UK and designed by the prolific Alexander Hardie Williamson who is reputed to have designed in the region of 1,700 glasses for both domestic and bar use during his 27 years at the company.

But as ever with anything to do with Irish beer history, things are not quite as simple as they appear. In fact there are at least 3 different beer tankard designs in this style, albeit with quite subtle differences.

The original tankard appears to have been heavily influenced by those robust, conical pint tumblers made in moulds (as were the Harp tankards) from either side of 1900 that were still being made and in use up to the 1940s. These tumblers had fluted grooves very reminiscent of Williamson’s design and on some those grooves alternated in height just like the first iteration of the Harp glassware, plus both had thick bases and a robust feel. These early Harp tankards have a pint-to-line mark around the rim and carry both UK and Irish verification marks as to volume, although the Irish mark does not mention pint-to-line but the UK version does. There is a degree of variation of logo on these glasses too, with some carrying the words Keg Harp in one line with a crowned HL between the words, while other examples have the words in separate lines with the word Harp in gold lettering with a blue outline. Yet another variant in lettering has the words reversed to read Harp Keg with the latter word now in Gold in a stencil-like font (The earliest advertisements use this glass and lettering although with the words the 'correct' way around.) Oversized half-pint versions were also made, and that Head space in both sizes might be a nod to the beers German origins and the Teutonic frothy pour as in seen in many an Oktoberfest image. Although, there is also some reporting*** that the kegged product was quite frothy in the early days so this might have been a way of overcoming the issue and not leaving the customer with too short a serve and angry encounters with the bar person!

The next evolution of the design sees a similar volume of oversized pint but now the fluted grooves are all the same height and have reduced in number from 21 to 20, with one missing on the opposite side of the glass to the handle, on the mould line. The words Keg Harp are also now just in blue, with a slight font change, if not a new typeface. The handle remains the same, as does the general heftiness of the tankard, with both this and the previous version being very slightly wider in diameter at the base.

The final, and last version of this sixties and seventies period has the tankard reduced in volume, but not height, to an actual pint (although the half-pints with line, seem to remain at over a half pint even in this version). It has 20 grooves still, although they are more pronounced, but the handle has been changed from a round cross-section to a more squarish shape and starts lower down the body, which is now evenly cylindrical from top to bottom. The logo appears the same as the previous version and this tankard was also available with the words ‘Harp Lager' when the marketing moved away from the use of the word Keg in the seventies.

These changes are hard to track date-wise but based on verification stamps V1 seems to date from the mid to late sixties, V2 the very early seventies, and V3 from not long after, and this is the version that was probably in use up until the early eighties - although all could have been in use for long periods in different regions of these islands. There are very possibly other variations in design too as well as logo changes, and the glass colour appears to vary too from bluish to yellowish on different glasses. Whether any of these changes reflect different actual makers at different periods, or whether Williamson was involved in any tweaks is unclear, but the changes are certainly there, albeit only important and noticeable to those beset with a particular level of pedantry.

It should be noted that there are examples of late sixties verified dimple tankards which were also used for Harp, and a new version of the Harp tankard - although squatter and more unwieldly - was launched around the mid-nineties. It was made by the Dema glass company but it didn’t quite catch on and appears to have mostly been used for promotional giveaways.

-o-

Keg Harp, or Draught Harp, or Harp Lager was certainly a hugely important line for Guinness up until the eighties and early nineties when foreign lager brands, due to media exposure and changing consumer tastes, began to exert their dominance on the bar counter. Ironically many were brewed by Irish based breweries anyway, including by Guinness. Harp - the brand - seems to have just slowly backed out of the war, and at this point in time just sits in pint bottles in the odd bar, and only occasionally appears on those counters it once warred on and dominated ... like a few Irish beer brands it's now brewed in Dublin, and appears to have lost its fight, direction and momentum.

For now at least ...

Liam K

*For more history on Harp see Boak & Bailey’s write-up here.

** Martyn Cornell's post where he references the Harp tankard is here.

***  The Guinness Book of Guinness, compiled by Edward Guinness

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 items featured are from the author's own collection. All sources, not mentioned, are available on request. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

A Shot of Beer History #6 - The Irish Reinheitsgebot

In 1778 there were a series of brewing related acts passed in Ireland for 'the improvement of His Majesty's Revenue and the more effectually processing of the Frauds therin.' Of interest is what appears to be an Irish version of the Reinheitsgebot, the Bavarian purity law which dictated what could, or more importantly what could not, be included in the beers brewed there. The relevant Irish acts read as follows:

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority afore said, That from and after the twenty fourth day of June one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight, no common or retailing brewer, or other retailer of beer or ale, shall make use of any madder, molosses[sic], sugar, honey or composition or extract of sugar, or make use of any broom, wormwood, gentian root, or any drug or herb, or of any ingredient whatsoever in the brewing, making, or working of any beer or ale, other than water, malt, hops, and barm; and that all beer or ale brewed or mixed with any ingredients other than water, malt, hops, and barm, shall be forfeited; and that every such common or retailing brewer, or other retailer of beer or ale offending therein shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of ten pounds.

IX. Provided that no penalty or forfeiture herein mentioned shall extend or be construed to extend to the infusing of broom, wormwood, ground ivy, or other ingredient into beer or ale by the retailer, after the same is brewed and tunned, for the purpose of making purl or jill, or broom or wormwood beer; or to the using any ingredient or ingredients necessary for the making of porter in making brewing the same.

So we can see that fines were to be levied onto brewers who used adjuncts in their brewing (a relatively common occurrence in the 18th century according to the scant recipes available at the time) as this would presumably have an effect on the tax revenue garnered from malt and hops, and it was probably enacted for that reason more so than any concerns regarding the quality of the beer or the risk of poisoning. The act did not apply to the brewing of porter (or if any adjuncts were added to other beers post brewing) so it could be brewed with whatever the brewer wanted to use.

If this act was never repealed* then there are quite a few Irish brewers that need to forfeit their beers and pay up that ten ponds, or its equivalent!

Liam K

* It was, see John reply below.

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 above information was sourced via Google Books. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #22 – Macardle’s No. 1 Beermat (1973)

The Licensed Grocers and Vintners’ Association, at their meeting held yesterday, decided to increase the price ales and ciders by a halfpenny per bottle, and No. 1 Ale by one penny. The price stout and porter remains unchanged.

The Dublin Daily Express - 25th October 1916

If there is one still-existing beer brand that elicits a wave of nostalgia when mentioned in certain company it’s Macardle’s ale. The ‘Large Mac’ from the shelf, or the cooler depending on your tastes and the weather, has a small but important cult following, who against all odds seem to be keeping the ale alive and stocked in certain bars and off licenses across the country, with a bias towards north Leinster sweeping down towards the southeast of the island. The draught version appears to have vanished entirely from the pub counter even in its literal homeland of Dundalk, gone the way of the Small Mac and the six-pack of dumpy half-pint bottles. Now this once well-known and important brand is only offered in a pint bottle, and by default is normally served with a half-pint, trumpet-shaped pilsner glass. Along with bottled non-nitro Guinness, it is the default choice for many drinkers who prefer the fuller flavours of microbrewed beers and find themselves in a pub in Ireland which only stocks ‘The Usual’ line-up of taps serving the somewhat anodyne output of larger breweries. In its current form Macardles is a well-carbonated, amber coloured ale with a pronounced bitter hop bite and a relatively decent malt aftertaste. It would be difficult to compare it to any other ale currently available in Ireland, so it’s perhaps best described as being somewhat reminiscent of a throttled back English bitter, especially when served at ‘shelf’ temperature and from a fresh-brewed batch. 

-o-

Like most Irish mainstream beers, Macardle’s has been reduced to a brand owned and produced by a multinational corporation, but the brewery history behind the name goes quite far back, and was once a huge part of the now-lost brewing history of the island. The history of most Irish breweries can be quite complicated and the origins are often lost and muddied by oft-repeated errors and marketing-friendly white lies, but looking back at the early period when our brewery was called Macardle, Moore & Co., and using as a starting point an advertisement for the enterprise which was published as a part of The Freeman’s Journal’s series on Irish industries in June 1920, a short, early history and status of the brewery can be gleaned. The headline over the full page advertisement read ‘A Famous Irish Brewery’ and it also included some images of the brewery buildings and workings which sadly didn’t print too well at newspaper quality, so are not too noteworthy here. The advertisement states:

The firm was established by the late Mr. E. H. Macardle [who] took over, jointly with the late Andrew Thomas Moore […] an old brewery, carried on in the Napoleonic era by Duffy, Plunkett & Co. and afterwards by Jas. Mc Allister. [The] brewery was established in Dublin Street, Dundalk, but it was subsequently transferred to Cambricville, where the industry is now carried on in the most pleasant surroundings, the windows of the vat room, for example, looking out over a wooded demesne. Cambricville was originally a Huguenot settlement, where the exiles carried on the manufacture of Cambric, according to the processes which had made Cambrai famous. The De Joucort family founded the industry in 1740.

Although a good starting point, this is a somewhat succinct history of the business, and we might need to delve into other sources - mostly newspapers from the period of the brewery’s birth - for clarification, especially as any dates and details seem a little scarce in the above piece.

In 1860 or possibly the year before, Edward Henry Macardle entered into a partnership with John Charles Duffy to greatly improve the existing brewery on Dublin Street in Dundalk. John C. Duffy had probably owned the brewery along with other family members - James and Arthur Duffy and his uncle Patrick Wynne - since at least the early 1830s, and perhaps prior to that it was owned by Patrick Wynne alone. After John Duffy’s death in 1863, Andrew Thomas Moore, a cousin of E.H. Macardle, became his partner in that enterprise on Dublin Street, and so started Macardle-Moore reign as brewery owners in (and just beyond) the town.

Meanwhile, the brewery at Cambrickville, just outside Dundalk but quite close to the Dublin Street brewery, was possibly set up c. 1804 by a Simon Loraghan who is named as living at a house on the brewery site when it is up for sale in 1807, the brewery was ‘only three years at work’ at that time according to a newspaper advertisement. (Modern references to the brewery mention that this was the site of an earlier brewery in the 18th century owned by a William Stuart, of which there is no mention in commonly available sources from this time. Mr Loraghan may have had nothing to do with the brewery and may have just been a caretaker for the site, or an agent for its sale. Plus the 'three years at work' could refer to a rebuilt brewhouse on the site.) A James Duffy and Edward McAlister are later in partnership - with others - at the brewery up to 1822 when the partnership appears to have been dissolved. This was around the same time that a bankrupted Richard Darley lost his share in the venture, having seemingly surviving a similar fate in 1816 and 1819, when it was noted he was a quarter partner in the brewery. (This may have been just a protracted delay in resolving the issue of his bankruptcy, and it would be of interest if Richard Darley was related to Henry Darley who had a brewery in Stillorgan, and Bray, in the 19th century but that seems difficult to prove.)

A James McAlester (the surname spelling seems to vary) was running the brewery there alone from 1824 when the partnership called Duffy, Plunkett & Co. comprising of McAlester, John Duffy and Patrick Plunkett was dissolved, although it appears Plunkett had already left the business in 1821. The enterprise was known as ‘Cambrick Ville Brewery’ at this time. McAlester was still brewing there in 1846 according to Slater’s Directory, although four years earlier in 1842 barley, brewing utensils as well as furniture and livestock was being sold at an auction to pay off some debts, and the brewery was certainly unoccupied by the 1850s as referenced by council records in newspaper at this time. So Slater’s may have been listing it as an existing brewery structure even though it was not currently in production.

But in 1863 it was being advertised to be let, had been completely refurbished and was in ‘first rate order and repair’ after a ‘considerable sum’ had been spent to bring it up to working order, with applications to be made to the owner James McAlester, according to an advertisement late that year. As well as the brewery itself, there was an onsite malt house with 8,000 square feet of flooring that was capable of producing 300 barrels of malt weekly. A substantial 6-bedroom dwelling house with a parlour, drawing room and library was also included in the letting. So all in all an impressive site.

In late 1865 the partnership of Macardle, Moore & Co. agreed to buy (or let) the brewery from McAlester, with advertisements for its sale at this time particularly noting the quality of its water for brewing ‘pale long keeping ales.’ The brewery appears to have begun production of ale and porter there in 1866  with the plan at the time to keep both breweries in operation, but it appears that the Dublin Street brewery closed soon afterwards. Malting continued at the Dublin Road site for a number of years, with the old site being called ‘the old brewery’ in newspaper mentions into the early 1870s. It should be noted that the spelling of the new brewery has now changed to Cambricville Brewery, although the spelling does seem to vary through the years.

The article from 1920 continues:

The Firm has also a number of modern maltings and branch grain warehouses, where the grain is stored and subsequently transferred to the brewery, where there is a branch line and siding which connects with the Great Northern Railway system.

One of these maltings, which is in Dundalk, is known as the Butter Crane Maltings, because it was used as a storehouse for butter and bacon and other Irish produce during the Napoleonic Wars, when the British Government drew a large portion of their supplies from Ireland.

[…] the stout and porter and ale brewed in this famous Dundalk Brewery have achieved a national reputation, and the firm are now extending their connection right through the country, and are appointing agents where not already represented. Their beverages have long been in great demand in Army canteens at home and abroad, and the directors believe that their products have only to be tested to command the widest approval and support.

The piece goes on to emphasise the ‘purity and wholesomeness and really palatable flavour’ of its beverages, and although it reads very much like the advertisement it is, it certainly shows the importance of the brewery at this time in Ireland, and - like most Irish breweries - how it brewed a range of beers, not just one product, from its earliest time on Dublin Street, in fact it won a medal at the Irish Exhibition of Arts and Manufacturing in 1882 for its porter, not its ale as is sometimes reported. The military connection mentioned above was a huge part of their business, as was an export trade, and as were their tied houses in Dundalk and surrounding area, with some being as far away as Belfast. It was one of the best know breweries in the country for many years before - after some changes in ownership and being turned into a bottling plant with minimal brewing - it finally closed in 2001.

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But what of the last remnant of this brewery’s drinkable history? The last remaining format, the pint bottle with its red, white and black label showing the words ‘Macardle’s’ along with ‘Premium Quality’ and ‘Traditional Ale,’ a label which is less than iconic but more than just plain familiar to many drinkers. The one on the back of the bottle states ‘Originally brewed in Dundalk in 1863 with the finest raw materials of Irish grown barley, hops, water and yeast. Macardle’s is known for its distinctive flavour which is often described as nutty in character by ale aficionados’ and interestingly that first sentence could apply to the 1863 beer or the current one, depending on how you interpret it. It is also proclaimed it to be 4.0% alcohol by volume, and the name of the brand owner and current brewer, ‘Diageo Ireland, St. James’s Gate, Dublin 8’ also features here. 

Prior to the current rebrand, which occurred in two steps in the mid-1980s and which focussed on tradition and quality, the labelling featured the term ‘No. 1 Ale’ prominently on its bottle labels and caps. Advertisements in the 1960s read ‘Number one for quality. Number one for strength. Number one for flavour,’ and that byline regarding its strength goes right back to the early 1920s when it was being advertised as ‘Macardles No. 1 Strong Ale.’ This was when it was being first advertised under the ‘No. 1’ ale in newspapers and there is even an implication that it was a new brew with advertisements stating that ‘every effort is being made by [the brewery], by using the choicest material, regardless of cost, and the best skill in manufacture to produce an ale second to none’ (1923) and that the brewery ‘was glad to note that our efforts in producing this famous ale have been so highly appreciated by the public’ (1926). This could be just down to interpretation but it could be read as being a new product at this time.

Regardless of the date it first appeared, a look at this ‘No. 1’ ale from its advertised traits in the 1920s through to its current, renamed form appears to flag something amiss. Even in a country that had barley-wines at 5.5% alcohol by volume in the second half of the 20th century it is highly unlikely that a 4% ale would be called a ‘strong’ ale, as Macardle’s No. 1 was in the 1920s and 1930s, nor could it be beer of ‘strength’ as it was promoted as during the 1960s, which hints at a recipe change, or perhaps just a dumbing down in alcohol from this period. ‘No. 1’ ales were generally the strongest of the ‘normal’ ale output of a brewery. There appear to be no brewing records available for public viewing for Macardle-Moore but we can look at a brew that was made by them in 1911 to mark the kings visit which had been supplied to soldiers at the time and was probably around 5% abv or more based on an advertised original gravity of 1.053. This was a 'Pale Bitter Ale' originally supplied to troops so possibly not their strongest-brewed effort, and although this is a decade or so before the ale called ‘No. 1’  appears it would seem unlikely it would be weaker than it. For reference, down the road in Drogheda, rivals Cairnes were brewing their eponymous Cairnes ale (which is listed in early brews as a ‘No. 1’) in 1928 to 5.5% abv and Perry’s in Rathdowney had an XX ale in 1933 that they marketed as a ‘No. 1’ ale which was also 5.5% according to brewing records available for those breweries. (And that is without mentioning the English brewed and hugely popular Bass No. 1 ale.) All of this would make one assume that the Macardle-Moore ‘Strong Ale’ was at least this strength, or possibly a little higher in alcohol, and perhaps – like some of those mentioned from other breweries - it fell slightly through the 1940s and 1950s before eventually dropping by the 1980s to the now 4% abv. (The quotation about the increase in ale prices at the very start of this piece implies that No. 1 ales were stronger and more expensive too.)

Both of the ales mentioned above from Cairnes and Perrys were pale ales, as no caramel, dark malt or roast barley appear to be used in them at this time. Bass and Smithwick No. 1 ale were also pale ales so it is certainly more than possible that Macardle's No. 1 was also a pale ale at this time, although without access to brewing records we cannot be sure, as there were certainly some darker ales available in Ireland in the past.

For reference, in the mid–to-late fifties the brewing output of the brewery was Macardles No. 1 Strong Ale, Macardles Export, as well as their brewing Double Diamond. The latter being pasteurised and filtered, and the others appearing to have been bottle conditioned, another small if significant change from the present day, according to a newspaper report that mentioned its bottling of other ales too.

Also of note is that in the 1990s the recipe was said to included flaked maize which was unlikely to have been used in earlier brews (although not impossible of course), and if this beer dated back to 1863 then it would certainly not contained such a fermentable as Macardle-Moore took out advertisements in newspapers in the latter part of the 19th century where they were at pains to state their porter and ales included just barley malt and hops (Pacific hops at times!), along with water and yeast. This inclusion of maize would also hint at a reformulation at some point, perhaps in the 1980s when the newer branding and the dropping of the ‘No. 1’ occurred.

Lastly, a presentation given to The Old Dundalk Society in 2019 contains a slide regarding the head brewer Bernard Rodgers, who was head brewer from the 1920s until 1952 claims he was the 'first brewer to brew Macardle Ale.' Unfortunatley no further information is given.

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The question is whether, as is claimed on the bottles, it is the same ale – or any ale - that was brewed in 1863, presumably in the Dublin Street brewery as it could not have been brewed in Cambrickville.

This seems highly unlikely, if not impossible.

Although, ‘Traditional’ is one of those word that means many things to many people, and so it could be argued that it was brewed traditionally with a base at least of hops, malt, water and yeast. 

But the barley variety and how it was malted will be different, as will the hops – and they are probably in pelleted form. The mash and brewing regime have probably changed and been curtailed, and perhaps the yeast and water profile are different – although the latter would be the easiest to replicate. The colour of the beer has possibly changed too, darkened to fit in with the false ‘Irish Red Ale’ history. The beer is no longer bottle conditioned as it was in the past, and lastly, we can see that the alcohol amount has also probably changed. It may be roughly based on a recipe from 1863 but it’s difficult to track a continuous unbroken path to the present for such a beer.

But, it may certainly be the beer that was brewed in the 1980s in Dundalk, and perhaps fifty odd years is tradition enough?

Liam K

There is more information on the Macardle Historical Society website here, including the presentation and slide mentioned above. New information is being added all the time.

There is a wonderful collection of aerial photographs of the brewery from 1956 here on the NLI site.

(Newspaper references available on request.)

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. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive and the Macardles beermat image is from the author's own collection. The Cairnes' brewing record mentions is held in The Guinness Archive and the Perry's records are in the Portlaoise local studies department of the local library. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #21 - Murphys of Clonmel Flip-Top Bottle (c. 1910)

On Saturday night between 11 and 12 o’clock the Clonmel Brewery was broken into and a quantity of porter and of the new ale manufactured at the brewery, known as “B.B.”, was stolen. The thirsty visitors effected entrance to the brewery means of a disused hayloft which looks out on Dowd’s Lane in the quay direction. The door of the hayloft, which is about eight feet from the ground, was shut-to but not locked. Several dozen of porter and “B.B.” were taken, and it is certain that there must have been at least two disciples of Bacchus concerned in the affair. Sergeant Booth is looking the matter up, but so far no arrest has been effected.

Further inquiries show that the circumstance of the door being open was due the fact that they hay in the loft, which was ordinarily piled up against the door, thus keeping it closed, had been removed. This would go to show that it was some parties with intimate knowledge of the inner arrangements of the brewery who committed the depredation. Suspicion was first aroused by the fragments of two or three bottles, which were found in the street, underneath the hay loft, next morning.

The Cork Examiner - Wednesday 27th July 1910

Flip-top bottles are often thought of as a relatively modern idea as a bottle closure device, and not something which is generally associated with Irish brewing. But the object shown above shows that they have certainly existed here in the past, and were not developed and exclusively used by the Grolsch beer brand of which they are most associated. Their use by German breweries is also know by those who partake of beers from some of the relatively smaller companies of that country too, and Germany appears to be where the origin of this precise type of closure begins – way back in the 1870s.

In 1878 Nicolai Fritzner of Berlin was granted provisional patent for the bottle closing device using a porcelain stopper with an Indian rubber or leather washer and a wire clasp. He had already patented something similar in 1876, and a year earlier than that a Charles de Quillfeldt from New York had registered a very similar method of closure, although the bung used to close the bottle was made completely of rubber so isn’t quite the same as the version today’s beer drinkers are familiar with, and even prior to this there were other wire and bung bottle closing inventions but again they were not quite the same design. The true inventor is open to interpretation, and there were court cases and complicated debates regarding copyright infringement that we won’t go into here, suffice it to say that these general types of bottle closures have been around since the mid-1870s at least, and the ceramic stoppered version we are familiar seems to appear near the end of the decade.

This bottle was made by the firm of Charles Borron & Co., as shown by the letters CB&C which stand proud of the base. That company operated in Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside in England from the mid-1860s until it closed in 1925. The glass used itself is dark green and the volume it holds is exactly one half pint. The words ‘T. Murphy & Co. Ltd. Brewers Clonmel printed on the ceramic stopper and the same wording - with the ‘T’ extended to the name ‘Thomas’ - is in relief around the base of the bottle itself. The date of the bottle is tricky to ascertain to any precise degree of accuracy but it must fall between the very late 1870s when the closure mechanism was invented and 1925 when the glass bottle manufacturer ceased trading.

But we can perhaps be a little more accurate based on an advertisement for the aforementioned ‘B.B.’ ale that was produced for the Thomas Murphy brewery which shows our exact bottle design complete with a handsome label and a pale drink poured into glass. The words ‘Drink Murphy’s B.B.’ are printed above the image. The ale was described as new in 1910 in the above report on the theft, and it was still being advertised in newspapers in 1915, so this gives us, perhaps, a better indication of the date of our object notwithstanding that the bottles could have been used for other beers and ales prior to this period. There is no record of what style of beer ‘B.B.’ was and it would be obvious to suggest Best Bitter, although perhaps a better guess would be ‘Bitter Beer’, a term used by others. Adverts say it was ‘a genuine refreshing drink’ but very little else is mentioned about it.

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What became known as Thomas Murphy & Co. appears to have started as a partnership with Thomas Greer and Thomas Murphy, both Quakers - as were many of our Irish brewing hierarchy - in the late 18th century, although some sources suggest it was started just by Greer alone with Murphy coming into the business later. Their foundation date seems to be a little vague, with later sources claiming it was 1798 but advertisements in newspapers and guide books give the date at 1797 and 1799. The earliest mention, in a newspaper from 1863, states the 1797 date so it is possible that the 1798 date was adopted because of the importance of the rebellion that occurred in that year. It is also possible, and likely that there was a year or two in between the sourcing of the brewery site, its fit out, and when it commenced its first brewing which could also account for the variously used years.

Dubious dates seem to be a minor issue with the brewery’s purported history, as another major event – or calamity – that occurred was when the entire brewery burned down. The date given in every available history for the brewery states that this was in 1829. It wasn’t. It was in 1825 as attested by a few newspaper reports that sate that on the morning of Saturday the 8th of October a fire was spotted in the brewery and that the entire premises (measuring 200 ft by 500 ft at this time)was soon engulfed in flame, the fire having started when a kiln became overheated and burst through its protective tiles, causing huge flames to escape into the brewery itself*. Luckily no one was injured and after the insurance pay out the brewery was rebuilt and began expanding, eventually stretching from Nelson Street across Dowd’s Lane and down to the quay. The main building itself was and is a handsome six storey structure and it can be seen in its prime in this illustration from c. 1889, although no doubt with some artistic license applied. At this time the site stretched to 2 acres and it employed 200 people if write-ups of the day are to be believed, plus there were coopers making casks and carpenters building drays – it was a large and important endeavour for the town and surrounding area.

From The Book of County Tipperary by George Henry Bassett · 1889

In 1829 the brewery of Greer and Murphy were producing Double Strong Ale, Pale Butt, Ale, Porter and Table Beer** and in 1833 Thomas Greer dies and in that same year the brewery can be seen to be exporting its beers to England. The partnership was officially dissolved in 1838 and the brewery was now known as Thomas Murphy & Co. By the 1860s and 1870s they were brewing East India Pale Ale, and Strong Ales and Mild Ales as well as Brown Stout according to various newspaper advertisements. The pale ales in particular were attested to be as good as any of those produced on these islands at the time.

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As an aside, in 1887 the following incident occurred, which is worth noting:

A curious occurrence took place here on Wednesday. It appears that on Sunday last a champion football match, between a Carrick team and one in Clonmel, was played on the ground of the latter, and that at the termination of the play a serious row took place. On Monday six of the Carrick contingent were arrested and fined £2 each by the Mayor of Clonmel. On the same day a drayman named Patrick O'Neill, in the employment of Mr Murphy, brewer, Clonmel, arrived in Carrick with some barrels of beer, ale, and porter. He was hooted through the streets by a large crowd, the publicans refusing to deal with him. So serious did things turn out that the police had to escort him out of the town for some miles. On Wednesday he returned only to meet much the same treatment. Not a trader in the town would purchase, nor could he get stabling for his horse or refreshments for himself. He left, after been hooted about, under police protection.

The Dublin Daily Express - 3rd June 1887

If nothing else, this shows that sport will trump beer every time, and the passion - and resentment - of its supporters is something that hasn’t changed to this day.

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The brewery struggled in the early part of 20th century due to losing of the lucrative contract to supply army canteens as well as increased competition, well-publicised strikes, and raw material supply issues before finally closing in 1925 - the very same year as the maker of our bottle - with a portion of the extensive premises becoming a shoe factory and other parts becoming the cider factory for new firm of Magner’s, now known as Bulmers and a brand owned by C&C.

The brewery building erected on the quays still stands as testament to the once great brewery and employer in the town, as do other buildings previously owned by the firm, and if you stand with your back to the river you can see to the left of the imposing stone and brick façade of the brewery, the archway where once drays loaded with casks, and perhaps our bottle, left the brewery for parts unknown.

It's important to remember that once upon a time, we had another Murphy’s brewery…

Liam K

* The Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier - 11th October 1825

**  The Tipperary Free Press - 17th January 1829

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. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

A Shot of Beer History #3: Macardle's Coronation Brew ...

In July 1911 this advertisement appeared in Dundalk, Dublin and national papers:

MACARDLE'S CORONATION BREW

Which was supplied under Contract to the Troops while encamped in the Phoenix Park during the King's Visit, has been so much appreciated that Macardle, Moore & Co Ltd, the Irish Army Brewers, Dundalk, have arranged for Special Brews of this Pure Pale Bitter Ale (1,053°), which they can deliver, carriage paid, to any Canteens or Messes in the Kingdom, at usual prices.

THE TRADE SUPPLIED.

The supply of ale and porter to the army by Irish breweries is far from unusual, as canteens were regularly supplied with local beers, but what is of interest here is that this this appears to be a specific ale brewed for the soldiers of the 'Irish Army' on duty - or more accurately, perhaps, off duty - during the visit of King George V to Ireland on his post coronation tour. What is also of interest is that we are told it is a pale bitter ale and that the original gravity was 1,053°, which depending on how well it fermented meant was probably between 5% and 6% alcohol by volume.

So if we are ever asked did an Irish brewery brew an ale to commemorate - in a way at least - the coronation of a British monarch we can say yes, Macardle, Moore & Co. certainly did, and we even know its style and alcohol content ...

Liam K

[Image from The Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser -15th July 1911]

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. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive, who have kindly let me share the above image. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #19 - Arnott’s Prize Medal Porter Ghost Sign c.1890

“This stout is of full Alcoholic Strength, and possesses great body, as shown by the proportions of Malt Extract present. It is quite free from any impurities, such as Foreign Bitters, and is in very good condition. I am of opinion that it is of excellent Quality and highly Nutritive, and one of the best Stouts on the Market.”

Mr B A Burrell, F.I.C., F.C.S., late Public Analyst for Cork – Cork Daily Herald, May 1893

As you walk along Farren’s Quay in Cork, heading west towards North Mall it is usually necessary to stop at the busy junction where Shandon Street flows on to North Gate Bridge as it crosses the river Lee. While you wait patiently at the crossing for that little green person to appear, it’s difficult to miss the ghost of a sign - or in fact a ghost-upon-a-ghost of a sign - on a handsome brick building across the road. The words ‘Arnott’s Prize Medal Porter’ are still clearly legible in faded white paint on the first floor of number 64, framed in a plain cartouche and sitting nicely between two windows. This large object – and it can still be called an object, regardless of its size, make up and position – is the wraith like remains of an advertisement for a long-gone Irish beer and a pointer to what once was a brewery-tied public house, something that Cork – unique for Ireland – was famous for. Breweries and pubs in other cities did have similar arrangements, both official and unofficial, but not quite so many or with so obvious a tie. Being a tied-house meant that the public house was obliged to purchase beer from their tied-to breweries due to various factors such as the brewery owning the property, the license, or for services rendered or payments made, and it was of course a much more common practice in England.

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Sir John Arnott, an M.P. and then Mayor of Cork purchased an old, existing brewery near St Fin Barre’s cathedral in Cork at the end of 1861 and by the following year was brewing both porters and ales. Arnott’s – or St. Fin Barre’s – brewery was in direct competition for the porter, and to some extent the ale, trade with Beamish & Crawford, Murphy’s and Lanes brewery who were all based in the city. As well as supplying their beer locally they were exporting to England, Scotland and Wales plus more exotic climes such as the Mediterranean and Barbados.. By the early 1880s Arnott’s were also operating a separate ale brewery in Riverstown just outside Cork city, and in 1882 at the Exhibition of Irish Arts and Manufactures held in Dublin the company was awarded medals for both its Porter and its ales. They entered their beers in The Cork Exhibition the following year and won medals for its pale ale but seemingly not for their mild ale, nor its porter - so it is probable that the prize that they were advertising in this painted sign was the one awarded in 1882 although it could relate to an even later award. (Incidentally, one judge criticised their pale ale at the Cork exhibition for being made with water that was over ‘Burtonised’ with mineral additions!) The company was wound up in 1901, just a few years after its founder died, and was purchased by one of its two main rivals, Murphy’s brewery, who bought both the porter and the ale brewery as well as the tied-houses. Murphy's promptly closed down the brewing side of the enterprise, and presumably started selling their own beers in the numerous Arnott tied houses that dotted the city. Curiously and perhaps sadly, when most people hear of Arnotts these days they would think of the department stores bearing that name, which were also part of sir John’s business empire, but for a not too short period at the end of the 19th century it was a relatively large concern, it was even visited and written about briefly by Alfred Barnard, who included and described it in one of his volumes on The Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland, although not in the most exciting terms.

Below we can see a plan of the brewery as it was in 1897, roughly around the same time that the sign was painted on the wall of the public house and when Barnard visited. It shows its three porter stores and the general layout of the brewery in good detail, including a sugar tank which probably shows that they were using some sugar at least - which many Irish breweries did apart from some very notable exceptions - at this time in their brewing.

The sign on the then public house appears to have been painted sometime between 1882 and 1901, given the award date and the closing of the brewery, with the original fainter wording underneath possibly dating from closer to the earlier year and second closer to the latter date. During much of this period the public house at 64 Shandon Street was being licenced by a succession of women. Catherine Healy appears to have taken it over, possibly from a Thomas Healy, in 1889. A Norah O’Connell was running the business in 1896 when she changed the licence into her married name – Buckley. Julia O’Connell was named as the licensee in 1898 and then later than our period in 1908 it was being ran by an Ellen O’Connell. During the time up to 1901 it was tied to and therefore was supposed to sell only the beers supplied by Arnott’s brewery, but even after the breweries were closed by Murphy’s in 1901 the ghostly sign remained, getting slowly fainter over the decades but a nice reminder of Ireland’s brewing history for all to see.

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But here’s an interestingly footnote. Arnott’s Prize Winning Porter returned briefly in 1997, as according to a snippet in a newspaper column from that year it was rebrewed in some form at least by Murphy’s for the release of the Ó Drisceoil’s book - The Murphy’s Story, which was published in that year. It appears to have been keg only and there were branded glasses issued bearing the name of the porter as well as that of the original brewery. Some of these glasses, and the occasional pump clip, are still to be spotted in pubs around the city of Cork if you know where to look …

Liam K

(The image of the brewery layout above is from the Goad fire insurance map from 1897, via Wikimedia Commons.)

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 photograph is the authors own and the image cannot be used elsewhere without the author's permission. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #17 – Time 'Pilsner' Glass (1960s)

There’s pleasure in a glass of beer

When hard by work opprest;

It soothes the brain with thought o’ertaxed,

And sets the mind at rest.

Its praises I will loudly sing,

And sound them far and near;

There’s nothing can refresh you like

A glass of bitter beer.

Excerpt from ‘A Glass of Bitter Beer’ by John Drake from 'Jock Sinclair and Other Poems' - 1890

It could be argued that the pilsner-style glass used by Irish pubs for over 70 years is one of the most iconic glass shapes that has ever appeared in the hands of an Irish beer drinker. It is an elegant form, if a little top-heavy in appearance when full, although in truth this is balanced by having a thick and heavy base, plus it's incredibly tactile and extremely practical to drink from, with the width of the mouth of the glass perfectly proportioned for either sipping or gulping its contents. This example from the Smithwick's brewery in Kilkenny for their forgotten and (ironically) timeline purged Time beer brand has all of those elements, plus a wonderful, thick gold band around its rim that heightens its graceful beauty.

Time ales were launched by Smithwick’s in 1960 with the aim of revitalising an aging brand for more modern times and to celebrate their (so-called) 250th anniversary. Under this rebrand their top selling No. 1 pale ale would remain the same but their golden export ale was rebranded as Time and their SS ale as Extra Time. A few months later their ruby coloured barleywine was also brought into the fold as Time Barley Wine. The launch meant a complete rebrand for most of the Smithwick’s beers with a new logo, beer labels, coasters and other ephemera, plus of course glassware. Branding on glasses was a relatively new idea here, and Time was probably one of the first beers in Ireland to have its own range of branded glassware. As well as the pilsner glass there was a handmade tankard and a dimple mug, plus Time branded water jugs suggesting to the consumer to have a chaser after their beer – ‘Time for a Chaser!’

By 1964 Guinness were in control of the brewery and that that was the death knell for the Time brand. It would appear at least that the marketing and research gurus in St. James’s Gate decided to consolidate the range down to just two main products, the barley wine and their newly developed Smithwicks Draught keg beer which was launched in 1965, seemingly as a direct reaction to English brands such as the Cork brewed Watney’s Red Barrel. This new keg beer was - ironically - also available in bottles as Smithwicks D. The Time brand seems to have disappeared that same year and appears just fleetingly and rarely - if ever - mentioned or promoted in the current history of Smithwick’s, as they attempt to draw a direct-if-fictitious line from the present iteration of the brand to a nonsensical beer brewed in 1710.

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The origins of this exact glass shape - a trumpet rather than the much older cone style - is hard to track but it may have arrived in this country at least via exotically continental premium lager brands such as Tuborg, Patzenhoffer (Patz) and Carlsberg in the 1950s, where that elegant shape suited the marketing of said beers. It was certainly popularised around this time although there were so-called ‘pilsner’ glasses or tumblers available before this era. For example, James Fox & Sons, the well-known Dublin public house suppliers selling something called a 10 oz ‘Pilsen’ glass in the 1930s, although we don’t know its exact shape. Prior to this period the normal half-pint glass would have been more squat and conical in shaped, sometimes with fluted ornamentation.

Some of those lager branded 1950s glasses still survive and apart from some minor changes they have stayed with us and remained the same over the intervening decades, although modern versions seem to have sadly - if practically - lost their gold rims. (Incidentally, experiments done in the early 19th century state that tea drank from cups with gold rims were at least perceived to taste richer and better, so this might explain another reason for the popularity of this type of decoration.)

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To this day if you ask for a ‘glass’ (half-pint) of beer - and sometimes minerals (soft drinks) - in a standard Irish pub it will be most likely served in one of these glasses, and for sure if you order a pint bottle in most pubs you will by default be given one with it. Certainly since the middle of the last century, and regardless of the beer style (Time was an ale not a lager for example) this glass type was used predominantly in Irish pubs, including - even now - for draught Guinness at times. (There was a minor flirtation with a half-pint version of the tulip pint glass but it was a little rarer, although that shape appears to be still used in the occasional pub.)

One of the most famous appearances of this glass shape in popular culture is in the 1958 movie ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ where the character Captain George Anson downs a glass of Carlsberg having arrived in the titular Alexandria. (Never mind that in the original book the beer in question was Rheingold, and the imagined glasses were possibly different.) That scene, which was immortalised as a Carlsberg advert in the 1980s, certainly showcased the glass to great effect.

The sizes of these glasses varied a little when used for beer, from 10 fl.oz. versions - a half-pint - up to 14 fl.oz. versions like the Time glass. These larger sizes were quite popular as they held a half-pint bottle with its head from one pour. Only half-pint glasses used for draught beer sales were verified for volume by government bodies here - the others did not require it, as they were served with bottles that were already verified as to the volume they contained.

So, Smithwick's Time ales may not have lasted but at least the glass shape did, and hopefully it will continue to be used in this country for the foreseeable future.

(There is more on the Time ale brands here, and the beer writer Pete Brown has a nice piece on Ice Cold in Alex and that famous scene here. Finally there is a dive into Smithwicks ale and its supposed history here.)

Liam K

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 photograph and glass itself are the authors own and the image cannot be used elsewhere without the author's permission. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!

100 Years of Irish Brewing in 50 Objects: #16 – Cairnes Brewery Invoice (1940)

I last tasted (and swallowed every drop) a glass of Drogheda strong ale, and if any of my readers in Ireland or England or any where else doubt an Irish brewer’s capacity to brew ale, let them get a bottle of William Cairnes & Son’s Drogheda strong ale, and I will vouch for an ‘encore.’

The Whiskey & Allied Trade Review via The Drogheda Argus - October 1897

If there is one enduring misconception about Irish brewing it’s the often perpetuated myth that breweries in Ireland really only ever brewed stout and red ale, or variants of both of these beers. This impression is somewhat understandable given the behemothic effect that one brand of stout has had on the beer drinkers of the country and indeed the world, plus the clever-if-duplicitous branding of certain so-called 'Irish Red Ales' - a relatively new term in the present interpretation of the style at least.  This is compounded by the apathy shown by much of the beercentric population, exacerbated by the utter decimation of most of our regional breweries, plus the neglection of our true brewing history by the latter decades of the 20th century. I doubt most Irish people - let alone those who live beyond our shores - know that in the not-too-distant past there was a wide range of ales brewed in Ireland, although admittedly on a much smaller scale than porter and its extended family.

Thankfully, in the last few decades, the country has started to rediversify into those styles again due to the many microbreweries which have sprouted up across the land but - as noted - this is just a return to the norm of our brewing past, and back to a time when there were many more breweries in Ireland, some of whom were brewing a range of styles to rival or beat many of the world’s breweries of that era. In short, there was a fine selection of Irish-brewed pale and non-red ales of different styles available to our ancestors, as well as other variants, and this is perfectly exemplified by this invoice from Cairnes Brewery in Drogheda from 1940.

The Cairnes Brewery started life as the James’s Street Brewery and commenced brewing on the 6th of October 1826, with their first beers being a pale butt and a table beer, followed a month later by a strong ale. Its proprietor William Cairnes had previously been in business - since 1813 - with John Woolsey at the Castlebellingham brewery and had married into the Woolsey and Bellingham family, but that partnership was dissolved in the same year that William set up his own brewery in Drogheda town, with John Woolsey continuing to brew on the original site. In April 1890 both breweries merged to become the Castlebellingham and Drogheda Breweries Limited and were brewing in both locations. The former brewery ceased production in 1923 with all brewing moving to the Drogheda site. The company changed its name to Cairnes Ltd in late 1933 and finally ceased brewing in 1959 when the brewing arm was sold to Guinness controlled Cherry-Cairnes (Distributors) Ltd, a company originally set up to market Phoenix ale.

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 A run through of the ales available from the brewery shows what would be seen as an excellent range in many an English brewery at this time, but was relatively extensive for an Irish one - especially this late in our brewing history.

So what exactly were these beers?

The eponymously named ‘Cairnes’ was their standard draught and bottled ale and was described as pale or golden - not red by any means - with a delicate flavour in advertisements from this era, so perhaps akin to and X ale or a pale mild, and indeed they brewery had exactly such a beer – a ‘Mild Ale’ - in its range a few decades earlier.

‘No. 1 Strong’ may be a version of the older strong mild ale or 'Drogheda Ale' from from a previous era and earlier advertisements. There appears to be no mention of its colour in common sources but an entry on its chemical composition in a Dublin science journal* seems to show it was over 8% abv and it would not be unreasonable to assume this version was the same or similar strength, and it was even mentioned as ‘3 XXX’ [sic] as late as 1950 in a newspaper writeup on the brewery. An advertisement from 1885 shows that Cairnes were brewing an ‘XX Stout Strong Ale (Mild)’ which it would be nice to think was a variant of the same or similar beer, with stout meaning strong here as distinct from the newer connotations of the term. Mild in this case seems to refer to the taste, which it often did in this country and certainly at that time, although it can also mean a fresher or newer beer.

Stingo was a touted as an Irish Winter Ale and advertisements** from around this time state it was brown in colour, but no mention is made of its strength or taste other than it sharpening the appetite, helping digestion and being refreshing, which might imply it was dry and relatively well hopped? Cairnes appear to be the only Irish brewery to ever brew this style of beer in Ireland under that name, which is often used in England, although how close the Irish version was to the English one is difficult to know.

The name ‘E. I. Bitter’ - East India Bitter - most likely refers to their interpretation of an IPA, a version of which they were brewing for several decades, and back in 1885 it was being advertised as an ‘X Stout East India [Ale]. (Bitter)’ and in 1900 as just ‘E I Bitter Ale’ as per our invoice. Curiously just three years later in 1903 in another advertisement they were brewing a beer under the same name plus one called an India Pale Ale. To add further confusion, in 1905 they had alongside their IPA an ‘I. E. Ale (Dinner) but it’s worth noting that advertisements such as these are not always an accurate representation of the actual output of a brewery. India Pale Ale was a style that was quite common in other breweries in Ireland too, so well before the modern resurgence of this type of beer there were plenty of Irish IPAs.

The Nut Brown ale of which, according to our invoice, Mr. Hughes purchased a half barrel is a bit of an enigma as there are very few mentions of such a style in Ireland, although they were certainly brown ales available other than the Stingo mentioned above. Findlater’s Mountjoy brewery made one in the 1950s, and there is a bottle label showing a ‘Mellifont Brown Ale’ - which may be connected to the Cairnes brewery - in circulation too. This is yet another style that is associated with English breweries so it is of interest to see it represented on this side of the water too. Sadly again we know little about it apart from the colour and that it was definitely being brewed at this time.

Pale Ale is next on our list and was probably a lighter version of the I E Bitter and a little stronger than the next brew the Dinner Ale. which was a light and refreshing beer that was served with meals. There appears to be little record of the exact qualities of these two beers from the Cairnes’ stable but they certainly seem to have existed, possibly giving seven ales - plus three porters/stouts - being made by the brewery in the 1930s and early 1940s, although possibly not for much longer than this in truth.

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Irish ales had a hard time competing with the popularity of porter in Ireland from the mid to late 18th century onwards, and that issue along with the availability of Scottish and English ales - especially Bass - over here meant that it was an extremely competitive marketplace, with too many brands vying for too few customers. Eventually Smithwick’s, as a brand, won the ale battle with its new kegged draught ale, giving the consumer what it seems they wanted by the latter half of the 20th century.

But back in the day, we brewed pale - and brown - ales, and that's worth emphasising.

Liam K

*The Composition of Drogheda Ale – The Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science Vol. II 1862 - Page 174 (14.3% proof spirit = 8.15% abv, which is 57% of the proof for UK and Ireland in some sources but this may be incorrect?)

** My own post

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 photograph and invoice itself are the authors own and cannot be used elsewhere without the author's permission. Newspaper research was thanks to The British Newspaper Archive, and other sources are as credited or linked. DO NOT STEAL THIS CONTENT!