Cork Distilleries Company was an

Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...

distilling company. It was formed in 1867, when four Cork distilleries, Daly's, the Green,

North Mall North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, the Watercourse were amalgamated under one company to form the Cork Distilleries Company. In 1868, these were joined by another Cork distillery, James Murphy's Midleton Distillery. The company existed until 1966, when the Cork Distilleries Company merged with two other Irish distillers, John Powers & Son and John Jameson & Son, to form

Irish Distillers Irish Distillers is a subsidiary of the French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard. It is the largest distiller of Irish whiskey, distilling popular brands such as Jameson and Powers, in addition to premium whiskeys such as Redbreast and Midleto ...

. The company produced

Paddy Whiskey Paddy is a brand of blended Irish whiskey produced by Irish Distillers, at the Midleton distillery in County Cork, on behalf of Sazerac, a privately held American company. Irish Distillers owned the brand until its sale to Sazerac in 2016. As of ...

, and

Cork Dry Gin Cork Dry Gin is an Irish gin. First produced in Cork in the Watercourse Distillery circa 1793. Since 1975, Cork Dry Gin has been manufactured by Irish Distillers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, at their Midleton Distillery. Cork Dry Gin is th ...

among other products.

History

In the mid-1800s, the Irish whiskey industry underwent a period of turmoil, with the

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

movement of the 1830s, and the Great Famine of the 1840s reducing domestic demand for whiskey. At the time, Cork was home to several distilleries, therefore, in the 1860s, James Murphy, the owner of the Midleton distillery, suggested amalgamating the operations of several local distilleries. The other distilleries agreed, so in 1867, Cork Distilleries Company (CDC) was formed, with Murphy at the helm. In 1867, CDC took control of four Cork distilleries:

, The Green, the Watercourse and Daly's, and a year later Midleton Distillery also joined. The years that followed its formation saw some rationalisation, with distilling ceasing at Daly's Distillery in 1869, and at the Green in the 1870s. Though both continued to be used as warehouses by the Cork Distilleries Company for several years. The Watercourse Distillery was also mothballed in the mid-1880s, so that by the turn of the century, only two of CDC's five distilleries, the North Mall and Midleton -remained in production. In 1920, a fire broke out at the North Mall distillery, completely destroying its five-storey mill, and causing significant damage to most, if not all of the production buildings. Had the Irish whiskey industry not been in the midst of a crisis, with most distilleries enduring severe financial hardship, the distillery might have been rebuilt. However, facing an uncertain economic outlook, a decision was taken to concentrate production at Midleton, rather than to renovate the North Mall Distillery. In 1966, with the Irish distilleries still facing an uncertain future, CDC merged with two of the other remaining Dublin distilleries, John Jameson & Son. and John Powers & Son., to form

References

{{Irish whiskey 1867 establishments in Ireland 1966 disestablishments in Ireland Defunct distilleries in Ireland County Cork