| Location | Wexford |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°19′50.2″N 6°27′54.3″W / 52.330611°N 6.465083°W |
| Founded | 1827 |
| Founder |
|
| Status | Defunct |
| Water source | Bishop's Water Stream |
| No. of stills | 3 pot stills (9,000, 11,000, 18,000 gallons) [1] |
| Capacity | 250,000 gallons per annum (1909) [2] |
Bishop's Water Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery which operated in Wexford, Ireland between 1827 and 1914.[3] The distillery was named for a stream which ran along the back of the distillery, the Bishop's Water, said to possess "various occult properties derived from the blessings of the sainted Bishop of Ferns".[4][1][5]
Constructed at a cost of £30,000, the distillery was reported to be “reckoned the most perfect and complete of the kind in Ireland”.[6] In 1833, just a few years after it opened, the distillery recorded an output of about 200,000 gallons per annum .[3] However, output had fallen to just 110,000 gallons per annum in 1886, when the distillery was visited by Alfred Barnard, as recorded in his seminal 1887 publication "The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom".[1] This was amongst the lowest output of any distillery operating in Ireland at the time,[3] and far below the potential output of 250,000 gallons per annum reported when the distillery was offered for sale as a going concern in 1909.[2] The distillery's whiskey, Barnard noted, was highly appreciated locally, and in the British cities where it was exported.
In the early 20th century, with the Irish whiskey industry in decline, Bishop's Water distillery, like the majority of distilleries in Ireland at the time, suffered serious financial difficulties, and entered bankruptcy.[3] Following its closure, the distillery was initially converted into an iron works (Pierce Ironworks). However, much of the site was later demolished, and little evidence of the distillery still remains. Some mementos can still be found in locals pubs, while a stone archway known to have been extant in 1903 and now bearing the inscription "Casa Rio", possibly in reference to the location of a Pierce ironworks office in Buenos Aires,[7][8][9] marks the entrance to the site where the distillery once stood, on Distillery Road.[3][4]
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Barnard 1887was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Bishop's Water Distillery, Wexford". South Wales Daily News. 22 July 1909.
- ^ a b c d e Townsend, Brian (1997–1999). The Lost Distilleries of Ireland. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing. ISBN 9781897784877.
- ^ a b Murphy, Willie (Spring 2017). "Bishop's Water Distillery". Irish Whiskey Magazine (2): 78–83. ISSN 2009-9525.
- ^ Dublin, Cork, and South of Ireland: A Literary, Commercial, and Social Review. Cork: Stratten & Stratten. 1892. p. 312.
- ^ Tipperary Free Press. 28 February 1827.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Nicholas Devereux Distillery – Wexford". Irish Whiskey Society. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "County Wexford". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Main Record - County Wexford". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 14 February 2018.