 | |
| Location | Galway |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°16′22.5″N 9°3′24.1″W / 53.272917°N 9.056694°W |
| Founded | 1846 (on the site of an existing distillery) |
| Status | Defunct |
| No. of stills | 3 pot stills (16,000, 6,000, and 10,000 gallons) |
| Capacity | 400,000 gallons per annum (1886) |
| Mothballed | 1915 |
Nun's Island Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery which operated in Galway, Ireland, from at least 1815, and possibly as early as the late 1700s, until circa 1908.[1][2]
At its peak, in the late 1800s, output at the distillery reached 400,000 gallons per annum, and with a workforce of over 100, the distillery was one of the largest local employers.[3] Owned by the Persse family from the 1840s onwards, the distillery produced single pot still whiskey known as Persse's Galway Whiskey. The whiskey was sold locally in Connacht, where for much of the 1800s, Nun's Island was the only licensed distillery.[3] However, it was also exported, and is said to have been a sold to the British House of Commons, a fact proudly noted on their labels.[3]
Production at the distillery ceased circa 1908, with the remaining stocks wound down off over several few years.
A bottle of Persse's whiskey was placed for auction in 2002 with a reserve price of £100,000 - however, it failed to sell. The bottle later sold for £3,300 in 2014.[4]
- ^ "Persse's Galway Whiskey - The History". Persse's Galway Whiskey. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Joyce Family Timeline". Tribe Joyce Network.
- ^ a b c Townsend, Brian (1999). The Lost Distilleries of Ireland. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing. ISBN 9781897784877.
- ^ McNamara, Denise (9 April 2014). "Hundred year old Galway whiskey sells for £3,300 at auction". Connacht Tribune. Connacht Tribune Group. Retrieved 25 July 2024.