Midleton in County Cork has a new heritage centre which aims to tell the story of Irish Whiskey.
The £2.5m heritage centre devoted to telling the story of Irish whiskey is an 11 acre complex is built on the site of the old Jamerson distillery in Midleton in East Cork. It is expected to attract 50,000 visitors annually. Visitors to the centre will find out how Irish whiskey is made, and discover
Why Irish should supersede Scotch as the biggest selling whiskey in the world.
In advance of the official opening by the Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, some 13,000 people, 60% of them from overseas, have already visited the Midleton museum.
The heritage centre aims to boost the sales of Irish whiskey abroad as it is not yet well known internationally. Irish whiskey was once the biggest selling whiskey in the world but it lost it’s position in the market due to a number of factors. During World War II Irish whiskey was held back on the market allowing Scotch whisky to take over.
The Old Midleton Distillery was established in 1794. In 1975 a more modern distillery was constructed. The two main whiskey ingredients whiskey, barley and water are plentiful in the Munster area.
The commemoration of alcohol may come under criticism as it potentially damaging to health and causes drunkenness. However on the positive side
Whiskey is good for a person, as long, as I suppose, like everything else, as long as you take it in moderation, and you can enjoy it.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 June 1992. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
