Analyis: the colourful tale of a 'dynamite' drink starring monks, King Henry VIII, public drunkenness, taxes and secret mountain stashes
Ask most people from Ireland (especially Donegal, Mayo or Galway) about poitín and you will be told that it is illegal, or you'll be given a knowing nod and a wink and then told a story about a mysterious farmer who makes it. Poitín is surround by myths and folklore, but many people don’t know that this clear spirit can be legally produced under licence. Irish Poteen/Irish Poitín is one of three Irish drinks that has been awarded geographical Indicator status by the European Commission alongside Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur.
Since it has geographical Indicator approval, Irish Poitín must comply with specific guidelines. According to technical file, "Irish Poteen/Irish Poitín" distillate is a clean, clear spirit that is light, smooth and robust in character. It retains the flavours and aromas from the original raw materials used and the production process. This can include raw cereal, cooked grain, fruity esters and spice. Modern day "Irish Poteen/Irish Poitín" has a minimum of 40% alcoholic strength by volume, with some products as high as 90%.
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From RTÉ 2fm's Louise McSharry Show, is Poitín the next big thing?
But how did all these myths, stories and songs about this uniquely Irish spirit start? Poitín's origins can be traced to other spirts that were historically produced in monasteries in Ireland. The monks fermented beer made from local grains, distilled it, and called the resulting spirit aqua vite, the Latin for the water of life, or in Irish uisce beatha, which is the etymological root for the word whiskey that we use today.
The monks used this distillate liberally as a disinfectant, to ease aches and muscle pain and as a treatment for every illness under the sun from colic to smallpox. Along the way, people started to discover and enjoy its inebriating qualities. The practice of distillation continued in monastic settlements until King Henry VIII of England dissolved the monasteries in 1536 and distilling moved beyond the confines of the clergy. By then, people were using this distilled spirit as a recreational drink and not just as a medicine.
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From RTÉ Archives, Newsbeat reporter Cathal O'Shannon gets a demonstration of how poitín is made from Newmarket Poteen Festival organiser Michael Flanagan in 1970
This raised no eyebrows until traveling Englishmen reported drunkenness and unruly behaviour in the Kingdom of Ireland. To curb this antisocial behaviour, it was decided at a parliament at Drogheda in 1556 that a licence was required to afford individuals the right to make, distil or sell aqua vitae.
Such licences were given to the wealthy and powerful. Irish farmers did not have the money or interest in buying a licence from the crown, so they continued to distil from oats and barley and other grains from their farms and sell this unaged spirit illicitly. They distilled in small pots made from copper or tin. Copper made the best spirit, but tin was cheaper, lighter and easily made and fixed by tinsmiths who travelled door to door fixing household utensils. In much the same way as pancakes and casseroles take their names from the dishes in which they are cooked in, these little pots, poitín in Irish, became the name of the spirit.
It gradually dawned on the powers-that-be that alcohol was a substance that could generate significant revenue. After the Cromwellian wars and the English civil war, the English Kingdom required more funds so taxation, specifically on alcohol, was deemed to be the solution.
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From RTÉ Archives, Jim Fahy reports for RTÉ News on a Garda operation finding and destroying illegal poteen making equipment on Connemara islands in 1985
In 1661 the Journals of the Irish House of Commons recorded "the desire' of the House that a Bill might be prepared and transmitted into England for creating excise and taxation on production of alcohol". After some delays in England, the bill was forwarded to Ireland finally, to receive "the royal assent" in December 1662.
A pivotal aspect of this legislation was the provision which allowed for the appointment of Revenue Commissioners. Like their modernday equivalents, these commissioners did their jobs very well and the Irish revenue from excise was enormous between 1662 and 1682. By 1678, the Irish government was contributing £97,000 per annum towards the navy and the maintenance of the Tangiers garrison, approximately €8m in today’s currency.
The fear of taxation drove illegal distillers to places that were difficult to access like the hills of Mayo and north to the Inishowen peninsula and Poitín became known as mountain dew. In 1785, the government realised that they were losing a vast amount of revenue to illegal trade and passed another act to make all unlicenced private distillation illegal. Large distillers received licences and were forced to pay duty while others had their equipment sized and destroyed to curtail illicit production.
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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News report on a Garda raid on poteen makers in Co Limerick in 1962
But this did not stop the Poitín distillers. During the period of the Penal Laws from 1695, an elaborate network of lookout posts was established, and these communication systems were kept in place to warn distillers of approaching officers.
The lack of regulations for illegal distilling also meant there were health risks associated with consuming the spirit. It was reported in The Telegraph (Connaught Ranger) in May 1842 that a ‘shocking discovery’ was made by police searching for Poitín through the mountains of Barnes. Two men were found in a an operational stillhouse, one ‘insensible’ from intoxication and the other ‘quite dead’. Two phrases that we use today are associated with Poitín distillation: ‘dead drunk’ where someone is so intoxicated that they seem dead until examined and ‘waking the dead’ as in some cases after a day or so the person would wake from intoxication.
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From RTÉ Doc on One, Drop of the Craythur is Pat Feeley's 1976 documentary on poitín production
Poitín production was certainly profitable. According to one estimation in 1854, an illicit distiller who was good at his job was could make a pound sterling for each day’s work (just over €180 today) and accounts of illegal Poitín finds continued well into the 20th century. The Irish News reported in 1927 that rural farmer T. Lynn was only using the Poitín he was caught with as a cure for rheumatism. The judge fined him four pounds and suggested to ‘rub himself with pure, legal whiskey in future’. American troops in Northern Ireland during the Second World War were issued with a pocket guide which included a warning that ‘up in the hills you may be offered an illicit concoction known as potheen. Watch it. It is dynamite’.
Poitín is an important part of Irish beverage history. With the increase interest in Irish distilling in the last ten years there has been a resurgence of legal Poitín producers creating a spirit that is modern, accessible and versatile. With this new version of the spirit, it has keep the history alive while creating a spirit that the island can be proud to produce.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
