Jameson Distillery Bow St. facts for kids

The Jameson Distillery Bow St. is a popular place to visit in Dublin, Ireland. It is located near Smithfield Square. This distillery is where Jameson Irish Whiskey was first made. It operated here until 1971. Today, it is a fun visitors centre. You can take guided tours and learn about whiskey. There is also a bar called JJs and a gift shop.

History of the Distillery

The distillery on Bow Street started in 1780. It was first called the Bow Street Distillery. In 1805, a man named John Jameson took full control. He had been the general manager before. He worked to make the distillery much bigger.

By 1810, the distillery had a new official name. It was called John Jameson & Son’s Bow Street Distillery. The place grew very large over the years. By 1886, it covered more than 5 acres (2 hectares).

The Bow Street distillery in 1887, showing how large it had become.

Many people said it was like a "city within a city." This meant it had everything needed to run the business. The distillery had its own workshops. These included a smithy for metalwork. There was also a cooperage for making barrels. They even had saw mills and shops for engineers. Carpenters, painters, and coppersmiths worked there too.

The distillery got its water from two deep wells. These wells were dug right under the site. Large cellars were built under nearby streets. These were used to store the whiskey as it aged. The distillery used huge stills to make the whiskey. Each still could hold 24,000 gallons (109,000 litres). They were heated by fire and steam.

Challenges and Changes

The Jameson distillery faced some tough times. One big challenge was American Prohibition. This was a time when making and selling alcohol was against the law in America. Ireland also had a difficult trade war with Great Britain. This made it hard to sell products. Also, a new type of Scotch blended whiskey became popular. This made things even harder for Jameson.

Because of these problems, the Jameson distillery struggled. In 1966, they decided to team up with other companies. They joined with their old rivals, the Cork Distilleries Company and John Power & Son. Together, they formed the Irish Distillers Group. This helped them survive.

However, the Bow Street distillery eventually closed. It was one of the last distilleries in Ireland to shut down. This happened in 1971. All the whiskey making then moved to a new place. This new place was the New Midleton Distillery.

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