Ireland is our anchor and however far we stray, it tells all how far we’ve come...
Ireland has a long and proud history of drinks manufacture.
- Three Irish spirit products hold special protection under a geographical indication or GI: Irish Whiskey, Irish Cream and Irish Poitín. The same special status as Champagne in France.
- There are now 50 operational Irish Whiskey distilleries, over 40 Irish gin producers and 8 facilities producing Irish Cream across the country.
- Irish Whiskey has celebrated 700-year anniversary of the first known written account of distillation in Ireland. The reference is contained in the ancient vellum manuscript the Red Book of Ossory produced in Kilkenny in Latin and Old French in 1324. The Red Book also contains the first written mention of aqua vitae, which became uisce beatha in Irish, and when anglicised, became whiskey. Irish Whiskey is one of the oldest spirit drinks in Europe.
- The harp, which serves as the emblem of GUINNESS®, is based on a famous 14th century Irish harp known as the "O'Neill" or "Brian Boru" - you will notice the same emblem on coinage in the Republic of Ireland but in reverse... Guinness had trademarked the harp symbol in 1876 and the Irish Free State Government of 1922.
- The Heineken brewery in Cork operates on the site of the Lady’s Well brewery founded by James J Murphy in 1856, continuing a proud history of brewing in Cork City.