THE BREWING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 483 



barley-growing district. Two of these breweries are in the town of Kilkenny 

 itself. The St. Francis Abbey Brewery, owned by 

 The Kilkenny Messrs. E. Smithwick and Sons, Ltd., was founded in 

 Breweries. 1710. It is now a Limited Liability Company with a 



capital of ;^75,000, and is situated in the centre of one 

 of the best barley-growing districts in Ireland, where the Smithwicks can 

 get an unlimited supply of the best raw material, of which they malt about 

 20,000 barrels per annum, and where there is a first rate supply of good brew- 

 ing water. There is nothing except the emigration from their neighbourhood 

 to prevent them making steady progress. Their trade is now to a great 

 extent confined to Kilkenny and the neighbouring counties, the great 

 extension of the tied house system in England having materially curtailed 

 their trade in that market. The Smithwicks bottle extensively and have an 

 enormous number of drays continuously delivering beer in wood and bottle 

 in the surrounding districts. 



The other Kilkenny brewery, known as the St. James-street Brewery was 

 established by the Archdekins in 1702, and was ultimately acquired in 18 10 

 by the Sullivan family who are the present proprietors. The brewery does 

 a large local business in ales and stouts and also has a considerable trade 

 in Belfast. The manufacture of mineral waters and hop bitters is also 

 carried on and affords employment to a large number of hands. These 

 mineral waters have a high reputation and command a ready sale in the 

 south-eastern counties. 



Waterford, like Kilkenny, has two breweries, and the name the town won 

 TVi -w f f H ^^^ brewing good beer dates back to the beginning of 

 ine waterrora ^j^^ century. Previous to that time the town 

 Breweries. depended upon London and Bristol for its supply 



of beer and porter, but at the end of the last century this was no 

 longer the case ; for an old writer of the period, referring to the brewery 

 under notice, states : — " A public brewery has been established in Waterford, 

 and brought to such perfection as to supersede the necessity of any importa- 

 tion from England, for the brewery is conducted upon a scale affording the 

 means of a considerable export of beer to Newfoundland, and latterly to 

 England, which is progressively increasing." Another writer, referring to 

 the various industries of Waterford, says : — " There is also a great 

 brewery in this town, where a capital nut-brown ale is manufactured, 

 but the fires of the distilleries have not survived Father Mathew's 

 Crusade." 



The brewery owned by Messrs. Davis, Strangman and Co. is a Limited 

 Liability Company, having a nominal capital of ;^i 50,000, of which ;£"ioo,ooo 

 has been subscribed in ;£"io shares. The Directors are Messrs. W. G. D. 

 Goff (Chairman), John Strangman, Samuel Strangman, H. W. D. Goff, 

 and E. A. Gibbon. Anthony Marmion, in his " History of the Maritime 

 Ports of Ireland," declares that Strangman's ale and porter are 

 held in high estimation, both at home and abroad. This brewery 

 was acquired by William Strangman and Company in 1792, and 

 in 1888 It was formed into a Limited Company. The buildings 

 are imposing, and every modern requisite to produce a first-class 

 article has been provided by the firm ; while their malt houses, cooperage, 

 cask washing sheds, industrial shops and stables altogether make this an 

 important provincial concern. Their malt house is a fine block of buildings, 



