THE BREWING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 485 



i860, who also owned the Monasterevan Distillery and anticipated that 



the high duty put on whiskey and the consequent 



Monasterevan. increase in price, would cause less demand for 



whiskey, and that the people would drink ale and 



porter instead. The present proprietors are Messrs. Robert and Edward 



Cassidy, who buy barley largely from the farmers in the neighbourhood, 



and make it into malt, which is used by the firm for the manufacture of 



whiskey and ale and porter. While Cassidy's pot-still whiskey is a well 



known and popular trade article in Dublin and the country, the trade of the 



brewery is more local. 



The firm of Messrs. P. and H. Egan, Ltd., Brewers and Maltsters, Tulla- 

 more, was founded in 1852, and in 1896 was converted 

 Tullamore. into a Limited Liability Company, with a capital of 



;6^8o,ooo. The output of the brewery chiefly consists of 

 mild and bitter ales. A considerable trade is done both locally and 

 in the West and South of Ireland. Strange to say, they also send some ale 

 to Scotland. They have the advantage of being in a barley growing dis- 

 trict which is second to none, and they purchase from the farmers about 

 20,000 barrels annually. Besides the brewing business the Company is also 

 engaged in malting, and in a wholesale wine and spirit business, and mineral 

 water manufacture. No less than seven breweries, which forn-erly existed 

 within a 20 mile radius of Tullamore, viz., at Tullamore, Mullingar, Athlone, 

 Birr, Mountmellick, Kilbeggan, and Rosenalis, have been closed within the 

 last twenty years. 



The Creywell Brewery, owned by Messrs. Cherry Bros., is the only 

 brewery at present working in New Ross, three 

 New Ross. having been shut up during the last half century. 



Originally built for a distillery, the Creywell Brewery 

 was acquired over seventy years ago by the ancestors of the present pro- 

 prietors, who furnish another instance of the hereditary nature of the 

 brewing trade in Ireland. The buildings occupy about five acres of ground, 

 and are equipped with all modem appliances. The firm also work a mineral 

 water factory, and for both businesses they have the great advantage of a 

 supply of water which is said to be of unsurpassable quality. 



The only brewery at present working in the town of Wexford is that 



owned by Messrs. Wickham and Co., although fifty 



Wexford. years ago there were no less than six breweries in full 



work in this neighbourhood. Wickham' s brewery is 



one of the most ancient in the district, having been established over a 



century ago. The premises are centrally situated in Main-street, and 



extend in the rere to the Quay. The brewing plant is modern and is of 



ten quarter capacity, the machinery being driven by a steam engine, and all 



the necessary facilities are provided for cask washing, etc. Adjoining the 



brewery are extensive maltings, and there are also bottling houses and 



stores. 



The Mill Park Brewery in Enniscorthy is owned by Mr. George Lett, 

 and was established seventy years ago by the Pounder 

 „ . ,, family, whose interest was purchased in 1864 by the 



iiinniscortny. ancestors of the present proprietor. The building is 

 equipped with a modern plant, and the beer is brewed 

 from the best malt and hops only. In recent years a mineral water factory- 

 has been established by the proprietor of the brewery. 



