492 



THE BREWING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 



Speaker of the House of Commons in i/'gi, the amount of beer brewed in 

 Ireland was about 400,000 barrels, and the amount imported was about 

 100,000 barrels. As the population was probably about 4,200,000, the aver- 

 age consumption per head of population would appear to have been less than 

 one-eighth of a barrel ; but this estimate can be but little more than a very 

 rough approximation. According to the returns quoted by Newenham in 

 the book previously mentioned, the production of beer in Ireland in 1808 

 was 751,000 barrels, the net imports amounted to 1,755 barrels, and the 

 population has been estimated at about 5,500,000. These figures show- 

 that the average consumption per head was slightly under one-seventh of 

 a barrel, or just about five gallons ; but it must be remembered that Newen- 

 ham very emphatically declares that the production was under estimated, and 

 that the actual amount of beer made was about half as much again as the 

 amount given in the returns. The difficulty of estimating the consumption in 

 later years, arising primarily, as already pointed out, from lack of accurate 

 information as to the production of beer, is complicated by the fact that no 

 official record is kept of the cross-channel trade between England and 

 Ireland. - So long as separate accounts were kept by England and Ireland, 

 and their revenues administered by separate Treasuries, it was indispensable 

 that customs and excise duties should be levied in the country where the 

 dutiable article was consumed, and consequently it was necessary to keep 

 an exact account of the cross-channel trade. When the revenues of Great 

 Britain and Ireland became consolidated in 1817, new regulations were 

 frcimed whereby all payment and repayment of duties in the cross-channel 

 trade were to cease, except in the case of articles which were subject to 

 different rates of duties. As a result of this change, accounts of the quan- 

 tities of articles shipped from Great Britain to Ireland, and vice versa, ceased 

 to be kept after 1825-6, and beyond the shipping lists of certain ports, 

 there is no official data available since that date for measuring the inter- 

 change of articles between Great Britain and Ireland nor consequently 

 for measuring the consumption in the two countries, except in the case 

 of spirits, which can be moved only under the permit system, and in the 

 case of live stock, statistics as to the exportation and importation of which 

 have been collected for a considerable period by the Veterinary Office 

 (now merged in the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction 

 for Ireland). The result is that no accurate statement can be made as to the 

 exports and imports of beer. 



The following Table shows the amount of beer brewed in Ireland, in 

 1861, 1871, 1882, 1891, and 1901, the population in Ireland in each of these 

 years, and the amount brewed in each year per head of population. 



* Estimated. 



The consumption of beer per head was, of course, less than the amount 

 brewed, for the quantity of beer exported from Ireland has for a long time 



