Marlfield Distillery

Defunct Irish whiskey distillery

Marlfield DistilleryLocation| Marlfield

|

Founded| 1817
Founder| John Stein & Co.
Status| Defunct
Water source| St. Patrick's Well[1]
No. of stills| In 1856: 2 pot stills (9,980 gallon Wash still, 5,890 gallon Low Wines still), 1 Coffey Still (2,000 gallons per hour)[2]
Mothballed| 1856

Marlfield Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery which operated in the village of Marlfield, just outside of Clonmel, Ireland between approximately 1817 and 1856.[3][4]

The majority of the distillery buildings have since been demolished, aside from those adjacent to Distillery House, which is still extant.[5]

## History

[edit]

The distillery was established in 1817 by a business consortium which included members of the Steins, a noted family of distillers from Scotland. The firm traded as “John Stein & Co.”, named for the principal of the firm, though operations at the distillery were overseen by John’s brother Andrew.[3] Others likely to have had a stake in the firm, though not necessarily when it was founded, include John Brown, John Murray, and Richard Sparrow.[6][7][8]

The distillery was located in an old mill which the firm had converted for distilling purposes.[5] In 1818, it is recorded as producing 8,268 proof gallons per week using a 500 gallon pot still.[9][10] By 1826, output had risen to 396,599 gallons per annum.[11]

In 1834, the partnership was dissolved, with John Murray, one of the partners assuming control of the company, which subsequently traded under “John Murray & Co.”[12][13]

In 1836, Marlfield Whiskey is recorded as selling in Clonmel Market for about 7 shillings a gallon.[14]

By 1838, the distillery then thriving, though output figures are not available, is known to have employed 150 people and consumed nearly 90,000 barrels of malt barley per annum.[15]

In 1846, during the height of the Great Famine, the Distillery is noted to have sold Indian Corn Meal to its labourers at 14 pence a stone, at a time when others were selling it to the public at 2 shillings (24 pence) a stone.[16]

In 1850, the distillery was taken over by members of the famous Jameson distilling dynasty from Dublin.[3][15] Henry Jameson, the son of John Jameson founder of Jameson Irish Whiskey,[17] who resided in Marlfield for some time,[18] and is mentioned in several newspaper articles in connection with the distillery at the time likely took charge of the distillery at that point.[4] However, the business appears to have continued to trade under the name of “John Murray & Co.”

In August 1856, it was announced that the distillery was to be dismantled, the materials sold, and the buildings put up for lease.[19][4] The plant and equipment, which included pumps, two pot stills, a Coffey still, vats, 15 draft horses, and Berkshire breeding sows, were advertised for sale by private contract in August 1856.[2] A separate newspaper advert from the time listed the buildings for lease, with corn stores and paper milling being given as suggested uses for the buildings.[4] The distillery’s fire engine was purchased by the local Corporation of Clonmel.[20][21]

Marlfield Whiskey continued to be sold locally for a number of years after the distillery closed, while the remaining stocks of whiskey were wound down.[22][23]

## See also

[edit]

* Irish Whiskey

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "A Tale Of Marlfield - Card Playing". The Waterford News. 6 September 1867.
2. ^ a b "Marlfield Distillery". Waterford News. 1 August 1856.
3. ^ a b c "Stein Tree Ancestry Site". MyHeritage.com. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
4. ^ a b c d "Marlfield Distillery". Dublin Evening Mail. 14 November 1856.
5. ^ a b "Marlfield Local Area Plan (LAP) 2006" (PDF). Tipperaryinfo.ie. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
6. ^ "Deaths". Dublin Monitor. 4 December 1838.
7. ^ "Marriages". Newry Telegraph. 28 July 1838.
8. ^ The First Ten Reports of the Commissioner of Excise Inquiry. HMSO. 1835.
9. ^ Morewood, Samuel (1838). A philosophical and statistical history...of inebriating liquors... W. Curry, jun. and company.
10. ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1818). Parliamentary papers. HMSO.
11. ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1827). Accounts and Papers Four Volumes -(1.)- Relating to Assessed Taxes; Stamps; Rates of Duties; Customs and Excise; Beer, Hops, and Malt; Spirits; The Distilleries. HMSO.
12. ^ "Provincial Intelligence". Dublin Morning Register. 10 October 1834.
13. ^ "Seed Barley". Tipperary Free Press. 7 April 1849.
14. ^ "Clonmel Markets". Tipperary Free Press. 26 November 1836.
15. ^ a b Townsend, Brian (1997–1999). The Lost Distilleries of Ireland. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing. ISBN 9781897784877.
16. ^ "County Tipperary". Dublin Evening Post. 29 October 1846.
17. ^ "Henry Marsh Septimus Jameson". FamousJamesons.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
18. ^ Phipps, William Pownoll (1894). The Life of Colonel Pownoll Phipps. London: Richard Bentley & Son. p. 175.
19. ^ "Commercial Intelligence". The Cork Daily Reporter. 5 August 1856.
20. ^ "From our Clonmel Correspondent". Limerick Reporter. 19 December 1856.
21. ^ "Gleamings from our Exchanges". Waterford Chronicle. 20 December 1856.
22. ^ "Sale of Old Whiskey". Waterford Mail. 20 August 1869.
23. ^ "Unreserved Auction". Cork Examiner. 18 October 1864.

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