The distillery was located close to Newbridge Street on the River Cam-Cor (meaning ‘crooked weir’). The three storey, quadrangular distillery was a substantial distillery at one stage with an annual output of 200,000 US gal (760,000 L; 170,000 imp gal), but not much is known about it today.[2]
History
There were five distilleries in County Offaly, but by 1818 there were only two in operation which were both located at Birr.
[3] In the late 1840s, one of the distilleries closed, and the other was purchased by the Wallace Brothers who are only known by their initials R and J.
[3] Birr Distillery consisted of a malting floor, kiln and mill, mash tun, still room, spirit store and bonded warehouse.[4]
The Wallace brothers kept Birr Distillery in business up to 1889 until a fire broke out and put an end to the distillery. A worker fell asleep and the friction caused by the millstone ignited the surrounds. As the fire spread, casks exploded and there are reports that state "the whiskey flowed in a flaming mass down the Camcor River, turning it into a great swirling and flaming Christmas pudding."[2]
In the 1990s, it was bought by an English family who converted it to a summer house, while the other buildings across the river were converted into apartments.[2]
