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Distillery Dream Becoming A Reality

Carlow, Ireland

Ground Breaking Work Begins At Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Royal Oak, December 2012 – Progress moves on with Walsh Whiskey Distillery as their new World Class Distillery begins construction.  Kilkenny firm Duggan Lynch begin preparation work on the site of their craft Irish whiskey distillery at Royal Oak, Carlow.  This construction phase will provide up to 70 jobs over its 18 month development phase and is scheduled to be fully completed in the Spring of 2016, while the production of whiskey will begin earlier than that in 2015.

This will see a remarkable move in Irish whiskey as all three types of whiskey will be made under the one roof for the first time, namely Malt, Pot and Grain.

The founder Bernard Walsh was to say, “It is fantastic to see this happening as it is a boost to the local area, to Walsh Whiskey and to Irish whiskey.  We look forward to seeing the first new make spirit from the Distillery in the very near future.”

Located on an 18th century estate comprising 40 acres of pastoral land, the craft distillery will feature:

  • Two production lines, incorporating three copper stills (three pot and one twin column ‘Coffey’ still) sourced from Forsyth’s, the world leaders in whiskey still production.
  • The building materials used will be sympathetic to the environs. The buildings are being roofed in slate roof in keeping with Holloden House, copper fittings and oak trim will also be applied.
  • The development will include two maturation houses with capacity for 60,000 barrels. The warehouses will be clad in green and creeper plants trained up the walls.
  • The estate’s roadways will be sunken to limit visibility.
  • None of Royal Oak’s seven species of oak tree and other species including Beech, Sycamore, Ash and Chestnut) will be felled as a result of the construction process.
  • A stone wall restoration program will also be implemented.

Essential maintenance and renovation work is already underway on the 18th century Holloden House through M&S Construction headed by Stewart Gittins. The house, which dates back to c.1760, will form part of the visitor experience for the 75,000 annual whiskey tourists expected by 2021.