The Distilling Industry in the Naas Revenue Collection District, 1700-1921
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CALICO TO WHISKEY: A CASE STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTILLING INDUSTRY IN THE NAAS REVENUE COLLECTION DISTRICT, 1700-1921 BY PATRICK GIVEN THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D. DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH AUGUST 2011 HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: PROFESSOR MARIAN LYONS SUPERVISORS OF RESEARCH: PROFESSOR RAYMOND GILLESPIE, DEPT. OF HISTORY, NUI MAYNOOTH PROFESSOR JAMES KELLY, HEAD OF DEPT. OF HISTORY, ST. PATRICK’S COLLEGE, DRUMCONDRA, DUBLIN The author gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the IRCHSS in funding this research ii Abstract This thesis demonstrates how the evolution and direction of the Irish distilling industry was determined by a number of influences including legislation, political expediency, revenue maximisation and technical advances. The relationship is shown by examining the growth, consolidation and eventual decline of the spirit distilling industry in the Naas revenue collection district. The thesis consists of a two-part examination of the subject. Part one discusses the major influences shaping Irish distilling. Part two seeks evidence for the effects of these influences in the history of distilling in the Naas revenue collection district. In part one the initial chapter examines the political origins of the excise while chapter two explores the country-wide administrative structures and enabling legislation which ensured the assessment of excise liabilities and the secure remittance of the resulting revenue to the treasury. Chapter three examines examples of the technology employed by the excise to support revenue collection. Part two of the thesis traces distilling in the Naas excise collection area. The initial chapter in this section (chapter four) is devoted to the eighteenth century when distilling consisted of many successful family-run craft concerns which later evolved into a smaller number of larger industrial-scale distilleries. The means by which the authorities managed the industry in the Naas excise collection are reviewed in chapter five, which examines the revenue administration in this area. The location of distilling enterprises during the nineteenth century is described in chapter six and the principle families involved are identified. Chapter seven provides an insight into the later nineteenth century when pressures concerning product specifications and quality emerged. These eventually led to the patenting of a novel distillation technique and so furthered demands for a legal definition for Irish whiskey. iii Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................. iii Contents .............................................................................................................. iv Preface ................................................................................................................. v List of charts ...................................................................................................... vii List of figures ................................................................................................... viii List of tables ....................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... x Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 PART ONE: The influences shaping Irish distilling, 1700-1850 ................ 14 Prologue ............................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1 Defining influences in the evolution of Ireland‘s excise .................. 18 Chapter 2 The formative impact of legislation on Irish distilling ..................... 66 Chapter 3 Securing excise revenue through technology ................................. 119 PART TWO: Distilling in the Naas revenue collection district ................ 174 Prologue .......................................................................................................... 175 Chapter 4 Eighteenth-century Irish artisanal distilling ................................... 178 Chapter 5 The Naas revenue collection district: an adaptive establishment ... 220 Chapter 6 Distilling in the early nineteenth-century Naas excise collection .. 277 Chapter 7 Epilogue, an innovative Irish spirit................................................. 324 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 365 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 372 iv Preface My curiosity regarding the history of Irish distilled products was initially awakened during forty years spent in the management and application of technology to the production of spirit-based beverages. Specifically, my work-related travel brought home to me the huge international standing of Irish whiskey and the very valuable and highly marketable franchise which that heritage bestows on the product. My subsequent research indicated that while justified commercial considerations and the unique longevity of spirit brands have protected the history and heritage of our major trade-marks, the full story of this inheritance remains incomplete. In particular, and in spite of some work on the history of the revenue aspects of distilling, substantial portions of the narrative of the very important early stages of the development of Irish whiskey remain unrecorded. This work is intended to assist in addressing that deficit. As considerations of family and career allowed me the opportunity to satisfy my appetite for a greater knowledge of history, I was fortunate to discover the committed team at the centre for adult and community education at NUI Maynooth. With the support and encouragement of Dr Ted Fleming and the ever-helpful Josephine Finn I graduated with a B.A. in Local Studies in 2006. Professor R.V. Comerford provided the initial encouragement and the supportive environment which led me to embark on doctoral study. On Professor Comerford‘s retirement and during my very enjoyable years of formal historical research, this valuable encouragement was unstintingly continued by Professor Marian Lyons and all her professional team at the History Department, NUI Maynooth. My research was enriched and made more fulfilling through the expert guidance and professional supervision of my joint supervisors, Professor Raymond Gillespie and v Professor James Kelly. Professor Kelly, as lead supervisor, has freely given of his expertise, professional support and valuable time to help me complete the thesis. I can unreservedly state that without Prof. Kelly‘s valued input this thesis would not have been possible. There were many others who supported me in completing this thesis and whose contribution I wish to acknowledge. The pressures of research and travel during the course of this work were considerably lessened by the generous award of an IRCHSS grant which I greatly appreciate and acknowledge. Because of the nature of the work I relied heavily on the support and assistance of many librarians and archivists. A glance at the bibliography will reveal the identity of the guardians of the repositories to whom I owe so much and where I was always welcome. I gratefully and freely acknowledge that assistance and cooperation which was always so forthcoming. I owe a particular debt of thanks to my daughters, grandchildren, son-in-law and special friends for their particularly important generosity, willing understanding and supportive encouragement. Through freely giving-up substantial amounts of our precious time together and particularly those interludes which otherwise would have been theirs to rightfully enjoy, they have contributed in a very special way to this work. vi List of charts Chart 2.1 Number of charges per period, 1779-1823 92 Chart 2.2 Irish distillery outputs, 1740-75 108 Chart 2.3 Irish distillery outputs, 1790-1815 118 Chart 4.1 Total number of stills licensed in Naas collection, 1768-82 180 Chart 4.2 Number of stills licensed in the Naas district by survey, 1782 181 Chart 4.3 Total number of stills licensed in Ireland 1766-1806 202 Chart 4.4 Total number of stills licensed in Naas collection, 1766-1806 203 Chart 4.5 Licensed stills in Ireland (ex Dublin and Cork), 1766-1806 204 Chart 4.6 Number of stills licensed in Dublin city and county, 1766-1806 205 Chart 4.7 Number of stills licensed in Cork excise collection, 1766-1806 206 Chart 4.8 Number of stills in each Naas survey area, 1782-1806 211 Chart 4.9 Spirit volumes produced in Ireland annually, 1720-1800 215 Chart 4.10 Monthly charges (500 gallon still) for the period, 1779-1806 216 Chart 4.11 Changes in Irish still capacities, 1782-1818 217 Chart 5.1 Irish revenue establishment quarterly costs, 1683-1707 235 Chart 5.2 Naas revenue quarterly establishment costs, 1683-1707 236 vii List of figures Figure 2.1 Nineteenth-century excise residence – west elevation 76 Figure 2.2 Combined deep and shallow stills in use in Scotland, c. 1800 87 Figure 3.1 Queen Anne Exchequer wine gallon of 1707 129 Figure 3.2 Glass bubbles for testing proof spirits, c. 1840-50 142 Figure 3.3 Clarke‘s hydrometer (c. 1815), with 140 weights 145 Figure 3.4 Illustration of an Irish pot-still c. 1908 157 Figure 3.5 Bramah padlock and key 167 Figure 3.6 Gottlieb‘s lock with label compartment,