Marrowbone Lane Distillery

The Jameson Family aquired Marrowbone Lane Distillery in Dublin in 1799. William Jameson, the son of the famous distiller John Jameson was in charge of running this distillery. Its annual output was then only about 135.000 litres of new make spirit. The Dublin Distilling Co. Ltd. invested and enlarged the production facilities raising the production to about 900.000 litres per year.

The whisky chronicler Alfred Barnard visited the distillery in Marrowbone Lane in 1886 : „In the Mash House are to be seen two Mash Tuns said to be the largest in the United Kingdom, each having a capacity of upwards of 100,000 gallons; sixteen spouts depending from the ceiling distribute the grist into the Mash Tuns, each of course, being provided with the ponderous stirring rakes, &c. From these vessels the liquor passes into two large Underbacks; from thence it is pumped by three-throw pumps through the Morton’s Refrigerator into the thirteen Washbacks, or fermenting vessels, some of which contain 100,000 imperial gallons; in fact, two or three of them are large enough to hold a two-storied villa, with a garden path round it included.

From these Washbacks the fermented worts are pumped into a Wash Charger out on the roof, and therefore above the level of the Stills; thence they run into the Wash Still in the usual course. There are four Old Pot Stills - no other kind being in use - with a capacity of 18,000, 12,000, 11,000, and 9,000 gallons respectively. From the Spirit Still the perfected spirit descends into an enormous Vat in the Spirit Stores, which holds 19,076 gallons.

There are nine Bonded Warehouses, capable of storing 35,000 casks; they contained at the time of our visit 21,000. The Warehouses are not only well ventilated, but are particularly dry, both important adjuncts to the preservation and maturation of the spirit.

The "Out" Warehouses of this firm, four in number, are situated in Liverpool Yard, North Wall, in the immediate vicinity of the shipping of the Port, and of the Goods’ Terminus of every railway entering Dublin, with one exception; in these Warehouses are constantly stored nearly 7,000 casks, maturing for the firm and their customers, and they have been most carefully attended to as regards temperature and ventilation.“ The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, pp. 372.

See full description: www.wormtub.com or Alfred Barnard. The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom.

In the publication Truths about Whisky is said that „...Messrs. Wm. Jameson and Co., has been in the possession of the family of the present proprietors since the year 1770. When purchased by their ancestor it was only a small undertaking; but from the superior quality of the Whisky which it produced, considerable enlargements soon became necessary. These enlargements were repeated from time to time...The corn stores are capable of contain- ing 30,000 barrels of sixteen stone each.The gfinding mills can turn out 150 tons of ground corn in twenty- four hours. The mash-house, or brew-house, contains two tuns, which are the largest in the kingdom, being upwards of forty feet in diameter and ten feet deep, besides brewing vats and boiling coppers. In the fermenting lofts there are thirteen fermenting vessels or backs, some of which will contain 100,000 imperial 5 gallons. The still-house is in proportion to the other arrangements, and contains four large pot-stills.“ (p. 4f.)

The distillery was situated near the Grand Canal from where the water was supplied. Alfred Barnard reports to his readers: „The make is known as "Dublin Whisky," and the annual output is about 900,000 gallons; it is principally shipped to Melbourne, Sydney, Dominion of Canada, British India, The United States, West India, & c.“ Alfred Barnard, The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom.

The distillery was closed in 1923 amids the Irish turmoil, the politcal changes and the surplus of whiskey. At its height the distillery produced more than 4 million litres of spirit and its two mash tuns were the largest in the U.K.

Today only a few walls remain from the granary or warehouse, most of the buildings were demolished. A residential area was set up.