7 Irish Distilleries Worth Knowing Beyond Jameson

Beyond Jameson, seven Irish distilleries define much of Irish whiskey today: Bushmills in County Antrim, Midleton in County Cork, Teeling in Dublin, Dingle in County Kerry, Tullamore in County Offaly, Clonakilty on the West Cork coast and Powerscourt in County Wicklow, each with a documented founding story and its own house style. Together they range from a licence dated 1608 to a distillery that only released its first fully own distilled single malt in 2023, a sign of how much the category has grown since Jameson was most drinkers' only reference point.

Key Takeaways

• Bushmills, on the north coast of County Antrim, points to a licence granted for the area in 1608, though the Old Bushmills Distillery company itself was registered in 1784.

• Midleton, built in County Cork and opened in 1975, is Ireland's largest distillery by capacity and the home of Jameson alongside Redbreast, Green Spot and the Midleton Very Rare annual release.

• Teeling opened in Dublin's Liberties district in 2015, the first new whiskey distillery built in the city in more than 125 years.

• Dingle, founded in County Kerry in 2012, filled its first cask that December as one of the first new independent distilleries to open in Ireland in generations.

• Tullamore's current distillery opened in 2014, returning whiskey production to the town for the first time in 60 years.

• Clonakilty and Powerscourt are the youngest names on this list, officially opening in 2019 and 2018.

Tip: A distillery's founding date is not the same as the age of the whiskey inside the bottle. Several of the newer names on this list built their first releases on stock matured elsewhere while their own spirit was still resting in the warehouse.

Bushmills Traces Its Licence to 1608

Bushmills sits on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The distillery points to 1608, the year King James I granted a royal licence to distil in the area to local landowner Sir Thomas Phillips, as the starting point of its story, and calls itself the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery. The Old Bushmills Distillery company that runs the site today was registered later, in 1784.

Bushmills makes a triple distilled single malt Irish whiskey, matured across a mix of bourbon barrels, sherry butts and other casks. The Bushmills 16 Years Old Matured in Three Woods combines whiskey aged in bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts, then finishes it in port pipes, a house style built around blending across wood types rather than relying on a single cask.

Midleton Is the Largest Distillery in Ireland

Midleton, in County Cork, became Ireland's main whiskey production site in 1975, after the 1966 merger of John Power and Son, John Jameson and Son and the Cork Distilleries Company into Irish Distillers. Production moved from the old Midleton distillery, now the Jameson Experience visitor centre, to a new complex built next door. With a capacity of around 64 million litres a year, it is the largest distillery in Ireland.

Midleton distils Jameson, but also Redbreast, Green Spot and the Midleton Very Rare annual release, produced there since 1984. Green Spot was originally made for Mitchell and Son, a Dublin wine merchant trading since 1805 that began sending its own casks to the distillery to be filled in 1887. The whiskey carries no age statement and is matured in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks. Find Green Spot Irish Whiskey on Spiritory, and for the collector side of Midleton's expressions, see Which Irish Whiskies Are Collectors Watching in 2026?

Teeling Was Dublin's First New Distillery in Over 125 Years

Teeling opened in Newmarket Square, in Dublin's Liberties district, in 2015, the first new whiskey distillery built in the city in more than 125 years. It was founded by brothers Jack and Stephen Teeling, whose father John Teeling had founded Cooley Distillery in 1987, ending the near monopoly Irish Distillers held over Irish whiskey production at the time.

The Teeling Small Batch is the distillery's core release, a blend of malt and grain whiskeys first matured in bourbon barrels, then rested for months in casks that previously held Central American rum, bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration.

Dingle Was One of Ireland's First New Independent Distilleries in Generations

Dingle Distillery, in a converted sawmill in Milltown outside Dingle, County Kerry, was founded in 2012 by Oliver Hughes, Liam LaHart and Peter Mosley, three founders of the Porterhouse Brewing Company. It filled its first cask on 18 December 2012 and released its first whiskey exactly three years and a day later.

Because the distillery was so young when it started selling whiskey, its early releases came out in small, numbered batches rather than one continuous product line. The Dingle 6th Small Batch Release is one of those early batch bottlings, part of the record of the distillery finding its house character in its first years of production.

Tullamore Returned Whiskey Production to the Town After 60 Years

The Tullamore D.E.W. brand dates to 1829 and takes its initials from an early distillery owner, Daniel E. Williams. The original Tullamore distillery closed in 1954, and the brand was later produced elsewhere until William Grant and Sons, which bought the brand in 2010, built a new distillery on the edge of the town. It opened on 17 September 2014, returning whiskey production to Tullamore after a 60 year gap, and draws its water from the nearby Slieve Bloom Mountains.

The Tullamore D.E.W. blend is the whiskey the brand and the town are named for, and the expression the new distillery was built to protect.

Clonakilty Distills Whiskey Grown on Its Own Family Farm

Clonakilty Distillery sits on the West Cork coast and officially opened in March 2019, founded by the Scully family, who had farmed the surrounding land for nine generations before turning part of it into a distillery. Much of the barley used in the whiskey is grown on that family farm or by neighbouring County Cork farmers, and the spirit is triple distilled in a single pot still, with fermentation stretched past 100 hours.

The distillery's Chronicles of the Coast series releases one single cask expression each quarter. The Clonakilty Chronicles of the Coast The King of Spades, finished in an apricot brandy cask and limited to 300 bottles, is named after Manannan mac Lir, the Celtic god of the sea, a nod to the distillery's maturation warehouse overlooking the Atlantic.

Powerscourt Distills Inside a Mill House From the 1730s

Powerscourt Distillery sits on the Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, inside the Mill House, a building dating to the 1730s. Distilling began there in June 2018 and the first barrels were laid down that August, under founding master distiller Paul Corbett. Its whiskey is sold under the Fercullen name, taken from Fera Cualann, the old Gaelic name for the surrounding territory.

In 2023 Powerscourt released its first single malt distilled entirely on site, which the distillery describes as the first whiskey distilled in County Wicklow in over 100 years. Its earlier Five Elements series, matured and finished by master distiller Noel Sweeney, includes the Fercullen 20 Years Old Five Elements, a 2021 release combining a single malt aged 16 years in bourbon barrels and then finished four years across Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez, Marsala and Muscatel casks, married with a separate single malt aged 20 years in bourbon casks, bottled at 46% ABV.

Tip: Visitor centre exclusives and international release names do not always match. Check the exact expression name on the label against the Spiritory listing before comparing two bottles as if they were the same whiskey.

FAQ

Was Bushmills really founded in 1608?

Not exactly. In 1608 a royal licence was granted to distil in the area around Bushmills, on the north coast of County Antrim. The Old Bushmills Distillery company that runs the site today was registered later, in 1784. Bushmills still calls itself the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery, based on that original 1608 licence.

What does Midleton distillery in County Cork actually produce besides Jameson?

Midleton makes Jameson alongside Redbreast, Green Spot and the Midleton Very Rare annual release, all produced at the same County Cork site that has been Ireland's main distillery since 1975. Green Spot was originally bottled exclusively for the Dublin wine merchant Mitchell and Son.

Are Ireland's newer distilleries selling whiskey they distilled themselves yet?

Mostly, yes. Dingle and Teeling opened in 2012 and 2015, so their whiskey is now old enough to be entirely their own distillate. Powerscourt is the exception on this list: its distillery only began distilling in 2018, so several of its early Fercullen releases were matured and finished, rather than distilled, on site, and its first fully own distilled single malt did not appear until 2023.

Which of these seven distilleries opened most recently?

Powerscourt, on the Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow, began distilling in 2018, making it the youngest distillery on this list. Clonakilty, on the West Cork coast, is close behind, having officially opened in March 2019.

Where can I taste or buy whiskey from these distilleries?

Spiritory lists bottles from all seven distilleries, including limited releases such as Clonakilty's Chronicles of the Coast and Powerscourt's Five Elements series, on its bid and ask marketplace. For a look at where to try Irish whiskey by the glass while travelling, see What Are the Best Irish Whiskey and Whisky Bars in Boston for the World Cup 2026?