Irish Distillers

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard

Industry	Food and Drink
Founded	1966
Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Area served	Ireland, Europe
Key people	Jean-Christophe Coutures (CEO)
Products	Alcoholic Beverages
Number of employees	600+ (2016)
Parent	Pernod Ricard
Website	www.irishdistillers.ie

Irish Distillers is a subsidiary of the French drinks conglomerate Pernod-Ricard S.A. It is the largest distiller of Irish whiskey, distilling popular brands such as Jameson, Powers, in addition to premium whiskeys such as Redbreast and Midleton Very Rare. In addition to whiskey, Irish Distillers also produces a number of other spirit products such as gin and vodka .

Irish Distillers Group was formed in 1966, when a merger took place between three Irish whiskey distilleries, Cork Distilleries Company, John Jameson & Son and John Power & Son. In an attempt to reverse the decline in Irish whiskey sales, the board of directors decided to close their existing distilleries in Cork and Dublin, and to consolidate production at a new purpose-built facility. A site alongside the existing distillery in Midleton, Co. Cork was chosen as the location for the new distillery, as there was no room for expansion alongside the Dublin distilleries.

In 1972, Bushmills, the only other whiskey distillery in operation in Ireland at the time, joined the group. This gave Irish Distillers complete control over all whiskey production on the island of Ireland. One Friday in July 1975, production ceased at the Old Midleton Distillery and began the next Monday morning at the new Midleton complex, with distillation at the two Dublin distilleries come to an end a year later.

The Old Midleton Distillery and Jameson's Bow Street Distillery have since reopened as visitors' centres. However, much of Powers John's Lane distillery has been demolished, with the remaining buildings, now protected structures, forming part of the National College of Art and Design.