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Tullamore - the name derives from Tulach Mhór meaning ‘big hill’ - is in the heart of Ireland’s finest grain growing region, a rich agricultural area in the centre of Ireland, providing both the fine barley and pure water essential to the creation of good whiskey.

The distillery and the town prospered throughout the 19th century. The Grand Canal, that connects Tullamore with Dublin, was the main thoroughfare through the town and vitally important in bringing goods and materials to the town and distributing the whiskey to wider markets.

Daniel E Williams

In 1887, following the death of Mr Molloy, the distillery passed into the hands of the Daly family with Captain Bernard Daly in charge of the business. A keen sportsman, Captain Daly left the routine running of the distillery to one of his colleagues, Daniel E Williams, who eventually became general manager of Tullamore.

Daniel E Williams was the major influence on the expansion and development of the distillery and his family became joint shareholders in Tullamore with Captain Daly.

His initials, D-E-W, inspired the whiskey to be named ‘Tullamore Dew’ with the slogan "Give every man his Dew" appearing on the bottles for many years. Tullamore Dew was at the forefront in the heyday of Irish whiskey, well-established in several European countries, such as Germany, France and Denmark as well as the USA.

Tullamore Dew Blended Whiskey

The American Prohibition of 1919, followed by a trade war with England in the 1930s affected sales of Tullamore Dew and by the time Europe was emerging from the second world war, Tullamore Dew, in common with many whiskies, was finding trading difficult.

In 1947, DE Williams’ grandson, who also worked for the distillery, visited the United States, one of Tullamore Dew’s most important markets. He returned home with an idea for a new product, Tullamore Dew Blended Whiskey, which was to become the first blended Irish whiskey to be introduced. The whiskey was popular but the company continued to find trading tough. In 1959 the Tullamore distillery closed and the brand was subsequently sold to Powers with production transferring to a distillery nearer Cork. This huge shake-up was one of many to affect major whiskey brands at the time and as a result, most of the well-known Irish whiskies are now made in just two distilleries.

Today the rights to Tullamore Dew are owned by Cantrell & Cochrane, who have played an important part in making sure that one of Ireland’s greatest whiskies is still enjoyed the world over. With more than 2,500,000 bottles bought each year in over 80 countries, Tullamore Dew continues to live up to its illustrious heritage.

Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre

For more information visit the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre website. Whilst distilling no longer takes place in Tullamore, the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre will take you through life in a small Irish town from the early 1800s onwards as well as showing how whiskey is made.