THIS Wednesday at St Comgalls the local community are invited to come and share their memories of the old Dunville Whisky Distillery – as well as attend a trad session afterwards in the Hawthorn Bar.

During it’s time Dunville’s Whisky was one of Ireland’s biggest and best known brands. In 1900 Belfast produced 75 per cent of all Ireland’s whiskey with 6.6 million gallons being made in the city alone. Dunville’s was the main brand in the Royal Irish Distilleries company which operated a vast premises in West Belfast – 13 acres which covered the areas around Adelaide Street, Alfred Street and Clarence Street with other premises in Franklin Street.

Founded in 1808 by William Napier and John Dunvill, by the late 1800s the company was operating as Dunville & Co Ltd whose main product was Dunville’s VR whiskey. Interestingly the company was one of the only Irish whiskey brands who referred to their spirit as ‘whisky’ without the letter ‘e’.

The Dunville family themselves had a rich and storied history in the area before moving their home to what is now the Redburn Country Park in Holywood. The last Dunville owner there, Robert Lambert Dunville, had a particular interest in zoology and went as far as creating his own private zoo.

His collection of exotic animals included a zebra, a panther, a cockatoo, kangaroos, lemurs, and monkeys. There was one special animal that Robert and the general public were especially fond of – a black bear from North America known as Bruno.

Robert Lambert Dunville would die in 1931, as a result of wounds he suffered during the 1916 Rising when as a British soldier he was shot by a group of Volunteers led by Falls Road man, Sean McEntee.

In the talk the decline of Belfast’s whiskey distilling will also be revealed, due partly because of international events such as the bringing in of prohibition in the USA in 1920 and a massive fire which razed the warehouses. The distillery's name and whiskey eventually began brewing again under Echlinville Distillery in 2013 based on the Ards Peninsula.

RAISING A GLASS: Harry Connolly of Fáilte Feirste Thiar, Sam Baker of Féile an Phobail, Conor Owens of Belfast Hidden Tours and West Belfast MP Paul Maskey
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RAISING A GLASS: Harry Connolly of Fáilte Feirste Thiar, Sam Baker of Féile an Phobail, Conor Owens of Belfast Hidden Tours and West Belfast MP Paul Maskey

Conor Owens of Belfast’s Hidden Tours who last year ran the extremely popular ‘Dander Through the Dunvilles’ tour said: “The Talk and Tell will be in St Comgall's from 6-8pm and we would like to see as many local people who had relatives who worked at Dunville Whisky to come along and share what they know.

"Our talk will be on the history of the distillery and the demise and rise of Irish whiskey as well as telling some interesting local tales from its heyday. Afterwards everyone is invited to the Hawthorn Bar for a trad session from 8-10pm which will celebrate the lives of the workers from the distillery and their contribution to Irish whiskey."

For any information, please contact Conor Owens at info@belfasthiddentours.com or 07971895746