The relation between the Irish and their liquor is legendary—drinking is celebrated in song and story throughout the Irish culture. Ireland also has a very rich heritage of breweries and distilleries that have been operating for hundreds of years.

The Irish are as well-known for their beers as for any of their exports, the most famous being Dublin’s Guinness Stout. The brewery was founded by Arthur Guinness at St. James’s Gate in Dublin in 1759, and is still brewed there today. The term “stout” was a descriptive the company used to describe their porter, but became a category in its own right as Guinness’s brew became increasingly popular. While Guinness is one of the most successful brands in the world, there are many partisans of Murphy’s Stout, especially in Ireland. James J. Murphy founded his brewery in Cork in 1856, and to this day, fans of the beer claim that it is less bitter than its main competitor, Guinness.

The word “whiskey” is actually Irish in origin: it is an Anglicization of the Irish “uisce beatha,” which translates as “water of life.” The two most popular Irish whiskeys for export are Jameson’s and Bushmills. The Jameson’s distillery was founded by John Jameson in Dublin in 1780. Jameson was a Scotsman who had married into one of the most prominent Scotch Whisky distilling families, the Haigs. Bushmills Distillery, named for the town in County Antrim, was licensed by King James I in 1608, making it the oldest licensed distillery in the world. (Legend has it that Bushmills had been making whiskey for 400 years prior to the licensing.) Other popular brands are Powers, Paddy and Tullamore Dew.

“Poitín” is the Irish term for moonshine. It can be grain- or potato-based, and the the moonshiner is well-loved as an anti-authority figure, as well as for his notoriously strong wares. Songs like “The Moonshiner” and the “Hills of Connemara” salute the distillers and demonise the “exise men” (government tax officials) who seek to shut down the stills. Poitín is now legal and approved for exporting; although not as strong as the homemade moonshine of legend, it remains quite an experience for the novice.