New Distillery Planned in Waterford
Posted by Irish Whiskey USA on
County Waterford is poised to get another Irish whiskey distillery. Curraghmore Whiskey has received permission to convert part of their single family estate into a distillery and visitor center. With Waterford Distillery already up and running, this area will certainly be a whiskey lover's destination.
Green light to convert Waterford's Curraghmore House into distillery and visitor centre
Curraghmore House, Portlaw Co Waterford, has become best known in recent years for staging the All Together Now music and arts festival.
Picture: Joe Evans
The green light has been given to convert part of the estate of Curraghmore House in Co Waterford into a whiskey distillery and visitor centre.
Richard de la Poer Beresford, the Earl of Tyrone and son of Lord Waterford, intends to develop a space to produce 250,000 litres of "carbon neutral, organic Irish whiskey" annually.
Mr de la Poer Beresford, the managing director of Curraghmore Whiskey Limited, said the venture will eventually employ 24 people.
A visitor centre is included in the plans as is a restaurant and whiskey tasting area with the company outlining plans to attract 10,000 visitors annually.
The grounds in Portlaw have become best known in recent years for staging the All Together Now music and arts festival.
The whiskey company's venture will involve the use of five agricultural buildings, dating from the 1840s, for industrial use, such as the distillation of spirits and spirit maturation.
In giving permission, Waterford City and County Council noted the annual production rate of 250,000 litres of whiskey, equating to 2,000 casks per year, was "small in scale" compared to the eight million casks produced by Jameson in 2019.
"The whiskey production levels will be relatively small in scale, rather than an industrial scale, the aim being to produce a carbon neutral, organic Irish whiskey," council planners said.
Planning was granted subject to 19 conditions, including the proper conservation of bat habitats within the special area of conservation surrounding the River Suir and smaller River Clodagh.
A report by the council's conservation officer noted that the works are to take place within the farmyard - a protected structure - an area of "national importance and possibly of international importance", as it is considered to be the "earliest example of an industrial farmyard in Ireland or Britain".
Further, council planners noted that it lies within "one of the largest most intact demesnes in Ireland" in Curraghmore House.
An exemption was applied to the refurbishment of the current outbuildings as the development is considered to have "positive attributes" from an economic, heritage and tourism point of view.
A letter was also provided by Mr de la Poer Beresford's father, Henry, providing an outline for the use of the buildings and confirmation that other buildings not included in the plans would remain in agricultural and residential use.
While the conservation officer sought clarification on the historic wastewater system for the estate, the planning office felt this was not required and could be satisfied at a later date.
The proposed development will also see the addition of five bus and 28 car parking spaces, two of which are wheelchair accessible, along with gas storage tanks, ground-mounted solar panel arrays, and an integrated constructed wetlands treatment system.
An existing water wheel will be adapted to generate hydroelectricity as part of a declared ambition of achieving carbon-neutral status within a decade.
This article originally appeared here.