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Some spirits from County Westmeath’s Kilbeggan Whiskey Distillery never left the premises, writes ANN MASSEY
Kilbeggan Distillery has the honor of being Ireland’s oldest working distillery. Yes, Bushmills in County Antrim may have the oldest license in the world, but they haven’t used it for a while, so Kilbeggan has the title, along with a working pot that’s over 250 years old – so old spirits and old ghosts!
It’s no wonder that the ghostly presence of a monk persists, when it was the early medieval monks of Ireland who started the whole thing. They made whiskey in their monastery cauldrons and called it Uisce Beatha, which means water of life. Maybe trying to make the whole process sound divine was a way to circumvent their Holy superiors!
The history of Kilbeggan Distillery
In 1757, owner Matthew McManus began distilling whiskey in the town of Kilbeggan, where his family continued the craftsmanship for a century. His son John worked at the distillery and also served as a colonel in the United Irishmen. A role that ended with his execution after a rebellion attack in Kilbeggan.
It then passed to John Locke and the Locke Distillery became an important source of employment for the local community. The townspeople were distraught when they discovered that the distillery might close due to a boiler explosion, so they banded together and purchased a replacement boiler to save the distillery. They would save him one more time – when a fire broke out the entire town came out to save the distillery. barrels of whiskey and extinguish the flames. It continued to prosper, providing additional employment and more income than ever for the town of Kilbeggan.
After his death, whiskey production went to John Edward Locke (junior) and his brother James. While their mother remained a devout Catholic, donated to the local nuns and lived a devout life, the brothers and even the wife of John Locke (known as Muds for her love of hunting) were known to date every man in town raged. who liked her. Before she was kicked out, the couple had two daughters named Sweet and Flo.
It was these two ladies, engaged in lavish lifestyles, who were the catalyst for the demise of the Locke Distillery. They left the management of whiskey production to male management and no longer played any role in the management of their parental inheritance. Already affected by the Temperance Movement, Dublin’s booming whiskey production and the Second World War, management decided to cut corners and cut costs by mixing in raw alcohol and shipping the deadly brew in the dark of night, permanently damaging their reputation. destroyed.
The sisters sold the ailing distillery to a strange syndicate, including a Swiss man, a Fianna Fail politician and a local lawyer. The group pulled off an elaborate scam involving political influence and the gift of a Swiss watch to Taoiseach Éamon de Velera. They planned to acquire the rights to a larger export quota for whiskey, which they intended to sell on the English black market.
Managers at Locke’s Distillery blew the whistle and this brought down both the plan and the distillery. In 1958, the water of life for the people of Kilbeggan was put under management and permanently closed, only to start distilling whiskey again in 2007, 250 years after it started. Direct descendants of the McManus and Locke families were present for the re-firing of the dormant pot stills. Was their presence and the reactivation of the distillery the source of the resurgence of paranormal activity?
Ghosts of Kilbeggan
During these years of unrest, to this day, a ghostly monk in his black robes has been seen pacing the courtyard that once bordered his Cistercian monastery until the monks were expelled in the sixteenth century. Silent and judgmental, he could not have been happy with the events over the centuries!
Matthew McManus is said to have stayed, watching his business crumble and rise, along with his executed son John. Both have been seen within the walls of the distillery. When Derek Acorah, ‘physical medium’ and Most Haunted regular, visited Kilbeggan Distillery, he mentioned McManus senior Mathias, a little-known surname for Matthew. He then stated that John had told him that after his untimely execution he would never have peace again.
The ‘medium’ also says he saw the workers at the Locke Distillery offer John Locke a replacement still, in a sort of ghostly replay of the real-life event. Acorah claimed to have seen and spoken to the ghost of Flo, ashamed and disappointed at her role in the destruction of her father and grandfather’s whiskey business.
Countless stories of ghostly sightings, slamming doors and squeaking floorboards continue to be reported. Alien whispers that engulf empty rooms and silent machines in the dead of night are heard again and again. More recently, the Travel Channel’s Destination Fear team visited Kilbeggan Distillery as part of their Ireland-based Season 3 finale.
One thing is certain: if you… Kilbeggan Distillery Visitor Centre, you’re guaranteed to encounter a ghost in one form or another. Slainte!
Have you witnessed the paranormal at Kilbeggan Distillery? Tell us about it in the comments below!
