Cork, Jameson's distillery

When travelling abroad it's sometimes hard to keep up with current events in the world. I've sorta picked up on the fact there was some kind of shooting in Norway, and another junkie celebrity has kicked the bucket. But somehow I guess I missed the war between Germany and Ireland. Seriously, first my SIM card that I bought in Germany and was supposed to be free roaming didn't work here, and then I find out the German bank card I have doesn't work either! The only explanation I can come up with is that the Irish President said something untoward about Kaiser Wilhelm's mother and after that they weren't on speaking terms. And of course the one day I spent rushing around all frustrated and stressed is the warmest day I've had here in Europe. Then finally late this afternoon I decided on a whim to try my card one more time in a different ATM and I discover that the Germans must have finally worked out that Kaiser Wilhelm has been dead for quite some time, and nobody really cares about his mother. So apparently the two countries are on speaking terms again, although my SIM card still doesn't work. Oh well.

So, because I spent most of the day in Cork running around, making phone calls, trying to work out what's going on with my card, I didn't get much of the sightseeing done that I had hoped to. I really had time only to quickly take a train to Midleton and the Jameson distillery. As I've mentioned before, it's quite a good little tour. The whole grounds has been beautifully restored and set up for tourists. While very accomodating for tourists, it still isn't as commercial as the Guinness storehouse. Of course they do subtly (sometimes not so subtly) try to flog their whiskey at every turn hoping to make a killing in the gift shop.

So the tour naturally takes you around the grounds and through the whole process of making the whiskey. Jamesons made whiskey here from the late 18th century right until the 1970s. Now, the Dungourney river must feel quite pressured by Jameson's, because the water from it is used in malting the barley, fermenting the wort and finally blending with the distilled spirit. While the old grounds at Midleton were still in use the river was also used to power the water wheel and, when too low for the water wheel, probably also fuelled the backup steam engine. The over 100 year old engine was in use right up to the time when the old distillery closed. Now the new grounds are right next door. The old distillery also has the biggest copper still in the world, no longer in use.

So that's really all I managed to accomplish today. Now I'm off to have a pint downstairs. Oh, did I forget to mention my hostel is also a pub?