Something’s brewing in Islandeady

Something’s brewing in Islandeady


Edwin McGreal

Last weekend patrons in Mayo were able to taste something unique - the first locally brewed beer in the county since the 1820s.
Oilean Eadaigh West Mayo Brewery’s beer poured from the taps for the first time last Friday in pubs in Westport, Murrisk and Islandeady.
It’s believed to be the first brewery in the county since Livingston’s closed in Westport nearly two centuries ago and is the brainwave of Iain and Caroline Price, who operate the brewery from their farm in Islandeady.
Their ‘Clew Bay Sunset’, described as a full bodied red ale, and ‘3C Clifford’s Connaught Champion’, a golden flavoursome beer are available now and the Prices say feedback has been positive so far.
“The analogy used which makes sense to me is that the difference between a craft beer and the larger, commercial beers is the difference between a sliced pan and buying a loaf in a bakery,” Caroline Price told The Mayo News. “The sliced pan will do all you need it to do but if you want a higher quality product, you go to the bakery,” she added.
Their plans for a brewery are in gestation since 2008 but Caroline, a native of Kilbree in Islandeady, admits that bureaucratic difficulties contrived to delay a launch until now.
“We went to see micro-breweries in Scotland and England and they were essentially just sheds and we thought it would be very easy for us to set up something similar at home but we had overlooked the application of EU laws in Ireland for the health and safety in food regulation,” she admitted.
Iain, a native of Worcester in England, holds a Diploma in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the UK.
Leader funding assisted their venture greatly and Caroline Price is confident that they are going to business at a time when the beer industry is ‘on the cusp of a change’ towards micro-breweries and away from larger, commercial beers.
The official launch will take place on Saturday evening next between 5-7pm at the Porter House on Bridge Street, Westport. The Porter House and the Big Tree in Westport, The Tavern in Murrisk, Needham’s Halfway House and the Key West in Islandeady and Bar One and Bosh in Castlebar are the pubs where the local brew will be on sale.
Oilean Eadaigh West Mayo Brewery are pricing a pint of their beer at the same price in the pubs as pints of Guinness and Smithwicks.
They may be the first local brewery in Mayo for almost two centuries but they won’t be the only local brewery for long. Westport-based vets Cillian Ó MórΡin and Bart Adons are very close to launching their own beer as well. The duo took the decision to pursue something very different from their day jobs in Christmas 2009.
Based at Bart’s home in Kilsallagh, near Louisburgh, right on the side of Croagh Patrick and using spring water which runs right under the Reek, their company is aptly named Holy Mountain Brewery.
They’re brewing Belgian beers - Bart is a native of there - using Belgian malt and hops and plan to be on the market in September.