Did you know the Irish invented whiskey? Now the Scots will disagree with me on that one, but as far back as earliest records go, Irish missionary monks discovered the skill of distillation on their travels, way back some 1500 years ago. They put these new skills to the test when they got back to the Emerald Isle, but instead of distilling perfumes they found a better use for their newly acquired skills and they distilled alcohol. It was the monks who gave us Irish whiskey and we still thank them when we pray to them.
Irish whiskey was very famous throughout the world for a long time, enjoying much success around the globe in the 16th, 17th,18th and 19th centuries. At its peak there were 88 licensed distilleries around the island at the end of 1800s (add on a couple of zeros to that number if we were to include the illegal stills). But as we entered the 20th century, the category would face many challenges, and things went from bad to worse, to terrible!