The Smithwick's Irish beer
Smithwick's is the iconic Irish beer brand of the St. Francis Abbey brewery that also produces Kilkenny beer. It was created by John Smithwick in 1710 on the ruins of a 13th century abbey.
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Originally, the brewery only produced red beers for use in Pressure Pubs. After a few years of production, Smithwick's has established itself as an excellent brewery, producing thousands of barrels of beer throughout Ireland.
Built on the ruins of an underground Franciscan abbey, St. Francis Abbey, the brewery is the oldest in the country. Smithwick's is the largest beer producer in Ireland.
The "w" is not pronounced. In Ireland, it is generally pronounced in the following ways (due in large part to the different Irish accents and dialects): "Smithicks" - "Smitticks" - "Schmiddicks" - "Smeth-icks".
The history of the brewery
Shortly after the Smithwick family arrived in Kilkenny, John entered the brewing industry with Richard Cole on land he had leased to the Duke of Ormond in 1705.
Edmond Smithwick, son of John Smithwick already had the brewery and ambition was in his blood. At the age of 27, he bought the brewery freehold and, for the first time, the name of the Smithwick family is proudly hanging over the door. He became a natural businessman and focused on discovering new markets.
Edmond started a tradition of always employing the most qualified people. Expert brewers brought scientific and technical innovations, and the result gave Smithwick beers unmatched quality.
In 1930, Walter son of James Smithwick took control of the brewery. He realized that distribution was the key to success and started to motivate sales agents across Ireland. He also bought gas trucks to serve customers in the far west of Ireland. On October 8th 1937, Smithwick's number 1 beer won first prize at the London Bottled Beer Competition.
After the war, business was good, then in 1947, the melting snow caused a major flood submerging the entire brewery. Fortunately, all the valuable recipes and technical reports have been stored safely in a dry place. The summer that followed was the worst of all time. Heavy rains caused a national emergency, threatening cereal crops. The disaster was averted and the country was saved from a minor famine and a major lack of good beer.
