Scotch may now be the most popular whisky in the world, but over a century ago, it was Irish whisky which was most commonly drunk. Today, only three producing units exist: at Midleton, County Cork; Bushmills, County Antrim; and Cooley at Dundalk, County Louth. The author of this work has researched the lost distilleries of Ireland and details what happened to them. He relates the origins of distilling in Ireland - an Arabic hand-down to Irish monks; the links with Scotland; the wild years when illicit distilling was rampant and shebeens proliferated as corruption increased; the coming of legitimacy and temperance; the development of Coffey still (and its contribution to the ultimate sinking of the industry); the golden years; prohibition in the USA and the emergence of the Free State in 1922.