The Brewery Tap - Tullamore
The Brewery Tap in Tullamore is instantly recognisable from the high street – just look for the wonderful old Give every Man his Dew sign hanging from the pub’s exterior. Step inside and the pub is a veritable tribute to the D.E. Williams Distillery of Tullamore. The history of Tullamore and the old D.E. Williams Distillery are more or less encapsuled by all the old memorabilia you’ll find inside.
This is obviously the place to have a Tullamore Dew Whiskey and Paul, the owner, has every Tullamore Dew whiskey currently available, including the Distillery Reserve edition (which is only available at the nearby Heritage Centre), the extremely hard to find 10 Year Old Tullamore Dew blend and the brand new 10 year old Tullamore Dew Single Malt. He also has a bottle of Knappogue Castle 1951, and Willie Nappier 1945, which are the only commercially available whiskeys bottled from casks from the old Tullamore Distillery. Both are pure pot still whiskeys, Knappogue Castle was bottled in 1987 at 36 years old and Willie Nappier in 1989 at 44 years old, which makes them the oldest Irish whiskeys on the market. If you are a fan of Tullamore Dew whiskey, and you fancy enjoying a bit of history, we think this may just be place to treat yourself to one of these amazing whiskeys (but be warned as Ireland's oldest whiskeys on the market, they are extremely expensive).
In the Brewery Tap you might find a handful of tourists, attracted by this pub’s colourful interior, but generally more a local trade. It's probably the most popular pub in Tullamore, so there's usually something going on. There’s an area to the front of the pub, very much like a traditional snug (a snug is an enclosed booth in an Irish pub which offers its occupants both direct communication with the barman and privacy from the public – often the favourite haunts of thirsty priests, politicians and other local dignitaries). Well some things, even in modern day Ireland, haven’t changed much and if you call into the Brewery Tap, you may just bump into one of Ireland’s more famous politicians, as it happens to be his local pub, when he is not conducting State business in Dublin. We’ll say no more, you’ll know him when you see him.
The Brewery Tap regularly hosts Irish music sessions on Monday evenings, contemporary music on a Sunday evening and there are plenty of themed nights and events during the year. They also have a good bar food menu until 3pm, so it's a good place to pop in for lunch.
Behind the bar you may meet Carol, Grainne, John or Cathy-Ann, Paul's wife. They pride themselves on being particularly friendly, so don't be afraid to ask them what you need to know about Tullamore. They are all dab hands at making Tullamore Dew Irish Coffees – as good, we reckon, as any of the 2,000 Irish coffees made daily in that other bar across the Atlantic, famous for its Tullamore Dew Irish Coffees – the Buena Vista Café.
Of course any visit to Tullamore would not be complete without a visit to the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre as well as an evening in the Brewery Tap. Take some time too to stroll around the part of town between the Heritage Centre and the Brewery Tap. This is where you’ll find some of the old buildings from the old Distillery (a lot of them sadly disused or in ruins) and don't forget to find the original gates to the distillery (on Patrick Street) – a stroll through memory lane, which won’t fail to impress on you how the D.E. Williams Distillery was at the heart of this Midlands town for so long.
The Brewery Tap - O'Connor Square, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
Tel. +353 (0)57 9321131
Web: www.brewerytap.com
Email: info@brewerytap.com
Local Tourist Info and Accommodation: www.offaly.ie
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