Green glass bottle from Persse’s Distillery, Nun’s Island, Galway still with its two labels intact on the front and rear. The front label denotes the ‘Very old liquer whisky’ and the back ‘Pure pot still whiskey, bottled and guaranteed 25 years old...’
Persse’s Whisky Distillery was established in 1815 at Newcastle by Henry Stratford Persse (c. 1769-1833). In 1847, the distillery was re-located to the Nun’s Island premises. The quality of the ‘Galway Whisky’ produced by the Persse distillery was renowned. An MP for Kilkenny employed as a sales representative by Henry Sadlier Persse (who managed the distillery from 1859 to 1899) even introduced it to the House of Commons bar, London, England. This led to the marketing slogan of ‘Favourite in the House of Commons’. By 1908, falling whisky consumption and competition from the larger distilleries in Dublin led to the closure of the Persse Distillery with the loss of over 50 jobs.
