dublin whiskey fire deathsdublin whiskey fire deaths

Kathy Sheridan: In a country with a population the same as Barcelonas, do we need celebrity journalists. The first reports of a fire at the warehouse came at 8 p.m. that night (via The Irish Times). McGrane seemed to have gotten away with his life, while Smith was one of the unlucky bakers dozen who died. People ran toward the flames with pots in hand, or removed their hats and boots to use as makeshift buckets. In the present case the unfortunate victims apparently could not restrain themselves, as I understand, from the burning fluid.. To Boldly Go: How Spacemen Poo and Pee (REBROADCAST of Episode 5) - The Internet Says it's True, The Nebraska Miracle: The West End Baptist Church Explosion. What I drank was out of a jug. Remarkably, all 13 deaths of the Dublin Whiskey Fire in 1875 were caused by alcohol poisoning rather than the blaze itself. There was a total of eight patients that arrived at Meath Hospital, twelve at Jervis Street Hospital, three at Stevens Hospital, and one at Mercers Hospital. While this disaster affected all of Dublin, a few positives came out of the fire. Being a shrewd man, he understood that adding water to the flammable mixture would accelerate, not stop, the fire. In 1780, John Jameson obtained existing distillery premises on the legendary Bow Street site, already home to several distilleries and began the famous Jameson whiskey legacy. The storehouse was located in an area known as The Liberties, a part of the city that dates back to medieval times. Eager punters were so mesmerized, so enthralled by the seemingly infinite supply of free whiskey that they forgot about the filthy, rat-infested Dublin streets which the alcohol had flown through. Dublin Whiskey Fire. And the citizens of Dublin had crowded around at the spectacle of a blue glowing river of alcohol in the night.By the end of the entire debacle, 13 people died. The Dublin whiskey fire took place on 18 June 1875 in the Liberties area of Dublin. While once reasonably prosperous, the area had fallen on hard times and was fairly downtrodden, with pleasant townhouses home to multiple crammed-in families. The blaze left a deep scorchmark seared through the oldest part of the city. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. On the evening of June 18 that year, Dublin City residents in Ireland were given no warning. According to The Irish Examiner, a 2018 survey found that 74 percent of citizens believe drinking excessively is just a part of Irish culture.. They have 126 warehouses in Kentucky with 3.3 million barrels, so the fire didnt affect supply at all. The blazing booze caught fire to everything it touched, spreading flames so quickly it was impossible to do anything but run, or in some cases, try to capture the precious liquid before it went to waste. In 1405, the Annals of Clonmacnoise reported the death of a local clan chief, Richard Magrannell, after supping on the water of life, his death preceding an internal fire into the pit of his stomach. According toThe Irish Times, the disaster occurred on June 18th, 1875 at Malone's Bonded Storehouse in Dublin, where more than 5,000 barrels of whiskey and spirits were stored in various stages of aging. 367 Left: Contemporary. Earlier, at 4.45pm, Malone's malt house and a bonded storehouse on Chamber Street, where some 5,000 barrels of whiskey and other spirits were being stored, were checked and all was in order. As soon as it became known that whiskey was pouring down the streetDublins opportunists pounced. Dublin Whiskey Fire Dublin, Ireland A devastating booze inferno poured through the streets, claiming several victims who drank it. . When everything was said and done, or rather when the drinksstopped flowing, damages totaling todays equivalent of 6 million (6.2 USD) had been sustained. Were there to be a flood of whiskey in The Liberties now, beyond a few unfortunate people who might try to get a handful, more likely you'd see groups of locals taking selfies beside the flow with a latte., According to Hollywood, alien planets all have a single biome, Happy birthday to our sometimes shady country, A dead whale? Every episode ends by playing a gameshow-style quiz game with a celebrity guest. The scene in The Liberties was chaos. Forgotten history, bizarre tales & facts that seem too strange to be true! One of Dublin's least recorded tragedies, The Great Whiskey Fire of 18 June 1875. Why are Irish Pubs so popular around the world? The Shocking Story Behind The Great Whiskey Fire Of Dublin Facts The Shocking Story Behind The Great Whiskey Fire Of Dublin Shutterstock By Nancy Mock / Aug. 20, 2021 12:37 pm EST Of all the fires that Dublin, Ireland has seen, The Great Whiskey Fire of Dublin stands as one of the worst. This wasnt the only time the townsfolk got together to protect the distillery In 1878, a fire broke out and barrels of whiskey were set ablaze. Whiskey and fire combined to produce a dangerous combination, and soon streams of ignited whiskey were gushing out of the burning structure and down the streets of theLiberties. At 8pm, the alarm was raised, according to a report in The Irish Times. [3] On Tuesday night, a dog ran through the open door of the home of William Eyre on Dominick Street Upper. Fire units from 4 different nearby counties responded and the fire was so hot that the plastic lights on the firetrucks melted. The author shares that mourners scrambled to move a corpse to safety as flames engulfed one building where a wake took place that evening; pigs and horses ran wildly through the streets after escaping their burning pens. The dog then ran upstairs, launched itself out of a top-floor window and terminated its existence in the road below.. Special Shoutouts But in Dublin, Ireland, a fire that raged in The Liberties district in 1875 took 13 lives. According to one account, a dog that had had too much whiskey and become tormented ran right into the flames, setting itself ablaze. Nuns believed that a miracle had protected their convent; locals puntersbelieved that a miracle of anopen bar had obtained been granted; however, the truth for many locals was that this was nomiracle. Some Dubliners didnt like the idea of poor citizens who didnt pay into the system getting the benefit of a fire service for free.Even though the fire brigade was a group of 23, only 15 could be rounded up to fight the blaze at Malones. At 9:30pm the barrels within the storehouse began to explode with heat, sending a stream of whiskey flowing through the doors and windows of the burning building. Local residents were first alerted by the sound of squealing pigs, and asthey raced out of their homes they discovered a dark liquid set ablaze running through their communities like rivers of molten lava. Two boys are reported to be dying, and it is feared that other deaths will follow.". Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dublin-whiskey-fire, Rare Irish Stuff, 2020. John Kavanagh's 'The Gravediggers', Dublin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_BjCzW92k. Instead, he sent for soldiers and ordered them to pull up paving stones and pour a mixture of sand and gravel on the whiskey. Mr McGrane described how William drank from the flow near the Coombe, scooping it up with his cupped hands. One might assume that the deaths were a re. The Great Whiskey Fire of 1875 was when 5000 barrels of whiskey ignited and flowed onto the streets of the Liberties as far as the Coombe killing 13 people. In 1875, a fast-moving blazing fire ignited the streets and with it, it took the lives of 13 people. 129 Want to Visit? Hundreds of police officers, soldiers and firefighters, led by the first chief of Dublin Fire Brigade, Capt James Robert Ingram, attended the scene within 15 minutes of the alarm being raised. The paper also reported that some fellows were observed to take off their boots and use them as drinking cups., Crowds of people assembled, and took off their hats and boots to collect the whiskey, which ran in streams along the streetsTwo corn-porters, named Healy and MNulty, were found in a lane off Cork-street, lying insensible, with their boots off, which they had evidently used to collect the liquor. There were also dozens of houses and livelihoods destroyed, and countless animal deaths including one horrifying tale, recounted in the, , of a canine suicide. As the flames died down, a dog ran into the house of William Eyre, foaming at the mouth and evidently either rabid or suffering from delirium tremens, due to drinking whiskey in the street. The peculiar thing was that none of the fatalities passed away from fire-relatedinjuries. The whiskey that burned in Dublin City during the blaze would have a value today of over six million euro. As the city burned, crowds gathered around the edges of the flaming booze river and attempted to capture free drinks in pots, pans, hats and boots. It didnt work. They made the decision to let the fire burn itself out. Inspired by Father Mathew, Douglass also took the pledge and befriended the priest. The friendship between the two men was short-lived however,as Father Mathew visited America, only to slight Douglass by refusing to return the favour at an abolitionist rally. The neighboring Coombe Maternity Hospital and the Carmelite convent on Ormond Street were also in jeopardy of being destroyed by the fire. For centuries there has been an ever present debate over which is the best and which came first Irish whiskey or Scottish whisky. The overwhelmed Dublin Fire Brigade, meanwhile, used walls of horse manure to contain the blaze. Ingram's next idea was unusual, smelly, and incredibly effective. And none of them were due to the fire itself. The Great Dublin Whiskey Fire. Londons Lost Peak: What on Earth was Whitechapel Mount? Amid the frightening bustle, crowds gathered along the stream of alcohol; for many, the inferno presented a rare opportunity. None perished as a result of smoke inhalation or burns. It was shortly after 8p.m. The blaze narrowly missed a . So firefighters wanted to minimize the amount of Bourbon entering the river. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Firefighter Insider says that bottled whiskey meant for retail is less flammable because it gets diluted down to a lower alcohol content. Listen to TONS of bonus content including: Among other things, this meant it was flammable. But no one died as a result. While the Scottish lay claim to the earliest documented mention of whisky in 1494, made by Friar John Cor, Ireland seems to have beaten them to it. The Great Dublin Whiskey Fire. In a YouTube video from Storymap Dublin, firefighter and author Las Fallonsays that the flaming whiskey quickly ignited buildings, forcing people to abandon their homes in a frenzied panic. View all posts by Ann Massey McElroy. Every person reportedly died from alcohol poisoning! On June 18, 1875, the Irish capital was flooded with whiskey, which led to a huge fire as the highly alcoholic liquid set alight. We shall find out more about him shortly. It was notorious for being a place of destitution and crime, although over time it became a thriving weaving district. A fire in a bonded warehouse created a scene where burning whiskey flowed like lava through the streets of the historic Liberties, destroying much in its path. Shortly after, barrels began to burn and explode, while torrents of burning whiskey flowed out of the building down the streets and alleys of Dublin. A Mighty Bang: Are We In Danger From Exploding Whales? Source: South Dublin County Libraries / Public Domain. The Dublin Whiskey Fire as depicted by The Illustrated London News. While it involves over a dozen preventable deaths, the legacy of the event was to be seen almost as a joke by some, reinforcing negative stereotypes about both the Irish and the working class (see the sneering mention of the narrow by-streets). 285. And within the chaos, there were a few people who thought, Hmm, free whiskey. Your email address will not be published. And even these numbers do not represent the entire of the persons put hors de combat by the drink.". Due to the cost-of-living crisis and focus on self-care, a lot of people dont drink at all now; the pub and the gargle have much less of a grip on society than it once did. [4], The fire is believed to have started in Laurence Malone's bonded storehouse on the corner of Ardee Street,[5] where 5,000 hogsheads (262,500 imperial gallons or 1,193,000 litres or 315,200 US gallons) of whiskey were being stored to a value of 54,000 (equivalent to 5.45million in 2019). https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/the-night-a-river-of-whiskey-ran-through-the-streets-of-dublin-1.2743517, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dublin-whiskey-fire, https://www.rareirishstuff.com/blog/the-great-whiskey-fire-of-dublin-1875-.6767.html. Nobody comes out of that story well, really. However, not everyone had experienced a miracle, despite what the nuns thought. Many thought a free drink to start off their Saturday night festivities was a gift that could or should not be turned down. The Kersey Timeslip Incident, Descendants of 9,000-Year-Old Cheddar Man Found Living in Same Locality. At a meeting in the Mansion House the following Monday, lord mayor Peter Paul McSwiney, said it was amazing the death toll wasnt higher. Eight men were carried in a comatose state to Meath Hospital; twelve to Jervis Street Hospital; three to Stevens' Hospital; and one young man to Mercer's Hospital. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Naturally, the curious young friends thought it worth a look. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Its so old it can trace its origins all the way back to the Vikings. At 8 p.m., however, the alarm was raised. Updated May 18, 2020 Flaming whiskey ran through Dublin's Liberties district in 1875 after a liquor warehouse caught fire. Sign up to access all of it today! Onlookers didn't realize the toxic strength of the undiluted alcoholand the 13 people who died in the Great Whiskey Fire all perished from alcohol poisoning. The fire broke out in the so-called 'Golden Triangle' in The Liberties area of Dublin when a malt house and bonded warehouse went up in flames. The Dublin whiskey fire turned whiskey, a drink used in traditions, celebrations and times of mourning into a destructive device. Murmuring, whispering and unexplained noises are also rife throughout the distillery. There are many other persons in the hospital who are suffering from the same cause. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589, A Titanic Hero at Dunkirk: Charles Lightoller Rewind, The Hidden Village Under Central Park Rewind, The Confederados: The Confederate Flag Flies in Brazil Rewind, LePique and Grandpr: The Hot Air Balloon Duel Rewind, Sovereign Sapling: The Tree that Owns Itself, New Years Eve: The TRUE History of the NYE Ball Drop (REBROADCAST of Episode 18) - The Internet Says it's True, New Years Eve: The TRUE History of the NYE Ball Drop, The German Christmas Pickle: Tradition or Marketing? With a progressive drinking culture thats been changing for the better, its safe to say none would perish from alcohol during an inferno these days no matter how much of Gods sweet nectar was barreling through the streets. It resulted in 13 people dying, but none of them from the fire! The Temperance Movement peak was swiftly followed by the Irish Great Hunger no grain meant no whiskey. He had worked as a fireman in both New York and London and was the very first Superintendent of the relatively new fire brigade. The residents in The Liberties area of Dublin, Ireland were at a loss as to how to save their homes or even stop the fire from spreading, but the quick-thinking local fire marshal finally got the disaster under control. By Mike Rampton Published: March 17th, 2023 . All Rights Reserved. The firemen couldnt fight it with water that would just help spread the burning whiskey, which would float on top of the water. But occasionally something happens that feels almost designed to validate a stereotype a genuine occurrence that feels like lazy writing, the kind of thing that would never make it to the second draft of a movie script because it would be edited out for being a bit much. While once reasonably prosperous, the area had fallen on hard times and was fairly downtrodden, with pleasant townhouses home to multiple crammed-in families. None of the 13 fatalities that night died as a result of the flames or smoke inhalation it was alcohol poisoning that did them in. Fortunately, a wind blew up that night, carrying the flames and the fumes away and keeping both locations intact. The Dublin Whiskey Fire in 1875 was certainly evidence of that, as numerous onlookers sidelined the dangers of the blaze for the chances of gulping up some cost-free whiskey. During his tenure,vital piece of equipment was damaged, threatening a halt to the production of Kilbeggan whiskey. On June 18, 1875, the Irish capital was flooded with whiskey, which led to a huge fire as the highly alcoholic liquid set alight. Dublin Fire BrigadeRemarkably, all 13 deaths of the Dublin Whiskey Fire in 1875 were caused by alcohol poisoning rather than the blaze itself. The captain knew he had to stop the flow of burning whiskey before his team could try to save any buildings, but water only carried the fire into more streets and homes. At 4:45pm someone made the routine walk down Chambers Street to check on Malone's malt house and store house before evening fell and the buildings None died from smoke inhalation. But he soon realized that wouldnt be enough as the whiskey started to seep through the sand. What I drank was out of a jug. Read More. FATCO sells organic & responsibly-made tallow-based skincare products. On arrival in Dublin in 1774, he immediately started networking and joined the Freemason chapter Convivial 202 in the capital city. For the Jim Beam distillery, 4th of July Weekend in 2019 wasnt one to celebrate. Livestock was common in the city at the time and the squeals of fleeing pigs added to the chaos as the tenements rapidly emptied of residents. What I drank was out of a jug. None of the deceased perished in the flames, nor did they die of smoke inhalation - each succumbed to alcohol poisoning from drinking freely of the derelict whiskey. Less well known is Dublins great fire of 1875, which was often dubbed as the Liberties Whiskey Fire. The police showed up and immediately called for 150 more police officers and 200 military men. It is no secret that Dubliners know how to enjoy themselves. You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? One of the worst ones was the Heaven Hill Fire in 1996. Wikimedia CommonsThese contemporary illustrations of the 1875 blaze depict just how chaotic the scene in Dublins Liberties really was. After learning about the Dublin Whiskey Fire of 1875, read about the Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest in American history. The fire were going to talk about now ended up with the death of 13 Irishmen. On June 18, 1875, a fire broke out on Chamber Street in the Liberties neighborhood of Dublin. Thirteen people died. Source. But it is believed to have occurred between 4:35 pm when the storeroom was examined, and 8:30 pm, when the screaming pigs sounded the first alarms. Having spent many years in Kentucky, it was time to bring some of that bourbon magic back to Dublin. Ingram gathered this manure together to build dams and coat the streets, and fortunately, this method worked. The other is the spirit (pun intended!) Next, learn about why Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal., When Burning Whiskey Flooded Dublins Streets, 13 Died Drinking Flaming Booze Out Of Their Boots, A tour of the Dublin Whiskey Fire sites by. The time given for escape in some places during the progress of the fire was so short, I was apprehensive that some people should be left in danger in the garrets and cellars of the district. Nuns poured out of the monastery, proclaiming that it was a divine miracle and thanking God for protecting them. After this time, a fountain in the form of an obelisk was established over the Holy Well and funeral processions would stop as the coffin was paraded around the fountain three times before being carried into the graveyard to protect the departed soul from evil spirits! Robert E. Lee Day Celebrates A Confederate General On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. According to The Irish Times, the unmarried laborer and his friend John McGrane met on Bow Street around 10 p.m. when they heard about a terrifying fire enveloping the Liberties. By 9:30pm, the fire was raging so hot that barrels were exploding, throwing flaming alcohol into the air and out the windows of the storehouse. Whiskey had to be regulated, which means it could only be officially distilled by licence. Reddit, Inc. 2023. The staff and board of St Michael's College were 'shocked and deeply saddened' following the death of two of its Leaving Certificate students. Whiskey manufacturers didnt talk about it because they didnt want people to think that drinking their whiskey was deadly. This does give Bushmills the claim to fame of being the oldest surviving grant of licence distillery anywhere in the world. In the 19th century, The Liberties was home to many large brewers and distilleries like Guinness and Jameson, as well as pubs and other businesses, tenement houses for the working class and poor, and outdoor pens of animals, like horses and pigs (via The Liberties Dublin). This wasnt finished, drinkable whiskey, like a boss from the 1960s would offer you in a meeting. The unhappy overdose deaths would probably have happened in any city where there was a tendency to indulge immoderately in drink, he said. However, not one person died from burns or smoke inhalation but instead the cause of death was alcohol poisoning from drinking contaminated whiskey from the dirty Dublin streets. Two porters at the time, named Healy and McNulty, were found lying insensible in a lane off Cork Street, with their boots off: they had evidently used them to collect the whiskey. However, the most remarkable aspect of the disaster was that of the 13 people who died, not one person died from burns or smoke inhalation. Across from Saint James Church was a Holy Well and during this time locals would throw water left and right, back and forth, before drinking from the well, as a protection before they entered the fair, which continued until the early nineteenthcentury. Why Did the Hindenburg Catch Fire? Stereotypes arent nice. At William Smiths inquest, his father, James, spoke to confirm he was a labourer, unmarried and 21 years old when he died. He maintained that the deaths of those who drank the fire whiskey would have happened in any city where there was a tendency to indulge immoderately in drink,. The arrival of the e in whiskey which separates it from its Scottish neighbours, was very much a late addition to the process and was added to mark clearly the difference between the two Celtic products. Top Image: James Roberts and his men work to stem the flood of flaming Dublin whiskey and control the fire. (The) deceased suddenly fell down, and became insensible. As the flames reached the wooden casks holding the liquor, they exploded and a crazy cocktail of fire, whiskey and malt liquor flowed down Dublins Ardee Street, Cork Street and Mill Street like lava. s a whole lot about our Irish cousins but not as much as the story behind the Great Dublin Whiskey Fire of June, 1875. Available at: https://www.rareirishstuff.com/blog/the-great-whiskey-fire-of-dublin-1875-.6767.html, Risn Everard is an Irish writer with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art and has been involved in the education system for the past five years. The Shocking Story Behind The Great Whiskey Fire Of Dublin. To save their reputations, whiskey distillers helped play down these details, turning the focus to residents who tried to help that night. Over a radius of just a mile, George Roe and Company, William Jameson and Company, John Power and Son and John Jameson and Son were the big names along with Guinness, however at one point there were some 40 distilleries in the area! Nearly everyone was drinking it. It was 10pm on June 18th, 1875, and the two young men decided to cross the city to take a look. Much stronger than what they were used to drinking. Everything looked fine, but a few hours later . The incident. Pigs, sheep and chickens, kept in the city hovels and alleys, were terrified of the noise and flames. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Unfortunately for the greedy drinkers, the alcohol was not ready for consumption and alcohol poisoning took hold, with the thirteen men falling into comas and dying. Hes his attack dog, RT brought group of 70 to K Club when considering future of Lyric FM, Dil told. So the next time you look into your whiskey glass filled with Irelands golden nectar, look a bit harder, as there is far more in it than just the Water of Life! There was lots of whiskey in the bar, but the storehouse held a truly staggering amount. FlickrThe quiet streets and undamaged facade of todays Ardee Bar and Lounge would have you think twice that there was once a river of fire and panicking pigs flooding the neighborhood. The fire ignited over 5000 barrels of whiskey which exploded and left the contents pouring into the streets. A 2016 survey by the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs showed a stark drop in underage drinking, as well. William Smith, one of the victims of the June 18, 1875 incident, was only 21 years old when he died. Irish Folklore Consultant for books, comics, films and video games, TV, Interviews, Guest Speaker. Fire is no stranger to cities. While considerable structural damage occurred, miraculously not one person died in the flames or from smoke inhalation, however the Whiskey Fire did have victims. The Internet Says its True.