Brewing up a proud tradition

Located at the heart of the medieval city and near the old entrance gates, the Beamish and Crawford brewery on South Main Street has been home to brewing in one form or another for over 400 years with records showing a brewery there as far back as 1602.

The brewery today is notable for its striking public frontage on to South Main Street - a mock-Tudor counting house built in about 1895 which is instantly recognisable and fondly regarded by generations of Corkonians.

Beamish and Crawford's emergence as Irish brewers of note dates from 1792 when William Beamish and William Crawford formed a partnership to purchase an old brewery in Cramer's Lane known as the Cork Porter Brewery.

So successful was the partnership that by 1807 output had increased dramatically, making Beamish and Crawford the largest brewery in the country. It continued to trade with great success throughout the 19th century.

Since then Beamish and Crawford has undergone many changes, with the company being taken over by a succession of large international brewing firms such as Canadian brewers Carling O'Keeffe, Elders IXL of Australia and more recently Scottish Newcastle.

Compared to Beamish and Crawford, Heineken - or Murphy's Brewery as it was known up until the 1990s - is a much more recent arrival, being established in 1856 by James J Murphy and his three brothers.

The brewing industry in Cork continued to thrive throughout the 19th century with both Beamish and Murphys developing an export trade through supplying the British army.

About 1900 both consolidated their positions significantly.

Beamish took over rival brewery Lane's while Murphy's acquired St Finbarr's Brewery, owned by the Arnott family.