Murphy's Brewery

 

In 1856 James J. Murphy and his brothers found James J. Murphy & Co. and begin brewing beer in Cork City, Ireland. By 1861 the brewery had already produced 42,990 barrels and began to impose itself as one of the major breweries in the country.

 

James J. was a noted philanthropist and much loved figure in Cork. He became a hero when he saved the local economy from ruin in the year of 1885. The story behind this is that when the key bank for the region the “Munster Bank” was close to ruin, which could have led to an economic disaster for the entire country and bankruptcy for thousands, James J. stepped in and led the venture to establish a new bank the 'Munster and Leinster', saving the Munster Bank depositors and creditors from financial loss and in some cases, ruin. His exploits in saving the bank, led to the writing of many poems and song in his honor including “Hurrah for the man who's a friend of the poor”, which would have been sung in pubs for many years afterwards.

 

A Malt House for the brewery was built in 1889 at a cost of 4,640 pounds and was built and arranged on the newest principle and fitted throughout with the latest appliances known to modern science. Today the Malthouse is one of the most famous Cork landmarks and continues to function as offices for Murphy's.

 

Murphy's Stout wins the Gold medal at the Brewers and Allied Trades Exhibition in Dublin and again wins the supreme award when the exhibition is held in Manchester in 1895. These same medals are featured on Murphy's packaging today. Murphy's has continued it's tradition of excellence in brewing, winning Gold again at the Brewing Industry International awards in 2002 and also gaining medals in the subsequent two competitions.

 

In 1906 the Brewery celebrated its 50^th anniversary. On Whit Monday the brewery workforce and their families were treated to an excursion by train to Killarney. Paddy Barrett the youngest of the workforce that day at 13 went on to become head porter for the brewery and could recall the day vividly 50 years later.

 

In the year of 1913 the No.5 Vat at 'Lady's Well' Brewery burst and sent 23,000 galleons of porter flooding through the brewery and out on to Leitrim Street. The Cork Constitution, the local newspaper of the time wrote that "a worker had a most exciting experience and in the onrush of porter he had to swim in it for about 40 yards to save himself from asphyxiation".

 

The brewery went through an era of dramatic change, both in the countries fortune and on a much smaller scale, that of the brewery with the First World War. On August 13, 1914, James J. Murphy and Co. joined the other members of the Cork Employers Federation in promising that “all constant employees volunteering to join any of his Majesties forces for active service in compliance with the call for help by the Government will be facilitated and their places given back to them at the end of the war”. Eighteen of the Brewery's workers joined up including one sixteen year old. Ten never returned. That same year James J. Murphy & Co. purchased the first petrol lorry in the country.

 

The centre of Cork city was extensively damaged on December 12, 1920; by a fire which also damaged four of the company's tied houses (Brewery owned establishments). The company was eventually compensated for its losses by the British government.

 

In 1921 James J. Murphy and Co. opened a bottling plant and bottled their own stout. A foreman and four boys were installed to run the operation and the product quickly won “good trade”.

 

In 1940 at the height of the London Blitz the Murphy's auditing firm is completely destroyed. The war which had indirectly affected the firm in terms of shortages of fuel and materials now affected the brewery directly.

 

The last direct descendant of James J. takes over Chairmanship of the firm in 1958. He ran the company until 1981, and was affectionately know in the brewery as the “Colonel”.

 

Complete replacement of old wooden barrels to aluminum lined vessels (kegs) known as “Iron lungs” draws to an end the era of “Coopers” the tradesmen who built the wooden barrels on site in the Brewery for so many decades in 1961. Then in 1979 Murphy’s reaches Americans shores for the first time winning back many drinkers lost to emigration and a whole new generation of stout drinkers.

 

Murphy's Launched as a National and International Brand in 1985, and exports included the UK, US and Canada.

 

Murphy's wins Gold at the Brewing Industry International Awards, a testament to its superior taste and quality. Indeed 2003 was the first of three successive wins in this competition.

 

The Murphy Brewery celebrates 150 years of brewing in 2006. The now legendary stout is sold in over 40 countries and recognized worldwide as superior stout. We think James J. would be proud!