Midleton
Imokilly Home Page Cloyne Genealogy iMac Midleton Midleton rugby Poetry Stories Guest Book Links	Midleton Town Over 150 years Ago. The following is an extract from Lewes's description of the town, which he passed through in 1837. Midleton is pleasantly situated at the head of the vale of Immokilly, in a healthy and fertile country, screened by lofty hills.  It consists principally of one main street, from the centre of which branches one street to the east, and contains 247 houses most of which are uniformly built and of handsome appearance. The inhabitants are amply supplied with excellent water from springs. Both rivers abound with salmon and trout and over each is a handsome bridge. Great improvements have been made since the year 1824 and others are in progress. It possesses, by which means of its creek from Cork harbour, which extends to the rear of the town, all the advantages of a seaport. At Bailick about a quarter of a mile below the town, are very commodious quays accessible to vessels of 300 tons burden; it also has extensive stone houses, where coal timber, iron, slate and other heavy goods are landed and warehoused. A large quantity of wheat and oats are shipped annually to Liverpool and Bristol. In 1825 Messrs. Murphy and Co. converted the old woolen mills into a very extensive distillery and malting establishment, at present producing 400,000 gallons of whiskey annually and affording employment to 180 persons. On the Midleton river are the distillery and maltworks of Messrs. Hacket, erected in 1824 producing 200,000 gallons of whiskey annually and employing 60 persons. On the same river are the boulting mills of Messrs. Allin, which have been much enlarged and now, in addition to water power are worked by a steam engine, erected in 1835. They manufacture about 3,000 bags of flour annually. There are also two very large breweries and two very extensive malting establishments. From the above description it seems that Midleton, to the casual observer at least, was in a thriving condition in the decade prior to the famine. In 1843, another traveller passed through the town and noted in addition: The town itself has a neat and respectable appearance and has for a number of years, improved more than any other of the main towns in Munster. The main street is 700 yards long, extending from North to South, is straight and spacious, has the Market house, the courthouse and a great number of comfortable and respectable private houses along the double thoroughfare from Cork to Waterford and from Cloyne to Fermoy. Three extensions or suburban wings of the town sketch respectfully southward along the road to Cloyne, northward along the road to Fermoy and westward along the road to Cork, but all are of greatly inferior character to the body of the town and consist principally of cabins. This description gives a better insight into the actual living conditions of the population. As with other similar towns of its size, the better off lived on the Main street, with the working classes concentrated for the most part on the outskirts of the town. Midleton Town Today Midleton is a thriving market town situated in a lush, green, rich valley. Its main industries are food, including vegetables, meat and fish, and whiskey and there are many other smaller industries all about. Its distilleries complex is one of the most modern in Europe and is capable of the manufacture of several kinds of whiskey, rum, vodka and gin. The old distillery is now a famous whiskey heritage centre and over a million visitors have passed through its gates. A magnificent centrepiece is the largest pot still in the world - a huge gleaming copper flask of 33,333 gallons capacity. This old distillery has a working waterwheel, the largest in Ireland and a beam engine dating from 1825. Midleton's wide streets were laid out in the 18th century and among the buildings of that time is the market house, built in 1789 topped by the clock tower and weathercock.