Jameson Distillery: The place to cure all your whiskey needs  

Jameson is an Irish whiskey that was founded by John Jameson in 1780. Jameson ‘s Bow Street Distillery is in Smithfield and attracts many tourists to the area. 

Visitors there have a choice of six ‘experiences’ to book. “For someone more interested in learning about whiskey I would recommend the ‘secret tasting experience’,” tour guide Lucy Watters says. “For someone who wants to learn about history, I would recommend the ‘Bow Street experience’. Finally, if people have a group event, such as a hen party, I recommend the cocktail-making class.”

Do locals ever visit? “On average, we get a much larger ratio of tourists coming in from other countries compared to locals.” But sometimes locals make it in, perhaps accompanying tourists: “We have a lot of Irish people come into the Distillery and say they’ve lived in Dublin 7 their whole life and have never come into the building before.

“It’s in a courtyard, behind a hostel, and many people might not know they’re even walking by the distillery that’s been there for 240 years,” Watters says.

With places like these it is hard to know when the right time of year is to visit. “We have four peak seasons, some lasting longer than others. The first season of the year would be Saint Patrick’s week – this year we experienced our highest volume of footfall in the distillery since 2019, which is the last proper year we’ve had before COVID-19,” Watters says.

Their next popular season is of course summer. Jameson get its most visitors during this time, “mainly coming from United states, France, Australia, Italy and elsewhere in Europe”, Watters says.  

Next up is their American Football weekend, “which is when two American universities play a match of American football in the Aviva. We experience about four to six days of just American tourists looking to do the experience.”   

A visit, Watters says, is about more than drinking. “The Jameson Bow Street Distillery is not just for whiskey drinkers, it’s about people who are also interested in history and science or just want to see true Irish heritage.”