About
Located in Ballina, County Mayo, on the banks of the River Moy -- one of Ireland's most famous salmon rivers. Produces Straw Boys single malt and Brothership blended whiskey. Also well-known for Ballyhoo gin. Restored a historic building in the town centre for distillery and visitor experience.
Production Details
The Connacht Tale
The River Moy has carried salmon upstream for millennia, its waters threading through County Mayo like silver wire through green cloth. In 2016, those same waters found a new purpose when the Connacht Whiskey Company chose the banks of Ireland's most celebrated salmon river for something equally patient and transformative.
Ballina had watched industries come and go, but whiskey-making represented something deeper—a return to Ireland's oldest craft. When the founders surveyed the historic building in the town centre, they saw more than stone and timber. They saw the bones of revival, both for the structure itself and for Irish whiskey's continuing renaissance from its near-death in the twentieth century.
The restoration became an act of faith. Each reclaimed beam and repaired wall declared that this corner of Connacht—Ireland's western province, where Atlantic winds carry stories older than memory—would once again contribute to the ancient tradition of uisce beatha, the water of life.
The River Moy flows past the distillery with the same steady purpose that defines Irish whiskey-making. No rushing, no shortcuts. The water that once sustained monks and farmers now feeds copper stills, carrying forward the patient alchemy that transforms grain into spirit. Here, the Connacht Whiskey Company crafts Straw Boys single malt and Brothership blended whiskey, names that speak to local tradition and community bonds.
The building hums with quiet industry, its historic walls now housing modern equipment designed for Ireland's distinctive approach to whiskey. While the distillery also produces Ballyhoo gin, acknowledging contemporary tastes, the heart of the operation beats to whiskey's slower rhythm.
In the visitor experience, guests encounter more than production—they meet the story of Irish whiskey itself, from its monastic origins through its near-extinction to this moment of unprecedented growth. Connacht represents the newest chapter in that story, proof that Ireland's whiskey tradition continues to find new ground, new voices, new expressions of an ancient craft.
The River Moy keeps flowing, carrying salmon home and stories forward, while in Ballina, copper and time work their patient magic, adding Connacht's voice to Ireland's whiskey chorus.