Franciscan Well Brewery & Brewpub [North Mall Cork]

I am walking along the North Mall and take two photographs of a brewpub and then when I get home I discover that there is an interesting background story.

I only discovered a few days ago that Molson Coors purchased Franciscian Well back in 2013. This came up during a discussion with a barman who claimed that many of the beers sold in Ireland are not in fact craft beers and that they are produced by major breweries and then sold in different regions under different names. Apparently Heineken Ireland confirmed to the media that it had asked financial services firm Grant Thornton to investigate how some of its beer products were mis-sold as local craft beers by various outlets around the country.

The Molson Coors Brewing Company is a multinational brewing company, formed in 2005 by the merger of Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States. It is the world's seventh largest brewer by volume.

Founded by Shane Long in 1998, Franciscan Well Brewery & Brewpub is now Ireland’s No.1 Craft Brewery. The brewery was founded on the North Mall in Cork City and is built on the site of an old Franciscan monastery and well dating back to the year 1219. Legend has it that water from the well had miraculous and curative properties, and people would come from afar to drink from it.

Franciscan Well is also operating a new facility on the other side of the River Lee.

Beginning in the 1990s, brewpubs and microbreweries began to emerge in Ireland. While some, such as the Biddy Early Brewery, Dublin Brewing Company and Dwan's, have since ceased production, the Franciscan Well Brewpub in Cork and Dublin's Porterhouse have both celebrated ten years in business, while the Hilden Brewery in Lisburn is Ireland's oldest independent brewer, having been established in 1981. The Carlow Brewing Company, established in 1996 and makers of the O'Hara's range, is another survivor of the "first wave" of Irish craft brewing.

---