Who invented Whisky?

Both the Irish and the Scots claim to have invented it?

My (Paul McLean) favourite Irish whiskey is Coleraine, being half Irish myself I'm a wee bit stupid, my likes do travel across water!  The first legal distillery in the British Isles was in Northern Ireland, it was given to Sir Thomas Phillips ( Bushmills ) by James 1 of England, in 1608. BUT Stories tell us that the troops of Henry II of England paid a visit to Ireland in 1174; were more than happy to discover the unique taste of Irish whiskey. Unable to pronounce the Gaelic “Uisge Beatha" they shortened it to “Fuisce” and finally to "Whiskey” Irish Whiskey held the high ground and was the worlds top selling Whiskey.

www.bushmills.com   'Old Bushmills' Distillery is the World's Oldest Licensed Whiskey Distillery. King James I granted the original license in April 1608 and Bushmills has been making the finest Irish Malt Whiskey here for almost four hundred years. They will be shortly celebrating their 400th Birthday in 2008. I'll drink tot hat!


The arrival in Ireland of a Scot John Jameson in the 1770s marked a significant new departure for the growing legal Irish whiskey industry. Jameson already had connections with the Scottish industry - he had married into the Haig family - and his son consolidated the business by marrying a daughter of John Stein, whose family were among the biggest grain distillers in Scotland and who owned Dublin's Bow Street distillery which Jameson Senior was soon to purchase in 1780. with a brother-in-law they became the first distiller to install a patent still.

After the dissolution of the monasteries in Scotland, whiskey making became a peoples art. It was practised by ex-monks who became barbers, surgeons, and apothem caries. Whiskey was taken to the great houses in the Highlands and crofts. By the 16th century triple distillation was common practise in the Western Isles, and had spread to Ireland and France.

By then “Uisge Beatha”  Gaelic for “Aquae Vitae” or “Water of life.” Was a central part of Highland life.