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Fire, Flood, and Dublin’s Drunken Disaster

It was June 18th 1875 and everything seemed normal in the Liberties section of Dublin. The Irish city was bustling with people and, as usual, there was an abundance of drink to be found. At 4:45pm someone made the routine walk down Chambers Street to check on Malone’s malt house and store house before evening fell and the buildings seemed to be perfectly in order. No one could have guessed that within hours Malone’s would be responsible for mass destruction through the streets of Dublin.

At approximately 8pm that night a fire broke out at Malone’s and quickly spread to the store house where 5,000 casks of whiskey sat, waiting to turn the situation from bad to utterly disastrous. As the barrels exploded their contents gushed out from the buildings, ignited from the alcohol content, and carried the blazing liquid like a rushing river of fire into the unsuspecting streets of Dublin. The volatile mix of alcohol and fire rushed through like lava, igniting everything it touched, and turning Dublin into an inferno.

With no other option the people of Dublin began to flee their homes accompanied by the livestock that lived throughout the city. The flames raged, the people ran, and the animals howled while Dublin Fire Brigade Captain James Robert Ingram tried to form a plan of action. Captain Ingram was a seasoned firefighter, serving in New York City before moving back home to Dublin where he built both the fire brigade and a reputation for using unconventional methods to extinguish fires. Ingram knew that water would be useless in this situation, the liquor and fire would just float on top of it, so he needed to find a way to stop a six-inch-deep river of fire and whiskey in its tracks.

First, he ordered soldiers to rip trenches and holes into the streets and had them filled with sand and gravel hoping it would absorb and put out the liquid. But, the plan was only partially effective and when he saw the liquor beginning to seep out from the debris he knew he needed a new plan. The barricade method seemed to work, but the material needed to be heavier and there had to be enough of it to go around. In Ingram fashion, he came up with an unexpected material to use, and there was plenty at his disposal. He had his men go throughout Dublin to the horse manure depots, fill their carts, and bring it all back to the streets where it came from. Using manure they were able to construct makeshift dams and when the burning rivers hit it, it was absorbed and eventually subdued.

Image of the fire from the Illustrated London Times.

While many were fleeing the horrific scene and Ingram was plotting to stop it with manure, others in Dublin saw the whiskey river as a once in a lifetime opportunity and began to grab anything they could to scoop up the liquor. As reported by the Irish Times:

“It is stated that caps, porringers, and other vessels were in great requisition to scoop up the liquor as it flowed from the burning premises, and disgusting as it may seem, some fellows were observed to take off their boots and use them as drinking cups…”

When the fire was finally put out the damage was heavy, but it could have been much worse if the weather pattern was different that day. If the fire had followed its natural path it would have destroyed both the Coombe Maternity Hospital and a Carmelite convent, but the flames were pushed in a different direction by winds saving countless lives.

The Carmelite nuns called their outcome a “miracle” but not everyone was so lucky with thirteen people meeting their demise that night. Amazingly, none of those who perished died because of fire and smoke. All thirteen fatalities were people who grabbed their pots, pans, and boots and used them to drink from the river and were poisoned by the “derelict whiskey” sloshing in the dirty city streets.   As reported by the Illustrated London Times:

“Four persons have died in the hospital from the effects of drinking the whisky, which was burning hot as it flowed. Two corn-porters, named Healy and M’Nulty, were found in a lane off Cork street, lying insensible, with their boots off, which they had evidently used to collect the liquor. There are many other persons in the hospital who are suffering from the same cause. Two boys are reported to be dying, and it is feared that other deaths will follow.”

Illustrated scenes from the Great Whiskey Fire of 1875.

When the sun rose on Dublin the next morning a huge part of the city lay in smoldering ruin and hundreds were left with nothing. The mayor took it upon himself to start a fund to raise money for those who lost their homes and the city began to rebuild. The Great Whiskey Fire of 1875 proved to be one of the single most destructive events in Dublin’s history. Today, the event is remembered and commemorated in a number of ways, including whiskey. In 2014 the West Cork Distillery in Southern Ireland created Flaming Pig whiskey, named for the sound of the screeching pigs that allegedly alerted citizens in the early moments of the fire.

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History, heritage and a commitment to quality. #dublinwhiskey #powerswhiskeywisdom #powersirishwhiskey #powerswhiskey #realnotfake #pureclass #dublinhistory #liberties (at John Lane's Distillery)