DISTILLERIES IRELAND. Fifth Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Collection and Management of the Revenue Arising in Ireland; &c. Distilleries.

Together with Appendices; Supplement to the Fifth Report; Intercourse in Spirits. London: Ordered by the House of Commons to be Printed, 30 May/25 June, 1823. Folio. pp. 408; 63. Handsomely bound in modern blue buckram; a clean and well-preserved copy. A very good copy of an extremely uncommon parliamentary paper, rarely encountered complete with its supplements.
An exceptionally important parliamentary report on the Irish distilling industry at a critical moment in its development, issued in the same year as the landmark Excise Act of 1823, which transformed the legal framework of whisky production across Britain and Ireland. While the report itself is brief, the extensive appendices, running to nearly 400 pages packed with detailed information on the distilling industry. A remarkably detailed body of primary material, including verbatim evidence from Irish distillers, including John Jameson and Aeneas Coffey, revenue officers, and officials, alongside statistical returns and comparative data relating to Scottish and English distilleries. The material provides a rare insight into the realities of both legal and illicit distillation at the beginning of the nineteenth century, documenting the pressures exerted by widespread smuggling and unlicensed production.
The accompanying 63-page supplement on the intercourse in spirits examines trade flows between Ireland, Scotland, and England, offering valuable evidence on the movement, regulation, and taxation of whisky within the British Isles.
A foundational source for the study of Irish whiskey history, capturing the industry immediately prior to its nineteenth-century consolidation and later global dominance.
A rare and substantial primary source capturing the whisky industry at the moment of its transition from widespread illicit production to regulated commercial distilling.