Smithwick's

John Smithwick founded the brewery in Kilkenny in 1710, on the site of a Franciscan abbey where monks had brewed ale since the 14th century. His family ran it until Guinness bought it in 1965. Brewing in Kilkenny ended on 31 December 2013 and moved to St. James’s Gate in Dublin; part of the old site is now the Smithwick’s Experience visitor centre. Smithwick’s Draught is an Irish red ale. Kilkenny began in the 1980s as a stronger Smithwick’s for export.