A New Whiskey Museum to open in Dublin

August will see the opening of a new whiskey museum in College Green  by Extreme Event Ireland Ltd. The development is one of two new projects which the Department of Tourism is partly funding. It will be located above James Fox cigar shop, who also owns the building and is currently being renovated for 1.9 million by Irish contractor Noclun, €150,000 of which is being funded by the Department of Tourism.

The funding is part of the Fáilte Ireland\’s Capital Investment Programme which Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar believes “should be good for businesses, retailers and jobs”. The museum will consist of two floors and five rooms including a bar, exhibits on the history of Irish whiskey and interactive posters that have “the founding fathers of the Irish whiskey industry come to life for a barney over which product is superior.”

Owner of the new museum, Keith Mcdonnell hopes to attract 100,000 tourists in the first year with the aim of raising that number to 230,000 by year five. “We’re always looking for new ideas and we felt there was a gap in the market for a whiskey museum that would tell the story of Irish whiskey and unite all the brands,” Mr McDonnell said. “Every brand will be represented.” The new business will create 25 new jobs.

St. Patrick\’s Cathedral will have €152,000 put towards a new visitor and interpretative area also under the scheme. While 2012 saw numbers of 370,000 visiting the tourist attraction, surveys revealed that visitors were looking for a “more engaging experience.” The refurbishment will also include some new features including a monument in memory of those affected by conflict and an audio visual area “where themed videos will be played showing how the Cathedral developed within the wider city.”

Shaun Quinn, CEO of Fáilte Ireland says both initiatives are to be part of the Dublin Discovery Trail. “Increasingly, a successful tourism destination needs to be able to tell its story and to provide opportunities for visitors to engage with that narrative,” he says.\”The projects announced today as part of the Dublin Discovery Trail allow us to do just that and contribute to our overall ambition of marketing Dublin as a ‘must-see’ and ‘must-do’ destination”.