Plans have been submitted for a whiskey maturation warehouse to support the new distillery being built in Ahascragh.
Easyfix Ltd is seeking planning permission from the county council to build a single storey warehouse, with a 2,082m² floorspace.
The brownfield site is located at Perssepark, just off the R348, approximately 11km south of Ahascragh, and was previously used as a sand/gravel pit, and a storage site for Bord Gais.
The warehouse would be used for maturing whiskey in casks after the spirit has been distilled at the upcoming Ahascragh Distillery.
The county council approved plans back in 2020 for the restoration of the Old Mill buildings in Ahascragh village centre, and their conversion by Gareth McAllister to a whiskey distillery.
The buildings have been unoccupied since the 1950s, and are now owned by Ahascragh Distillers Ltd.
This craft distillery will produce both whiskey and gin using malted barley, and will employ an estimated 8 to 14 people when complete between making the spirits and guiding tourists.
The planning application by Easyfix for this maturation warehouse includes a letter of support from Ahascragh Distillers.
This states, “A maturation warehouse goes hand in hand with a whiskey distilling operation. A rural and less dense setting is preferable as a maturation warehouse needs to be secure, have limited access points and in an open safe area for the storage of Whiskey liquid.”
“The site at Perssepeak is ideal for our whiskey maturation warehousing. It is close to the distillery in Ahascragh allowing for daily deliveries of freshly made spirit for casking and storage in the warehouse.”
The letter also states that if this application is not approved, they would be forced to locate their facilities to an alternate location in Wexford, which would be bad for the product and the sustainability of the business.
Galway County Council is due to make a decision on this planning application by December 1 of this year.
