Entrepreneur Michael creates jobs reviving Newry’s spirit of the ages

Successful businessman and historian Michael McKeown is reviving a longstanding tradition of whiskey distilling in Newry, his home town.

He’s the innovator behind Matt D’Arcy & Company which is developing an impressive distillery and visitor complex in the border city. And it’s a business which has already won international awards and exports for the quality of its whiskeys.

The historic distillery’s 10-year old Port Finish, for instance, was a gold medal winner at the San Francisco Wine and Spirits Competition in 2020 and silver medal in the Blended Irish Whiskey category at the Las Vegas International Whiskey Competition the same year. A 17-year old single cask also won the Best Irish Whiskey at San Francisco. The £7.3 million investment will provide around 50 new jobs in Newry.

Michael (72), D’Arcy’s founding chairman, has showcased the colourful history on whiskey distilling in the Mournes in an impressive new book, the most recent in a number he’s already penned about the area. A detailed study of the various distilleries that existed in Newry, the publication adds weight to D’Arcy’s international marketing of its spirits and especially the distilling skills that made the city famous throughout the world in the 18 th and 19 th centuries.

He’s also scoured 12 th century annals spelling out how Maurice McLoughlin, then High King of Ireland, granted a charter to the local Cistercian Order of Monks to distil whiskey.

He continues: “This claim of a long history of Newry whiskey distilling is further supported by records of Nicholas Bagenal, Marshal of the Army of Ireland, from 1575, where the most valuable property in the Abbey of Newry was recorded as the ‘Queen’s Backhouse and Brewhouse’.

“My study details the formation of D’Arcy’s Victorian distilling enterprise, the history of its founder and subsequent chairmen, and their many business and philanthropic endeavours that helped shape Newry to this day. There’s a very rich and colourful heritage of distilling from Henry Thomson & Co. and Duncan, Alderdice & Co.”

An avid historian and a trustee of the Cardinal O Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive in Armagh, Michael has written his own book on the region’s history.

He’s now behind the launch of several D’Arcy whiskeys including one to celebrate the city’s heritage. Named ‘Old Newry’ and tagged ‘Since 1144 and before’, the new whiskey pays homage to blending and bonding there.

Michael grew up at Annaghmore as one of 11 children. He’s widely respected for his business expertise and dedication to this important part of Northern Ireland that has long been a centre of business enterprise and a key tourism destination.

He developed Crash Services, the successful accident management company, which he subsequently sold to son Jonathan. He’s now focusing all his business

acumen and energy on the new complex that will feature a state-of-the-art distillery, Victorian bar, restaurant and visitor centre on Monaghan Street. The distillery is also being built near the water source of the original D’Arcy’s business.

His knowledge of spirits is based on Reihill-McKeown, the drinks supply and off-licence business, which was originally set up by his parents.

Michael says: “Anything I’ve ever had has always experienced rapid growth arising from application of energy. I remember sitting at the table with my father and mother and siblings. What struck me most was that my father and mother would discuss someone else in business or someone who was trading with them in some way.

They used to say that person ‘has great drive’. He has ‘great personality’.

“They discussed everyone in business in terms of degree of drive and personality. I grew up knowing how drive and personality underpin success in business,” he continues.

He had been involved in Reihill-McKeown, which was later sold to Irish drinks giant C&C. His next chapter was a complete change of direction.

“I bought an insurance broker, WJ Carroll, in Keady, and expanded to Craigavon and Lurgan,” he explains.

The business grew successfully and led to a further diversification into accident management specialist Crash Services, in 1996. The sale of it to son Jonathan helped fuel his ambition to revive D’Arcy’s.

“The interest in distilling began as a hobby four years ago,” he explains. “When I began to untangle the history of whiskey in the area and discovered the site of D’Arcy’s lost distillery it got much larger and has now become an exciting project.”

Distillation began last year and is being matured for more than three years required under Irish whiskey rules. Existing whiskeys are based on spirits sourced and finished from other distilleries. He’s looking forward to soon be producing his own distilled whiskey.

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