Dunville’s initially began as a tea and spirits merchant company based in Belfast, founded by John Dumville, though the spelling was changed to Dunville in 1825. However, it soon ditched the tea and became largely successful as an Irish whiskey blender, and in 1869 built its own distillery, the Royal Irish Distilleries. At its peak, the distillery had a capacity of over 2.5 million gallons per annum, making it amongst the largest in the country. When the last heir and chairman Robert Dunville died in 1931, the company began to flounder, and in 1936 Dunville & Co. was liquidated.
However, the story doesn’t end there. In 2013, the Echlinville distillery acquired the Dunville’s name and in the following years, it would relaunch the brand, including its famous Three Crowns expression.