Egan’s Irish whiskey story begins back in the 1800s with Patrick Egan, a solicitor. In 1835, he was nominated as a Crown Solicitor of Westmeath in the House of Commons. Through this role, which he held for 40 years, he set his sons, Patrick James and Henry James up as merchants. The two sons established P. & H. Egan Limited which grew to be a respected business in Tullamore.
Patrick J. prized the welfare of his workers very highly, and instilled some of the highest standards of work practices at the time. Initially, the business was incredibly diverse, though it did include malting and brewing.
In 1883, Egan's Tullamore Brewery employed 50 people and began producing 30 to 40 barrels of ale a day, and it was only up from there. As the business grew, new warehousing was built out of necessity in 1886, and two years later a 5,000 ton maltings was built. Further expansions were seen in 1890 and again in 1896, the year P. & H. Egan Limited was formally registered as a Public Limited Company. Egan’s Tullamore Ale was recognised as the finest dinner ale available in Ireland at the time, and this reputation sparked an expansion into the larger UK market.
The business lasted until fourth generation descendants voluntarily closed the business in 1968, as the brand wasn’t able to compete with larger multinational companies.
However, in 2013, the Egan family resurrected the brand. P&H Egan's Limited was reformed and their first expression was launched in 2014, Egan's 10 year old single malt. Though it was technically new to the market, Egan’s releases are seen as more of a rebirth of the historic family brand, still owned by direct descendents.