Irish whiskey luminaries honoured
Awardees and Sponsors (from left): Ally Alpine,Hugh Gaynor,Bernard McEvoy (Philip Lee Solicitors), Jane Ryan (who accepted a posthumous award on behalf of her late-husband John Clement Ryan), Alan Wright (Kilbeggan Racecourse), John Quinn, Liz Waters, (The Watershed Group), Mark Sheeran (CJ Sheeran), Bernard Walsh, Brendan Monks, Charles O’Reilly (who accepted a posthumous award on behalf of his late-father Frank) and Colum Egan.
The Chairman’s Awards take place biennially and were awarded this year by the Association’s outgoing Chairman John Quinn, Global Brand Ambassador with Tullamore DEW.
The event brought together people, distilleries and industry partners from the Irish whiskey sector.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD was among the guests in attendance to honour the awardees.
“The Chairman’s Awards is a key occasion in the life of our industry,” commented John Quinn, “Every two years we get an opportunity to recognise the outstanding contribution made by individuals who’ve blazed a trail for the Irish whiskey industry. This year, as one of my last acts as Chair of the Irish Whiskey Association, I’m privileged to honour our latest awardees.
“The awards are a wonderful opportunity to salute key individuals from across the industry – people from the past and present whose impact on the global success of the Irish whiskey category has been huge for many reasons but whose enormous contributions will stand the test of time for long into the future.”
The Chairman’s Awards 2022 awardees are:
- Ally Alpine, Managing Director of Celtic Whiskey: Ally founded the Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin in 2003, the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder in Killarney in the same year and the Irish Whiskey Awards in 2014
- Colum Egan, Site Director at Bushmills Distillery and Master Distiller since 2002: in September this year Colum, a former IWA Chairman, celebrated 25 years in the Irish whiskey industry.
- Hugh Gaynor, Operations & Facilities Manager, Kilbeggan Distillery: Hugh’s family has been connected to the Kilbeggan Distillery in one way or another for generations. Since production recommenced in 2007 Hugh has served as Operations and Facilities Manager, responsible for managing all distilling
- Brendan Monks, former Master of Maturation and Operations Manager at Midleton Distillery: Brendan played a lead role in the development of the use of Iberian Oak in Irish whiskey maturation until his retirement from Irish Distillers in 2007
- Jayne Murphy, Marketing Director of Malts, Chivas Brothers: Jayne joined Irish Distillers in 2005 and played a leading role in the development of the company’s Prestige Irish Whiskey portfolio before heading up the global Jameson innovation team
- Bernard Walsh, Managing Director of Walsh Whiskey: having founded the company in 1999, former IWA Chairman Bernard developed the successful Writer’s Tears and The Irishman brands.
In addition, two posthumous awards were awarded to:
- Frank O’Reilly, Joint Managing Director of John Powers & Son: Frank was a member of the Powers family and he played a leading role in the establishment of Irish Distillers, serving as its first Chairman until 1983.
- John Clement Ryan: John Clement was a member of the Powers family. He joined Irish Distillers in 1969 and played a leading role in the development and marketing activities of the company until his retirement in 1996.
