Midleton Travel Guide

One thing every visitor to Midleton simply must do is to pay a visit to the Old Jameson Distillery. Even if, like me, you don't drink alcohol it is still a great historical place that has been beautifully restored.

The visitor centre is huge an includes a pretty good restaurant, which I will review seperately, so it provides a great stop off point on a road trip around this region.

Organised guided tours of the centre run regularly and in different languages. On the occasion that I was there recently I did not have the opportunity to take part in one of the tours but I believe they are wonderful. My companions did, however, partake in the whiskey tasting. There are two different tasting options and with each you taste three blends of whiskey. The basic tasting costs €10 and the superior one (where you get to taste the world famous Midleton Very Rare) costs €17 per person.

A whiskey tasting and a whiskey based drink are included in the guided tour. Whiskey tasters get a certificate from the distillery.

As you enter the gates of the centre grounds you will see an enormous copper Vat and I even spied a wedding party posing beside it for their album pics.

There is a great visitor centre shop where you can buy all the different blends of whiskey plus lots of other souvenirs such as whiskey chocs and fudge, whiskey marmalade (delicious), t-shirts etc.

I just loved this place.

The Malt House Restaurant is situated at the heart of the fascinating Jameson Distillery in the centre of Midleton town. You don't have to be part of the distillery tour to eat here and it's a great place to stop for lunch while drinking in the atmosphere of the beautifully restored buildings housing the distillery.

The menu consists mainly of home-cooked-Irish-country-kitchen-type-fare such as Irish stew and home made soda breads. The portions in general are generous and the food is of a high standard.

The atmosphere is, again, country kitchen with lots of wood and beamed ceilings. Lighting is relatively low and the whole lends itself to a very pleasant atmosphere.

Last time I was there I had a delicious seafood chowder with home made brown bread. The chowder contained a lot of shellfish, no doubt because of the time of year when it was freshly in season, and I loved it. A main course portion with bread cost €9.

Both of my companions had the home made chicken and mushroom pie which contained plenty of chicken and mushroom and was served with a really generous portion of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, roast parsnips, baby new potatoes etc. That cost approx €11 per person.

I would suggest that you round off your meal with a traditional Irish Coffee - where best to drink it but in the distillery where it was originally made.

The Cork Midleton Rial line has reopened and a return ticket is Euro 6.50
You have to pay 2 Euro to park your car at Midleton or Carrigtwohill train station. ( That is a rip off as there are no charges for parking anywhere else in the towns)
The service runs once an hour and you are up there in no time , beats rush hour traffic