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I couldn't say. The 6" maps mark quite a lot of breweries and distilleries, but who can say whether these were commercial or not. i would imagine that the fact they warranted marking on a map at all would lend them some significance. Likewise, Lewis' Topographical Dictionary provided clues and mentions, and I think, given the nature of the work, he would not be listing smaller household breweries. The trade directories at least differentiate, and these could possibly be used to cross-check this theory.

When you say commercial breweries, do you mean as opposed to household breweries, or what?

Yeah, I mean like you'd mark a building as a brewery in the same way as a coach-house or barn.

Yes, that's certainly possible. Maybe a re-look on the maps might help too. As in, if it's on an estate, it might be a "feature", so should be taken with a pinch of salt.

How a bout a test exercise? Lewis mentioned one brewery in Tullamore, and I found three marked on the map. I wonder if a look in a directory from the period would give more info?

Unfortunately the historic map viewer is down for maintenance, and I lost my copies due to my hard drive death (now sent for recovery), so I can't show you directly <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->

Actually, I'll try to find out if they codified an approach to mapping breweries, and what merited being marked as such.

With the aid of Revenue records it should be possible to distinguish commercial breweries.

Regulation of the brewing industry was already in place by the 1830s. Not sure when it started.

Are Revenue records from the time available? I know a lot of documents ended up in the Liffey when the IRA blew up the Four Courts, not sure if Revenue records were there.

Should be looked into all right.

I just found this Vintner's Guide[/url:148mqu8x] from 1825. For Tullamore, he lists:

Deverell, William, strong ale and beer Brewery
Manley, Joseph, strong ale and beer Brewery

Gonna be more to be found in there, and some familiar names and places already showing on a quick search <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->