The first sod has been cut on a new whiskey distillery in Garrison.

Fr. Brian D’Arcy turned the soil at Scott’s Irish Distillery on the shores of Lough Melvin on Monday, March 1, with the new distillery set to be “a tribute to the past and a taste of the future”.

The £5m project is the first whiskey distillery in Fermanagh.

The distillery will be built on Scott’s land and is a tribute to Angus Scott, who ran a distillery in the area more than 200 years ago, before having to flee to America where he went on to become a successful bourbon distiller.

Conal Treacy, owner/director of the distillery, and a native of Garrison, expressed his delight that the distillery was one step closer towards completion with the beginning of the construction work.

‘Ready for the end of May’

“The physical building will take about three to four months and that has to be ready in time for the end of May, because we launch our first blended whiskey in June,” he explained.

When the distillery is up and running Conal – who has lived in London for more than 30 years – believes it will be a huge boost to the local area in terms of jobs and tourism.

“Once we get going, we will be looking at a lot of jobs in the community.

“Garrison has suffered a loss in recent times. I mean, once upon a time, 50 years ago, it was a thriving tourist hub.

“Charlie Chaplin used to go fishing and stay there, but now we are hoping to put it back on the map again with jobs and all the rest of it.”

Conal also expressed his gratitude to Fr. Brian for agreeing to cut the first sod, as well as the help he had given them in the lead-up to the day.

He said: “What a lovely man! He was so generous with his time, and everything else. He’s been excellent, and I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.”

The distillery plans to be as environmentall-friendly as possible with the prospect of a waterwheel being used to generate electricity, while the distillery has planted thousands of native Irish trees to offset building’s carbon footprint, with Conal saying it will “continue to be a true carbon-positive endeavour”.