Global interest in Galway duo’s first beer theory

Written by Avril Horan

Wednesday, 05 September 2007

Two Galway archaeologists have attracted unprecedented worldwide interest with their theory that ancient cooking spots were actually used for brewing Ireland’s first ancient beer.

Declan Moore and Billy Quinn of the Moore Group, based in the Ballybrit Business Park, put their theory to the test as part of a four-year research project into the correct use of the cooking spots or fulacht fiadhs. Their research is due to be published this month in Archaeology Ireland.

There are around 4,500 fulacht fiadhs in Ireland. They are small, horseshoe shaped grass covered mounds, and have traditionally been thought of as ancient cooking spots. However, the Galway duo claim that they could also have been used as breweries, showing that beer was available in Ireland as far back as 2,500 BC. The findings have put the Galway archaeologists on the global stage.

Speaking to the Galway Independent, Billy Quinn said they have been overwhelmed by the level of interest in their research.

“It has been one of the biggest global stories to come out of Ireland in the last month. We have been interviewed by organisations in Australia, South Africa. New Zealand, India, America; it has been extraordinary,” said Billy Quinn.

Mr Quinn said they didn’t set out to discover Ireland’s first beer. He said they had “niggling doubts” about the monuments.

“Borne out of our own experience, we weren’t satisfied with the original interpretation of the use of fulacht fiadhs. There was no single ‘eureka’ moment. We were preparing for a dig and, as I was hung-over. I was less conscious about throwing ideas about and we pursued it from there,” explained Mr Quinn.

The two set out to investigate their theory in a journey that took them across Europe in search of further evidence. As professional consultants working in the field, Mr Quinn said an academic conference on brewing in Barcelona in 2005 was an eye-opener.

To prove their theory, they set out to recreate the process in Quinn’s back garden in Headford. They used an old wooden trough filled with water and added heated stones. After achieving an optimum temperature of 60-70°C they added milled barley and after 45 minutes baled the final product into fermentation vessels.

They added natural wild flavourings and yeast after cooling the vessels in a bath of cold water for several hours. Through their experiments, they discovered that the process of brewing ale in a fulacht using hot rock technology is a simple process. Mr Quinn said producing the ale took only a few hours, followed by a three-day wait to allow for fermentation.

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