Lough Ree - The Bridge Whiskey Inchenagh 70cl

Inchenagh (Inse Éanach- island; river meadow) is an Island of approximately 76 acres in the northern end of Lough Ree, with a varied and interesting history. Back in the ninth century, the Bishop and Abbot, Saint Caencomhrac grew weary of being venerated as a prophet, and sought out a life of solitude for himself on the island of Inchenagh, in Lough Ree and died there on July 23rd 898. There are remains of a ringfort on the Island to this day. Moving forward almost 1000 years, the Island was known for “spiritual” activities of a different sort. In 1843, wake-goers rowed out to Inchenagh to stock up on poitín, only to find the Revenue men and police breaking up the still. One local was killed in the resulting affray and several people on both sides were injured. In the early part of the 20th century, when there were 4 households and 25 people living on the Island, it was a place of refuge for locals active during the War of Independence. Inchenagh was inhabited until the 1950’s, when the remaining families were re-settled on land overlooking the Island in the Parish of Rathcline. Nowadays, Inchenagh has returned to the quiet place that Saint Caencomhrac would have found, inhabited just by livestock and plentiful wildlife.