WALSH Whiskey Distillery will create 55 new full- and part-time jobs when it’s up and running in early 2016, but it’s expected that the first such distillery to be established in County Carlow in 200 years will have a far wider impact on local employment.

“We will make a significant contribution to the local economy through employment, rates and, of course, the purchase of, on average, 5,000 tonnes of local grain every year,” Bernard Walsh, the company’s founder, said.

Included in the €25 million project is the refurbishment of an old mansion house, Holloden House, on the company’s site in the Royal Oak, which will be transformed into a visitors’ centre. It’s projected that 75,000 people a year will make the journey to the centre by 2021, giving a valuable boost to local businesses and tourism.

At the official turning of the sod ceremony last Thursday, Bernard paid tribute to, among others, the Irish Whiskey Association, Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, the company’s directors and Carlow County Council, without whose support, he said, the new business “wouldn’t have happened”.