At the turn of the 20th century, farmers in the south of Ireland led the barley breeding movement, creating strong, resilient varieties of barley grown to be malted for use in beer and whisky making.

Were these grains more flavourful? Did they exhibit characteristics that we may have interest in today? Most of these historic, heritage varieties have long since died out, but five years ago the team at Waterford Distillery wondered if they might be able to resurrect some of these long-lost grains. 

They began by exploring the history of Ireland's heritage barley varieties.