On Ellen’s death record it gives the address “Wises Distillery, Cork” for her parents John and Margaret. I could see no mention of it in the records I found for the Kelly family, but possibly John Kelly worked as an engineer at the distillery.
Wise’s Distillery (North Mall Distillery) was once one of the largest Irish whiskey distilleries in Cork. Brothers Thomas and Francis Wise founded the business in 1779. It occupied the site of the renowned old Dominican Friary which was then known as the abbey of St. Mary of the Island.
This major industry employed 250 people in its heyday. The undertaking was totally self-sufficient having its own carpenters, engineers and coopers workshops, and its own bottling stores. A contemporary account of the business describes its magnitude and that its immense barley stores could stockpile 30,000 barrels. The mill building was an immense five storey structure, reached by passing under an archway. “The giant water wheel was 25 feet in diameter driving six pairs of stones and other machinery.” The handsome chimney stack was completed in 1878 at a cost of £5,000 and into it was diverted all the flues from the distillery.
Regrettably, the distillery’s fire prevention measures were not enough to prevent the total destruction of the production buildings in a fire on 15 January 1920.
(You will easily find some pictures of the distillery online)
