A HERITAGE group seeking to save the Beamish and Crawford brewery in Cork has expressed hope that new owners Heineken will give serious consideration to a proposal to develop the building as a tourist attraction.
Conservation and Heritage Group chairman Damian Cassidy told The Irish Times the group has arranged a meeting this week with Heineken at which it will make the case.
Heineken announced it plans to close the brewery in March and make 120 of the 160 staff redundant after it was given the go-ahead by the Competition Authority to take over Beamish and Crawford as part of a €10.5 billion international deal.
“We’ve had some contact already with Heineken and we got a very favourable response from the directors so I’m very optimistic – we’re just asking them to respect the wishes of the people and help preserve a vital part of Cork’s heritage,” said Mr Cassidy.
Located near the heart of the city, the Beamish and Crawford brewery is the oldest brewery in Ireland and has been home to brewing in one form or another for over 400 years.
The main building on the site with its mock Tudor facade is the subject of a preservation order by Cork City Council. However, heritage campaigners fear much of the old brewery may be lost if Heineken sells the 4.5-acre site to a commercial developer.
Mr Cassidy said the Conservation and Heritage Group would be quite happy to see the site developed as “a brewing museum”. Meanwhile, Dr Colin Rynne of the archaeology department at University College Cork said the Beamish site offered huge potential as a tourist attraction as it was the last surviving brewery in the country with much of its original equipment dating from the 19th century still in place.
