Irish Coffee… The Rest of the Story
Let's
see, Irish whiskey, good strong black coffee, a bit of sugar, then nice
thick cream, poured over the back of a spoon, so that it sits on top of
the coffee, whiskey, and sugar mixture; what's not to love. When made
right with good ingredients Irish Coffee is the perfect restorative.
Last summer on my travels in Ireland I came upon the real story of Irish
Coffee, in Ballybofey, County Donegal.
There is a common and widely held myth that Irish Coffee, that most wonderful of elixirs, was first created in the bar in Shannon Airport. It is true this luscious, Gaelic concoction, was served there at a very early date. But… it wasn’t the first place to serve this wonderful drink, it actually originated in County Donegal at Jackson’s Hotel, in Ballybofey.
There is a common and widely held myth that Irish Coffee, that most wonderful of elixirs, was first created in the bar in Shannon Airport. It is true this luscious, Gaelic concoction, was served there at a very early date. But… it wasn’t the first place to serve this wonderful drink, it actually originated in County Donegal at Jackson’s Hotel, in Ballybofey.
There
was a seaman named Joe Jackson, a Derry man, who served in the Merchant
Navy during World War II. It was his misfortune to be on a ship that
was torpedoed in the north Atlantic. When he was rescued he was
suffering from exposure and was revived with a high proof drink made
from coffee and rum, which was a Navy practice of the day. The rest of
Joe Jackson’s service was in the eastern Mediterranean and there he was
exposed to drinks containing cream, sugar, and spirits.
With the
war over Joe returned home to Ireland and married a woman in the
catering business in Ballybofey. Joe purchased a hotel in Ballybofey
and calling upon his experiences during the war, began to experiment
with new drinks. One of the specialties of the house was an ‘Irish
Coffee’ which was made of strong black coffee, sugar, Irish whiskey, and
then a layer of cream on top. This was circa late 1940s.
In the
early 1950s a Scottish motoring magazine published an account of Joe
Jackson’s Irish Coffee. The drink was replicated, according to lore, on
10 November 1952, in the bar of Shannon airport, but this was several
years after Jackson’s Hotel served the drink. Perhaps it was a public
relations coup or perhaps Donegal was in those days too distant and
away, for whatever reason, the Shannon airport origin for Irish Coffee
began to take root.
The real story is Irish Coffee is the
creation of Mr Joe Jackson and was first served at Jackson’s Hotel in
Ballybofey, County Donegal, where they still serve it today, exactly as
it was created by Joe Jackson in the late 1940s.
Barry R McCain ©2017
Hi,I am a Watson from America my great grandfather was born in Indiana in 1842 HIS father was born in Tennessee no date that has been as far as I can go.My grandfather's brother told me the clan was scots-Irish so for now I have to go for that. Glenn. Harris Watson.
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