Poitín , anglicised as Poteen or Potcheen, is a traditional Irish distilled, highly alcoholic beverage (60%-95% ABV). Poitín was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the term is a diminutive of the Irish word pota, meaning "pot". Traditionally distilled from malted barley grain or potatoes, it is one of the strongest alcoholic beverages in the world (renowned for its ability to get the drinker intoxicated the morning after drinking it by drinking water and thereby bringing the remaining ethanol back into solution), and for centuries was classified as illegal in Ireland.
Legal status
Irish moonshine, along with all other private distillation not specifically licensed by the state, was outlawed in 1661.
Today, two Irish brands are officially licensed to produce poitín, Knockeen Hills, and Bunratty.
Poitín is currently made in Wales by the Celtic Spirit Company, which claims that it was produced throughout the Celtic lands.
Usage
Producing poitín was a source of income for some, while for some it was produced in order to have a cheap alcoholic drink. Poitín was popular at
weddings and
wakes and a large supply was at hand. Farmers often used it (and still do) as a cure for sick calves and other farm animals as well as a method of curing muscle cramp/problems. While not used as widely as it used to be, poitín is still available. It was not uncommon for communities to leave the distilling of poitín to widows, in order to grant them a source of income.
Literature
Poitín is a
literary trope in
Irish poetry and prose of the nineteenth century. The Irish critic
Sinéad Sturgeon has demonstrated how the contested legality of the substance became a crucial theme running through the works of
Maria Edgeworth and William Carlton. Many characters in the work of contemporary Irish playwright
Martin McDonagh consume or refer to poitín, most notably the brothers in "
The Lonesome West". In the
Saga of Darren Shan book "
The Lake Of Souls" the character Spits Abrams brews his own poteen, he references
Connemara saying that his grandfather comes from there. In
Frank McCourt's book "
'Tis", he recalls his mother
Angela McCourt telling him that when
his brother Malachy visited her in
Limerick, Malachy went to the countryside and obtained poitín that he brought back to her house and which they then drank. She said that they were lucky that the
Gardaí did not arrest them all.
Music and film
Many
traditional Irish folk songs, such as "
The Hills of Connemara" and "
The Rare Old Mountain Dew," deal with the subject of poitín. Poitín is mentioned in the song "Snake With Eyes Of Garnet" by
Shane MacGowan & The Popes on their album
The Snake. The song "McIlhatton" written by
Bobby Sands and performed by
Christy Moore is about a famous distiller of illegally made poitín.
Gaelic Storm's song, "Darcey's Donkey" on the album "
What's the Rumpus?" deals in a humorous way with the consequences of being caught out by the Garda for distilling poitín.
In 1959, the Disney film starring Sean Connery, 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People', features a drinking and limerick contest between 2 main characters (Darby and King Brian of the Leprechauns). They drink a huge amount of Poitin.
The first feature film to be made entirely in Irish was called Poitín (1979). The story involves an illegal distiller acted by Cyril Cusack, his two agents, and his daughter in Connemara, in the remote west of Ireland.
In the Irish television show, Ballykissangel, Paul Dooley is sentenced to 50 hours of community service for serving poitin made by Uncle Minto, Donal, and Liam.
Déantús an Phoitín (Poteen Making), by Léirithe le Mac Dara Ó Curraidhín, is a one-hour documentary film on the subject.
Clip from Déantús an Phoitín/Poteen Making
See also
Irish whiskey
Pure pot still whiskey
Moonshine
References
Category:Irish Whiskey
Category:Distilled beverages
Category:Irish words and phrases
Category:Irish cuisine
