When Heather Clancy and Anne-Marie Kelly first met at high school in Kildare, there was little indication that they would one day be co-founders of one of Ireland’s biggest networks in whiskey. But years later, the two kept crossing paths — first at Bord Bia, Ireland’s food and drink export body, and later at whiskey company Grace O’Malley. Naturally, that led to chats about the industry they had found themselves in. “Those conversations about working in whiskey were the origins of Women in Irish Whiskey — we valued that transparency with each other and began to learn together,” says Clancy.
Women in Irish Whiskey was officially founded in 2023 and describing it as a runaway success would hardly be hyperbole. It started by the two asking how they could get a few women in a room together — a simple-sounding goal, but something that women in the industry rarely experienced in their day-to-day lives. “The idea was to get 20 women in a room in 2023 — we had to move the venue that week! We had 60 women and it’s just grown and grown from that,” Clancy explains. The group has since hosted International Women’s Day events at Roe & Co, followed by Teeling, before a triumphant celebration in 2026 at Midleton, the home of Irish Distillers and the spiritual home of Irish whiskey.
Each event is naturally different, with a theme and learnings from each year going back into the planning. Kelly describes this in language familiar to whiskey makers as a head, heart and tails philosophy — bringing one aspect of an event into the next one. In 2026, women in leadership positions across the industry were put at the heart of the event — acknowledging that while many have now made their way into the whiskey industry during the boom in recent decades, work now needs doing to support female progression towards becoming specialists.
The 2026 panel drew on the in-house expertise of senior women at Irish Distillers — the company where many of Ireland’s biggest names in whiskey started out. Jaime Jordan, distillation and maturation director for Ireland, was joined by head of archives Carol Quinn. Her expertise in the history of distilling in Ireland truly placed the progress made towards increased equality into context. “Looking back at the archives here, and specifically the wage books which record employees and their functions, women are conspicuous by their absence,” Quinn explained. With the exception of bottling lines and the occasional — temporary — female owners due to inheritance, women are simply not to be found. This isn’t surprising historically, in relation to physically demanding, industrial jobs and is far from unique to whiskey: it reflects how broader society in Ireland and beyond was for generations. “In Ireland, until as late as 1980, women could be refused credit unless they had a male guarantor, again an inhibitor to female founders.”
Of course, the Women in Irish Whiskey event at Midleton was a testimony to how that has changed. “The emergence of women into the distilling scene in Ireland has exploded over the last 20 years. Today you see women employed at all levels, including many senior posts, distillers, blenders, and owners,” Quinn said.
While women have been increasingly visible in whiskey around the world, this has perhaps been particularly accelerated in Ireland by the 21st-century boom in Irish whiskey. The country went from only three working distilleries at the turn of the century to approximately 50 today: naturally, they all needed staff.
The increased opportunities and successful women who have made their careers in Irish whiskey were clear to see in the panel — also speaking was Aoife Clarke, vice president of public affairs and alcohol in society at Suntory Global Spirits, and Texas-based Alice Carroll, founder of Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey. Beginning her whiskey career at Irish Distillers owner Pernod Ricard, Carroll has since gone on to launch her own whiskey, eschewing the heritage-focused stories typical of ‘Old World’ regions to loudly and brightly create a whiskey for the future.
The range of areas and spectrum of knowledge represented was deliberately broad. Kelly and Clancy want to place a focus on connecting women across roles, seniority level, and locations. It can’t be denied that Ireland is a fragmented country — while Irish whiskey is produced to the same rules whether in Northern Ireland or the Republic, there remains cultural, logistical, and bureaucratic divides and hurdles. At Midleton, breakout groups linked up directors with distilling students, and senior consultants with tourism professionals. In a tight-knit industry where connections can make a career, yet opportunities to come together can be limited, these kinds of simple connections can be life changing. The founders are also delighted to see the impact spread beyond the core group of Irish whiskey professionals they initially started with. “More people and subsections are getting involved — hoteliers, bartenders, universities that offer distilling courses,” explains Clancy. “They are all experiencing the eye-opening effect of realising women are here!”
Another woman in the warehouse at Midleton was Denise Callan, who is currently working on VINTA — an EU-funded project taking in women’s experiences in not just whiskey but also wine, beer, and other spirits. “There’s been an awareness that while women make up a significant proportion of the market for drinks, they haven’t really had the great representation in production and manufacturing,” Callan explains. “In so far as they are represented, there’s a glass ceiling — fewer women in decision making roles. When they’re involved, it’s usually branding and marketing. So, there’s a perceived need to look at this.”
Ultimately, the project aims to develop learning resources, leadership and business skills programmes, and tools that help employers build more inclusive workplaces. The research area stretches across Europe, from Ireland in the west to Ukraine in the east; from Denmark in the north to Portugal in the south. It is hoped that in looking across the drinks industry and multiple European countries, broader examples of best practices can be identified and extrapolated from. If it’s concluded that women are thriving in a certain alcohol sector while particularly struggling in another, the research will help stakeholders to efficiently enact change — after all, there’s no point in reinventing the wheel.
“Some of our target audience is young women who haven’t considered a career in the drinks industry,” Callan says. Currently, she believes that many women aren’t sure what roles they could pursue. “Having case studies and personal stories will highlight the roles — we can have a narrow view. But if you can see a head distiller who’s a woman and learn about her pathway, you know you can follow that.” The plan is for mentorship to be developed over the course of the programme, connecting women across Europe and the drinks industries. Ultimately, Callan stresses that the work isn’t just for the sake of it — the drinks industry needs women, economically and practically, in order to thrive well into the 21st century.
Beyond all the serious talks of history, progression, and the future for women in the Irish drinks industry, there’s also a yearning for pleasure, relaxation, and joy. Women in Irish Whiskey currently embodies that through its Whiskey & Vinyl sessions — open to all, the gatherings bring industry professionals and consumers together to listen to good music and explore whiskeys they might not have tried before. Removing the technical language, pressure to find the tasting notes expected, and formal atmospheres, the sessions have proven incredibly popular.
“We get a good mix of consumers and industry folk who just love the concept,” explains Clancy. Most recently, Women in Irish Whiskey partnered with Glendalough Distillery to bring the concept to the popular Beyond the Pale festival in Wicklow. In the process, it showcased whiskey matured in barrels made from trees from the Glendalough Estate. In a setting where good music, quality food, and a good time is the focus, the opportunity for brands to reach new, non-traditional audiences is priceless. “People get to come, sip and savour the whiskey — it takes away the pressure! We wanted to strip back that environment and make it about enjoyment.”
Irish whiskey straddles heritage and modernity, bringing amazing history in distilling to new, energetic companies. Women are finding their places to thrive among that — no longer absent in the records. For Women in Irish Whiskey, the ideas are vast and ever-changing. Clancy and Kelly are keen to bring new people and ideas in, to keep the organisation moving and fresh: “We want others to come forward — we’re always open to people getting involved.”
Somehow, despite multiple sell-out events across the country, the scale of interest from women across the industry still surprises the founders. “We thought it would be one networking event and now we’re five years in with a network of about 400 women!” Heather laughs. If Irish whiskey’s next chapter is still being written, Women in Irish Whiskey is helping ensure far more women will be among its authors.
