There is a copper pot still sitting on the altar of a former Dublin church, framed by stained glass, and it is one of the more remarkable sights in Irish whiskey. That church is the Pearse Lyons Distillery, and we took the Legacy Tour to see whether the setting is the whole story or just the opening line.
It is not just the opening line, but the setting is genuinely hard to beat. Pearse Lyons Distillery is housed in the restored Church of St James in The Liberties, the historic distilling quarter of Dublin once known as the Golden Triangle. The building comes with an 800-year-old graveyard, a glass steeple locals call the Liberties Lantern, and a family story that runs straight through the whiskey. This is a review of the experience, the five whiskeys poured on the Legacy Tour, and who should book it.
What the Legacy Tour actually includes
The Legacy Tour is the fullest of the standard experiences at €30 per person, and it runs around 45 to 60 minutes. Groups are kept small, which suits the space and means the guides, who the distillery calls storytellers, can actually talk to you rather than at you.
It opens with a dram in hand while you hear the history of the site, then moves out around the church and the graveyard, and finishes inside the converted church itself where the stills sit on the altar and the whiskey-making is explained.
The tasting closes the tour with five whiskeys: Ha’Penny Original, Pearse The Original, Pearse Distiller’s Choice, Ha’Penny Four Cask, and the Pearse Founder’s Choice 12 Year Old Single Malt. A gift shop selling the range and the Ha’Penny Gin sits at the end.
If €30 for five tastings is more than you want, the Trilogy Tour runs three tastings for €20 and the Signature Tour four for €25. There is also a two-hour Gin School at €150 and a Cocktail Experience at €50.
Who was Dr Pearse Lyons, and why a church
The distillery is named after Dr Pearse Lyons, who founded it with his wife Deirdre and opened the doors in 2017. Lyons was the first Irishman to earn a formal degree in brewing and distilling from the British Institute of Brewing and Distilling, and he interned at the old Powers distillery on John’s Lane in the 1970s before making his fortune in animal nutrition with Alltech. He passed away in 2018, at 73, having seen the distillery realised.
The church was personal. Lyons descended from five generations of Dublin coopers, and his grandfather, John Hubert Lyons, is buried in the St James graveyard. His uncle Robert Dunne, one of the last working coopers in the city, is depicted in one of the newly commissioned stained glass windows. The building had been deconsecrated in the 1960s and had fallen close to ruin. Because it carries protected national monument status, restoring it while converting it into a distillery took years and a budget that climbed well past the original estimate, ending north of €20 million.
The result is a distillery that doubles as a piece of conservation. The four stained glass windows tell the stories of distillation, brewing, the cooper’s craft, and the Camino de Santiago, and the family motto sits under a lion crest: Noli irritare leonem, do not anger the lion.
The stills, and an honest word on the whiskey
The two copper pot stills are Kentucky-made Vendome stills, nicknamed Mighty Molly and Little Lizzie, bought by Lyons himself and lowered in through the roof because none of the church doors were large enough. They carry a rectifying column that is unusual in Irish whiskey and gives the team fine control over the spirit. Fermentation runs in open Oregon pine washbacks, the new make comes off at roughly 72 to 74 percent before reduction to a cask strength around 62.5 percent, and maturation and bottling happen off-site, partly for space and partly a lingering caution that dates back to the Dublin Whiskey Fire of 1875.
Here is the honest part, and it matters for what you are tasting. The distillery only began laying down its own Dublin spirit relatively recently, so several of the bottles on the tour, including the 12-year-old Founder’s Choice, are sourced and matured elsewhere. That is normal for a young distillery waiting on its own casks, and the picture is already shifting: the Distiller’s Choice now includes single malt distilled on-site. The core range is non-chill filtered and bottled at natural colour throughout, which is a point in its favour.
The five whiskeys on the Legacy Tour
The range leans towards approachable, ex-bourbon-led Irish whiskey, with the Four Cask providing the most complexity and the Founder’s Choice the most age. Here is how the five compare at a glance.
| Whiskey | Style and age | Casks | ABV | Character in a line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ha’Penny Original | Blend, NAS | Predominantly ex-bourbon | 43% | Light, fruity, honeyed aperitif |
| Pearse The Original | Blend, 5 years | Ex-bourbon (Town Branch) | 43% | Citrus, ginger and baked apple |
| Pearse Distiller’s Choice | Blend, 7 years | Ex-bourbon with a little sherry | 43% | Orange peel, gingerbread, custard |
| Ha’Penny Four Cask | Blend, NAS (4–10 years) | Port, bourbon, sherry, double-charred | 43% | Spiced, nutty, dried fruit |
| Pearse Founder’s Choice | Single malt, 12 years | Ex-bourbon (Town Branch) | 42% | Orchard fruit and crème brûlée |
Ha’Penny Original tasting note
Nose: pear, green apple, soft honey, light vanilla
Palate: sweet barley, orchard fruit, a wheaten softness, gentle spice
Finish: short to medium, honeyed and clean
ABV: 43% | Casks: predominantly ex-bourbon | RRP: around €35
A gentle, fruity blend built on Irish malt and a wheat grain component. It is the easy opener of the five, and it does that job well.
Pearse The Original tasting note
Nose: lemon zest, ginger, baked apple
Palate: honey, vanilla, baked apple, a touch of oak spice
Finish: medium, warming ginger and soft oak
ABV: 43% | Casks: ex-bourbon from Town Branch, Kentucky | RRP: around €45
A five-year-old blend of roughly one-third malt to two-thirds grain, matured in ex-bourbon casks from the family’s Kentucky distillery. Bright and bourbon-influenced, an everyday pour.
Pearse Distiller’s Choice tasting note
Nose: orange peel, gingerbread, cocoa Palate: cream, oak spice, stewed apple, custard Finish: medium to long, clove and dried fruit ABV: 43% | Casks: mostly ex-bourbon with a small proportion of sherry | RRP: around €50
A seven-year-old blend, and the one that carries on-site single malt. It picked up top honours at the Irish Whiskey Masters, and it is the pick of the blends here for anyone who likes a little sherry depth without losing the orchard-fruit brightness.
Ha’Penny Four Cask tasting note
Nose: oak spice, almond, dried berries, tropical fruit, vanilla, cinnamon
Palate: peppered wood spice, dried apricot, marzipan, demerara, praline
Finish: crème caramel, orange citrus, oak spice
ABV: 43% | Casks: Port Pipe malt, first-fill bourbon malt, Sherry Butt grain, double-charred grain | RRP: around €50
The most interesting whiskey of the set. Four cask types across two whiskey styles give it real spice and dried-fruit weight, and it wears its complexity comfortably. If you buy one bottle from the tour, this is the one to weigh against the Distiller’s Choice.
Pearse Founder’s Choice 12 Year Old Single Malt tasting note
Nose: white peach, apple, spiced pear, pine, honeysuckle
Palate: silky orchard fruit, crème brûlée, lemon, dried orange
Finish: medium to long, ginger and clove
ABV: 42% | Casks: ex-bourbon barrels from Town Branch, Kentucky | RRP: around €65
A 12-year-old single malt whose barrels were personally selected by Dr Lyons, which is where the name comes from. It is a sourced whiskey rather than Dublin-distilled, and it is the most mature and layered thing you taste on the day.
Practical details
Address: 121–122 James’s Street, The Liberties, Dublin 8, D08 ET27 Getting there: a five-minute walk from the Guinness Storehouse, near Roe & Co Distillery and Teeling, with Kilmainham Gaol close by. The city hop-on hop-off buses stop nearby.
Tours: Trilogy €20 (3 tastings), Signature €25 (4 tastings), Legacy €30 (5 tastings), plus Gin School and Cocktail Experience.
Booking: through pearselyonsdistillery.com or the distillery’s ticketing page.
Accessibility: the ground-floor visitor centre, distillery and bar are wheelchair accessible; the graveyard has uneven ground. Guide dogs are welcome, and language guides are available.
The bottles are widely available and the distillery ships to more than 40 countries, so most of what you taste can follow you home wherever you are reading this from.
Is it worth it? Our verdict
Yes, and the setting is only part of the reason. At €30, the Legacy Tour is fair value for five tastings, a small group, a genuinely knowledgeable guide, and one of the most beautiful buildings in the whole of whiskey. The whiskeys themselves are honest, well-made and approachable rather than earth-shattering, with the Four Cask and Distiller’s Choice the two worth taking seriously as bottles.
This is for the traveller in Dublin who wants a distillery visit with a real story behind it, and for anyone who values a well-restored building as much as the liquid. It is less essential for the cask-strength hunter chasing rarity and intensity, since the range sits comfortably at 42 to 43 percent and leans easy-drinking. Book the Legacy over the shorter tours if you want the full five, walk over from the Guinness Storehouse to take in The Liberties on the way, and give yourself time in the church itself. It is the kind of place you visit for the experience and leave with a bottle of the Four Cask.
Our rating: 4.5 / 5
Frequently asked questions
What is Pearse Lyons Distillery? Pearse Lyons Distillery is an independent Irish whiskey distillery in The Liberties, Dublin, housed inside the restored former Church of St James. Founded in 2017 by Dr Pearse Lyons and his wife Deirdre, it produces the Pearse and Ha’Penny whiskey ranges and offers guided tours with tastings.
How much is the Pearse Lyons Distillery tour? The Legacy Tour and Tasting Experience costs €30 per person and includes five whiskey tastings. Shorter options are the Trilogy Tour at €20 for three tastings and the Signature Tour at €25 for four. A Gin School (€150) and Cocktail Experience (€50) are also available.
What whiskeys do you taste on the Legacy Tour? The Legacy Tour pours five whiskeys: Ha’Penny Original, Pearse The Original (5-year blend), Pearse Distiller’s Choice (7-year blend), Ha’Penny Four Cask, and the Pearse Founder’s Choice 12 Year Old Single Malt. They span light and fruity through to spiced, cask-driven and mature.
Is Pearse Lyons Distillery whiskey made in the church? Distillation now happens on-site in the church on two Kentucky copper pot stills, but maturation and bottling take place off-site for space and fire-safety reasons. Some older, age-stated bottles such as the Founder’s Choice 12 are sourced and matured elsewhere while the distillery’s own Dublin spirit comes of age.
Where is Pearse Lyons Distillery and how do I get there? The distillery is at 121–122 James’s Street, Dublin 8, in The Liberties, a five-minute walk from the Guinness Storehouse and close to Roe & Co and Teeling. It is easy to reach on foot from the city centre or via the hop-on hop-off buses.
Is Pearse Lyons Distillery worth visiting? Yes. The restored church setting, the graveyard, the family history and the small-group tours make it one of Dublin’s most distinctive distillery visits. The whiskeys are approachable and well-made, with the Ha’Penny Four Cask and Distiller’s Choice the standouts, and the €30 Legacy Tour is fair value.
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