Beamish and Crawford was a brewery and brewing company based in Cork, Ireland, established in 1792 by William Beamish and William Crawford on the site of an existing porter brewery. In the early 1800s, it was the largest brewery in Ireland. Beamish and Crawford operated until 2009 and had a number of owners, including Carling O'Keefe, Elders IXL, Scottish & Newcastle and, most recently, Heineken International. While the Beamish and Crawford brewery closed in 2009, Beamish stout is still brewed in the city, at a nearby Heineken operated facility. Background Porter from Great Britain, and England in particular had for a long time been more popular in Ireland than Irish porter, as Irish porter was taxed at a higher rate than imported porter. This changed in 1791, when British porter became subject to higher taxes than Irish porter, giving rise to the brewing of porter in Ireland. William Beamish and William Crawford, both merchants descended from British settlers in Ireland, entered a business partnership in July 1785. Richard Barrett and Digby O’Brien, already partners in an ale brewery in Cork, approached Beamish and Crawford in 1791, likely in the summertime, as they wanted to enter into the then booming porter industry, but lacked the capital to do so themselves. History The Cork Porter Brewery was founded in 1791 by Beamish, Crawford, Barrett, and O’Brien. They purchased an existing brewery from Edward Allen (the son of Aylmer Allen who had run the brewery until his death in May 1791) on a site in Cramer's Lane that had been used for brewing since at least 1650 (and possibly as early as 1500). By 29 August 1791, Beamish, Crawford, Barrett, and O'Brien had placed advertisements seeking barley for their company. Brewing commenced on 17 January 1792, with product sales starting in June 1792. O'Brien died on 15 September 1794 in Brest, France where he was being kept prisoner. Though the exact circumstances surrounding his imprisonment are unknown, during the Napoleonic Wars it was common for merchant ships to be captured, and O'Brien could likely have been seen as a hostage who could have attracted a handsome ransom. Barrett left the partnership on good terms on 1 August 1799. His one-third share in the brewery was valued at IR£21,000, to be paid in instalments of £1,500 on 1 February and 1 August each year until he had been fully paid, along with 6% interest