The Story of Sherry and the Irish Winegeese

< The WineGeese Stories

The Irish were the earliest of the foreign merchants to settle in the Spanish province of Andalucía and engage in the sherry trade. The first of the many firms founded by expatriates was that of Rafael O’Neale, established in 1724 by Timothy O’Neale from County Tipperary.

One of the sherry’s produced by Rafael O’Neale was called “Wild Geese”, a name that recounts the saga of the thousands of Irishmen who were forced into exile in the 17th and 18th centuries, and who turned tragedy into triumph, and made their presence felt around the world.

The oldest of the principal sherry houses in Jerez de La Frontera is that of Pedro Domecq, and it like so many others of the region was founded by an Irishman. Patrick Murphy settled in Jerez, and in 1730, planted vineyards in the area, then as now considered one of the finest wine-growing regions in the world. When Murphy died in 1762, he left his thriving sherry business to his friend Juan Haurie, who in turn willed it to his family, one of whom married a Domecq. Pedro Domecq, born of this marriage, took over the firm of Juan Haurie in 1822, giving it the name by which it is known throughout the world today.

Another of the many Irish sherry houses founded during the 18th century was that of Garvey. William Garvey from New Ross in County Wexford set up in the sherry business in 1780. He was to become the leading sherry shipper of his day, building the largest underground cellar in Jerez and naming it Bodegas de San Patricio after the patron saint of his native land.

A group of the Texas Winegeese included a visit to the Sherry House of Garvey on their Andalucían tour June 2005.