Locke’‘s distillery was founded in Kilbeggan, Ireland in 1757. It was originally known as Brusna and only became Locke’‘s in 1843 when it was bought by John Locke. It remained in the family until 1893 with the creation of John Locke & Co. The Irish War of Independence, coupled with Prohibition in the United States, brought the distillery’‘s activities to a halt between 1924 and 1931. When it began to struggle financially in 1947, it was put up for sale but, failing to find a buyer, ultimately closed in 1953. After first being reborn as a museum in the 1980s, the distillery was then bought by the owners of Cooley, who turned it into a new distillery named Kilbeggan, which has been in operation since 2010.

Connemara Original is the brand’’s entry-level bottling. It is a peated Irish whiskey produced at the Cooley distillery.