Irish Coffee Centre

The Origin of Irish Coffee

Here’s the story of the world’s most famous drink.

Foynes and flying boats are closely connected to Irish coffee, playing a significant role in the invention of this favorite Irish treat. Of course, as with anything in Ireland, the weather played a role, too.

In 1943, Brendan O’Regan opened a restaurant and coffee shop in the Foynes terminal building. It quickly became regarded as one of the best restaurants in Ireland. Chef Joe Sheridan, originally from Castlederg, County Tyrone, had been recruited by O’Regan to run the kitchen.

Late one night in the winter of 1943, a flight left Foynes for New York. After flying for several hours in bad weather, the captain decided to return to Foynes to wait for safer conditions. A Morse code message was sent to the Foynes control tower to inform them of the return. Staff were called back in and the passengers were brought to the restaurant upon landing for food and drink.

When Joe was asked to prepare something warm for the passengers, he decided to put some good Irish Whiskey into their coffees. The story goes that there was a hushed silence as people drank it for the first time. One of the passengers approached the Chef and thanked him for the wonderful coffee. He asked Joe if he used Brazilian Coffee; Joe jokingly answered, “no, that was Irish Coffee!”.

A few weeks later, Sheridan knocked on Brendan O’Regan’s office door. He showed Brendan this new drink in a stemmed glass and asked him “how about that for eye appeal?”. Brendan answered, “genius chef!” and so began Irish Coffee. Irish Coffee continued to be served at Foynes to all passengers and is still served to this day to all dignitaries arriving at Shannon Airport.

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