 When Alfred Barnard visited Ireland, there were 28 distilleries in operation, however, by the 1960s, only a handful of these remained in operation.In 1966 three of these (John Jameson & Son, John Powers & Son and Cork Distilleries Company) chose to amalgamate their operations under the name of Irish Distillers and to close their existing facilities, and concentrate their operations in a new purpose-built facility to be constructed alongside the existing distillery in Midleton.In July 1975, operations ceased at the Old Midleton Distillery and began anew the next day at the New Midleton Distillery, with the Jameson Bow Street Distillery and Powers John's Lane Distillery shutting a year later.