was broken up and the assets sold between 1941 and 1946, creating lasting controversy over the conditions under which the Irish Government allowed the closure and liquidation to happen.

Founder John Brannick was "for twenty-five years in the distillery of Sir John Power",[5] and for twenty years after that was Chief Distiller for Messrs. George Roe & Son,[5][6] before leaving that position "to superintend the building of the Dublin Whiskey Distillery at Jones's-road".

A seven acre site was chosen for the distillery, situated on a delta formed by the river Tolka on the south, Richmond road to the north and extended west as far as the Ballbough bridges.

as "The most modern of the distilleries in Dublin, it rears its head proud like a monument built to commemorate the virtues of some dead hero".

[1] Despite the river Tolka running through the complex and the construction of a 100-foot-deep well, water for distilling was sourced from the Royal canal through a mile-long pipe.

[1] Distillation was "under Mr. Brannick's sole control from the time it was started" until he left to manage the Banagher Distillery Co." in 1887.

[6] The Irish whiskey industry experienced a period of decline in the 1870s, so it is unlikely that the distillery operated at its capacity for its first decade of production.

However, the three distilleries continued to operate separately and compete directly ensuring the anticipated economies of scale from the merger were never realised.

[8] The industry experienced difficulties in the 1920s, brought about the loss of both the American and British Commonwealth export markets during prohibition and the Anglo-Irish trade war.

management instead made the decision to voluntarily liquidate D.W.D.,[3] and sold off all the distillery's assets for significant financial gain during the war years.

[11] The last asset to be liquidated was the Jones Road distillery site itself which sold at auction on 10 October 1946.

On 8 July 1953, Thomas F. O'Higgins, then member of parliament and future Chief Justice of Ireland, described the events leading to the closure of D.W.D.

[4][10] A 2012 Assessment of Special Interest Under the Planning & Development Act 2000 found the structure to be of architectural and historical significance, noting that "[t]he quality of the materials used in their construction and decorative detailing demonstrate that these buildings were cutting edge design for the specific requirements of distillery buildings", and that they remained "a significant reminder of the industrial landscape that once made up a significant element of the nineteenth century landscape adjacent to the Tolka River".

[15] Barnard described the facility as "the most modern of the distilleries in Dublin",[1] with mechanisms including "a 50hp Leffel Turbine for electricity, driven either by a big wheel in the adjoining River Tolka or by one of the plant's steam engines".

[1][4][10] The primary power source for the distillery was via steam engine occupying an engine-house located in front of the Still Hall.

Because other whiskey distilleries of the time had often been damaged or destroyed by fires, the facility "boasted two novel safety measures: curtains around the Mash Tun to stop the grist blowing over the edges and massive water tanks on top of the flat roofs, used to store process water, which could be used in case of fire".