Brewing Power: Food and Drink in Sixteenth-Century Ireland

Dublin Castle is delighted to present a six-part public lecture series exploring how food and drink shaped everyday life, social relationships and authority in sixteenth-century Ireland. The series draws on new research conducted by the FoodCult project, led by Trinity historian Dr Susan Flavin, and moves between the kitchens of Dublin Castle and the reconstructed Tudor brew houses combining history, science, archaeology, craft and film.

Through talks, film and guided tastings, visitors are invited to discover what happens when history is re-enacted and comes to life demonstrating how food offers a powerful way of understanding lived experience in the past. The series considers the experiences of servants, the rhythms of everyday work and the role of food in shaping social interaction and religious life.

A distinctive feature of the series is its focus on brewing as historical practice. Several events highlight a long-term collaboration between the FoodCult project and Maurice Deasy of Canvas Brewing, a farmhouse brewery in County Tipperary. What began as a historical reconstruction has developed into an ongoing partnership, exploring how early modern brewing knowledge can inform contemporary craft. Using Irish-grown heritage grain and hops, malted on site, this work demonstrates how historical research can shape modern brewing practice.

Each event includes a guided tasting as part of this collaboration, allowing visitors to connect historical research with sensory experience.

The series runs at Dublin Castle on February 6–7, 13–14, and 20–21. Booking and further information on the individual lectures is available through Eventbrite.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

The series draws on research from FoodCult, an interdisciplinary research project led by Susan Flavin at Trinity College Dublin (European Research Council, 2019–2025). Research for the project began at Dublin Castle, where a remarkable set of sixteenth-century household accounts provides an unusually detailed record of food, drink and daily routine within one of the most important elite households of the period.

About FoodCult

FoodCult is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Research Council and led by Susan Flavin at Trinity College Dublin (2019–2025). The project explores food, drink, and material culture in Ireland between c.1550 and 1650, using archival research, archaeology, scientific analysis, experimental reconstruction, and film.

Speakers

• Susan Flavin — Associate Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin; Principal Investigator, FoodCult
• Shreepali Patel —Professor of Multimodal Storytelling, London College of Communication (University of the Arts London); Director of Drunk? Adventures in Sixteenth-Century Brewing
• Marc Meltonville FSA — Consultant Food Historian and Historic Brewer
• Maurice Deasy — Founder and Head Brewer, Canvas Brewing (County Tipperary)