A mysterious discovery made in a home in Dublin, Ireland, has sparked intrigue. An old whiskey bottle was discovered in a vacant house in the late 1970s and has since been rediscovered by a family who is looking for more information.
Cody LaRue, who is from Michigan but is currently staying in Dublin with his fiancé and her family, explained that his father-in-law stumbled on the bottle in a vacant house while renovating it decades earlier.
"It then sat at his late mother's house in Dublin until this week when we had to clean out the house," LaRue told Newsweek.
The green glass bottle was pictured, featuring a tattered brown label that appeared to read: "Very old malt whisky," and "Patrick O'Reilly, Bride Street, Dublin."
LaRue shared the discovery on Reddit where people have been offering their thoughts, insights and theories about the strange bottle.
The response was swift, with a user named 98thredballoon uncovering a connection to one Patrick O'Reilly in a 1906 Evening Irish Times report.
This Patrick O'Reilly, a publican at 101 Bride Street, faced legal repercussions for allegedly selling counterfeit beer in November of that year.
Intriguingly, a letter from another Patrick O'Reilly residing just a few doors down at 104 Bride Street was published in the same newspaper on November 14, 1906. This second Patrick O'Reilly sought to clarify that he bore no relation to the business dealings of the accused Patrick O'Reilly.
The family is now contemplating visiting a whiskey museum in Dublin near Trinity College, heeding suggestions from the online community to seek more answers about the historic bottle. Currently on display in their home, it is possible the bottle could become a tangible link to Dublin's past and even be a key part of a century-old legal dispute over counterfeit alcohol.
"I was very interested to see the response from 98thredballoon showing someone with the same name and address who was taken to court for selling counterfeit bass beer," LaRue said.
Last month, another long-lost bottle raised questions after a contractor demolishing a home found a bottle from the 1950s.
Redditors shared their reactions to the old bottle which was empty by the time it was found.
User Jonwilliamsl guessed the age and said: "Based on the paper, printing method, and typography, I'd estimate between about 1875 and 1910."
"That's a pretty nice wall piece for finding it in the walls," said immolate951. While others thought it was maybe a fake, "looks like a prop," said KyraSandy.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more
