The Apple Club Newsletter

Winter 2003

Cider-making the traditional way

Since we started making apple juice in 1995, I have been amazed at the number of people who told me that when they were young, their families used to make apple juice on their farms around this part of the country. It seems that the orchards, which were once a common sight on very many farms, served a purpose beyond the provision of fresh apples. That purpose of course was to make cider.
Why this would not have occurred to me before is a bit strange, as many farmers had orchards of an acre or more, and such an orchard would provide twenty times more apples than any family could eat. And in the days before pasteurisation and refrigeration the only way to store apple juice for more than a few days was in the form of cider.
It is believed that cider making in Ireland dates back to the pre-Christian era at least 2000 years ago. Not much is known about the apples available in that period, though it is most likely that they would have been like the crab-apples of today. However, when the Normans arrived, new apples came with them, and the art of cider making was re-vitalised. Indeed, it is striking that many of the people who tell me of the cider-making tradition in their families come from certain parts of Limerick, Tipperary and elsewhere where the Norman influence was stronger. There is no doubt that cider was a popular drink, apparently being used to pay rents, taxes, and even for wages.
For anyone interested in making cider like their families used to, but who are not sure just how to do it, the process is quite simple. To begin with you need apples; if you can get them from your own garden or farm, then this is wonderful, as you will end up with a drink that is unique to yourself. You will then need to get the apples pressed, and there are a number of people (including ourselves) who will provide this service. If you don't have apples of your own, you will need to get some apple juice.
It is better to press a fair amount of fruit, certainly so that you get about 25 litres of juice, as smaller volumes are more difficult to ferment. Once the juice is pressed, it should be put into a clean 25 litre drum (plastic will do) and left at room temperature, with the lid loose. Depending on the desired strength of the cider, you can add sugar at this point. Without sugar, your cider will end up at about 6-7% alcohol. For each kilo of sugar that you add to the 25 litres, you will get an extra 2% alcohol in the final product. Needless to say, addition of sugar was not an option in Norman times.
Regarding the fermentation, at this point there are two options:
You can allow the yeasts that are naturally present in apples to do the fermentation, but it is possible that they may not give a nice flavour, as wild yeasts are a little unpredictable. Alternatively, you can use some wine yeast, which would be available from any brewing shop. Easons used to stock these, as did some health-food shops. If a wine-yeast is added, the fermentation will proceed quickly, and will begin to slow down after three weeks or so. At this stage an air-lock needs to be placed on the barrel, as vinegar-making bacteria could enter, and ruin the lot.
Once the fermentation stops, the yeast will settle out of the cider, and it will turn clear. At this point it can be racked-off (this means to siphon off the clear cider leaving the yeast layer in the barrel) into smaller bottles, such as used plastic water or mineral bottles.
At this stage the cider will be still like white wine rather than fizzy like most people are accustomed to. If a fizzy drink is preferred, a spoon of sugar (or some fresh juice) can be added to the plastic bottle and the cap then tightened. After about two weeks this will ferment again, and will give a gentle fizz. After a month the cider is ready for drinking.
As you can see, the total process from start to finish takes about three months, so some patience is needed. A whole range of different ciders can be made, depending on the types of apples used at the beginning. It must have been very interesting, when fifty or more years ago, many local farmers had many differing ciders, and I'm sure that the arguments about whose was the best got more heated as the nights drew on.
If you have any information on the history of cider-making in this area, or are interested in trying to make some yourself, please let me know; I am most interested to share what I know and to find out more.

Our local castle

Moorstown Castle is a fine old ruin situated on private land a short distance from The Apple Farm. Like many old castles, it has a very interesting past. The following history of Moorstown Castle was written by Patrick C. Power.
Moorstown is a townland near Cahir. Here stands the remains of a towerhouse or little castle, which was built, in the 15th century by the Keatings. The Keatings were part of the invasion forces, which came with the Anglo-Normans to Ireland in the 12th century. The name is Welsh in origin and stresses the fact that many of those who settled in Ireland during that period came from Wales and were of mixed Norman, Welsh and English ancestry. The Keatings held the manor of Shanrahan but by the 16th century they had acquired land around Cahir and were henchmen of the Earls of Ormond. A document exists from the 15th century, which describes a leading member of the Keatings as "chief of the lord's kernty" i.e. chief of the Earl of Ormond's kerns or household troops. The builder of Moorstown Castle may have been James Keating, who is described in 1652 as of Ballynamona, an Irish version of Moorstown, (m in in Irish long ago meant simply pasture moor and not turf or peat). In the wars of the 16th century the Keatings and all the old aristocracy of their type had plenty to occupy themselves. The insecurity of the times dictated the building of a defensible dwelling-house.
At Moorstown this took the form of a strongly built circular tower and a courtyard or bawn surrounded by a high stone wall. As well as this a towered gateway was also built. All of these buildings still stand in a fair state of preservation.
After the beginning of the 17th century the Keatings of Moorstown were seriously short of money. This lead to the owner, Richard Keating, seeking a large loan from a money-lender, Sir Robert Cox of Bruff, Co. Limerick, an Englishman who had settled in Ireland. Cox gave Keating 300 in exchange for a mortgage on the castle and lands. As it happened, Keating never redeemed his property later. The terrible wars of the period 1642 to 1651 gave Catholic landowners such as Keating a time of security and freedom, but Cromwell's campaign ended all that and destroyed their power forever. The Cox family became the full owners of Moorstown and the Keatings never regained possession.
When a complete survey of Irish land was made in the 1650s Moorstown was described as follows, " ... two little orchards fenced with ditches of quicksetts in one whereof are some ash trees and likewise some cabins in the said Towne". This is a reference to the little village around the castle at that time. In 1678 Frances Cox, a daughter of Sir Robert Cox, married Godfrey Greene, who was a retired officer in the army of Charles 1. Greene lived at Kilmanahan. He did not enjoy his new acquisition for long because he died in 1678. His son John succeeded him and years afterwards, in 1735, exactly a hundred years after the Keatings lost Moorstown, his son Godfrey was killed in a duel. The duel had its origins in the loss of the land to the Cox family. Richard Keating of Nicholastown fought with young Greene and killed him.
The Greenes lived in Moorstown till 1798. A descendant of John's, yet another Godfrey Greene, died there in April 1798. He had been Member of Parliament for Dungarvan, as well as Accountant-General to the Court of Chancery. He never married. His brother, John survived him by six months and died in the castle. He was the last of the Greene family to live there. He had been an ardent promoter of the linen trade in Ireland but his son Robert, not only did not live at Moorstown, but lived in India where he died in Calcutta in May 1818. The Greene family severed its connection with Moorstown in 1855. On the 7th of July of that year the Landed Estates Court sold the castle and land to pay debts incurred by the owners. It was ironical that it should end this way, when we consider how the Keatings lost their property in the first place. The buyer was Richard Grubb of Cahir.
The castle or towerhouse at Moorstown is a circular building. This type of castle is not very common in Ireland. The commonest type is the square or rectangular building. The fine gate-house is rectangular and in a fair state of preservation, like the other building. They are built of limestone. Near the towerhouse and against the surrounding wall are the remains of a dwelling house, which may have been built in the 18th century by the Greenes.


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