This channel always strikes the perfect balance between recognizing the tragedy of situations like this and showing that ingenuity and desire to help others is human nature. Great job as always!
I’ve heard this event told a few times now but I never realised the whiskey was so concentrated, it’s a shame this detail was missed in those tellings. The assumption is that they drank themselves to death and although tragic, it’s partly their own doing. Therefore the stereotype of drinking to excess is perpetuated and the victims are likely to be looked upon with less sympathy than they deserve. It’s incredible how one little detail really changes things. I appreciate you going into such detail, FH!
While I understand that they drank only a small/moderate amount… I still question the logic of someone who chooses to drink anything when it’s on the ground, contained by horse manure, and on fire. Although if it was so very strong, is it possible to get drunk off the fumes? Because being already drunk combined with celebrating containment of the fire could explain why people thought it was a good idea. And/or age. Were they mostly younger? It does sound like college escapades…
The version sways that narrative to the impossible. Normal spirits are 40-50%. Given that you can’t exceed 100% and the highest level created in alcohol distilling is 90%, the reporting of alcohol “many times stronger” is a lie. At most the whiskey would be twice as strong.
@@tmwautier I suppose that it depends on whether they were used to drinking whiskey or beer. If someone had high-proof whiskey expecting it to be similar to beer… isn’t beer only like 5%?
On drinking undiluted alcohol: absinthe was typically sold undiluted with the assumption that it was going to be cut with water anyway. It is widely believed now that the people who went mad drinking absinthe were succumbing to the effects of repeated alcohol poisoning and their condition had little if anything to do with the wormwood in absinthe.
I would love to hear your source on this madness, as most absinthe documentaries have cited people and companies adding things in to accomplish that green glow, like mercury, lead, and radium, for the crazy reactions and mind issues. Absinthe is back on shelves today, same process of making it, same amount of wormwood, and there's not an influx of people having issues. Last tidbit: even in victorian era recipes, to get hallucinatory levels of wormwood (measured through the thujone chemical compound) means drinking 1-1.5 bottles of absinthe. You'll have alcohol poisoning before anything else, even then. The Federal Alcohol Control Administration had some lovely studies on absinthe when it came back on the market in mid-2000's, may be worth a read. Edit that this view is from the US perspective but that absinthe is legal elsewhere.
@@peterf.229 A lot of things will kill worms but that doesn't mean they'll kill humans in small doses. I could pour 1/2 a tsp of salt onto a worm, killing it but that wouldn't make 1/2 tsp deadly for humans. I would be curious how much thujone is in an average serving of absinthe and how much thujone needs to be ingested per lb or kg of body weight before negative effects show up.
@@batkat0 i believe we do know the amount in mice per kg and thujone is in certain herbal meds whose consumption in high amounts is known to cause health problems
absinthe even if diluted with water and sugar is still potent. just drinking a bunch would cause someone to have hallucinations or other health issues. I still have the majority of an opened bottle to drink but it is so potent I dare not drink a glass of it alone.
@@kumaahito3927 literally so nasty lol it's alcohol from the streets and then drinking from your BOOTS? where your nasty feet go???? they just asking to get some disease lmao
I lived near Dublin for many years and had never heard of this. However, I'll add a little - the horses that drew the fire tenders were trained to back into the harnesses when they heard the bell so the firemen just needed to strap them in. The old firestation became a nightclub called "Fireworks" in the 90s as more modern premises were needed.
Years ago, I read a book from the library about the fire horses of San Francisco. It was a fascinating history and description of all the specialized things they did with those horses. In later years, they had simple harnesses suspended above the horses in their stalls, with collars open at the bottom. When the bell rang, the harnesses were dropped onto the horses, a couple latches or buckles fastened, they were hitched up, and away they went!
My wife has written an article about fire horses for when Breyer horses released their horse drawn fire wagon set some years ago. In Southern California there is still a trio pulling a vintage steamer. In America horses were led to stand and the harnesses dropped down onto them and they were quickly strapped in.
@@WalterDiamond I was waiting for someone to determine, that horse shit really adds a somewhat smoothing effect to the whiskey. It is understandable no-one would have experimented with this before, but accidents sometimes produce results. Now we have a secret process to produce really nice whiskey. The most expensive coffee beans pass through a cat's digestive system before humans get it, so it isn't so bizarre.
I’ve heard this story many times, but you’re the first one to tell it in full detail. I nearly thought it was a different incident! Now it makes much more sense why so many would die of alcohol poisoning. Thank you for what you do.
Every other video I’ve seen on this has said the victims died from something akin to gluttonous over imbibing. It’s so great someone finally said this was just stereotyping and explained the real cause. The humanity combined with the detailed accurate history is what makes this channel’s creator outstanding.
@@roxannepearls901 well gluttony didn't help matters. a river of whisky that horse dung was being flung into or that was extremly hot wouldn't be something I would be keen on drinking.
@@toomanyaccounts They were trying to drink it by using their hats and shoes, I think worrying about it's temperature or combining with whatever permeates the streets was not really something they worried about.
This story has always fascinated me especially as a Dub myself. The whole thing is just a bizarre combination of disasters. I've always thought someone could make a fantastic black comedy out of it, what with absurd situations like a wake having to hastily carry the body away from the flames, the animals running wild, the crowd gathering to witness such a strange sight, people drinking the whiskey while the flood is still ongoing, and even using honest to God horseshit as the eventual solution.
I'd watch that. I want the soundtrack to be every band's version of Rivers of Whiskey. We could have someone cut sad, slowed down version to play as people are being carted off.
Could you imagine being such an alcoholic that you would drink flaming whiskey running down the street filtered through horseshit out of your own shoe.
I've heard of the London Beer Flood and the Boston Molasses Flood, and here I am learning today that there's yet another drink flood involving flaming whiskey.
@@spacedog12345 Wait is Bud Light the stereotypical American alcoholic drink of choice? Or would it depend on the region? I feel like moonshine could also represent the US, since it has an interesting history.
I find many channels tend to emphasize the gruesomeness of the events for shock value, I appreciate how you guys always leave clear this are real human tragedies, from we should learn from, not a horror movie for cheap thrills.
You've never heard of Wikipedia? He literally steals all of his copy and imagery. Play this game at home : who can identify the wiki page where each stolen image is sourced from!
The title got me at the start. I thought this would be similar to the Boston Molasses flood in which people were drowned, but I got it wrong. And this has to be the worst case of alcohol poisoning in history. RIP to the 13 victims
I believe the Irish youtuber Qxir already made a video about this incident. As I recall, the tone of that video was much more flippant, and certainly more Irish.
I love how this channel does things. It presents the event, what happened before the event, the aftermath, and the rules that were made because of it. My favorite saying is "rules are written in blood", just to remind myself that there's a reason for certain rules to be in place, no matter how ridiculous they seems
That man probably saved so many people.. imagine dealing with raging fires, and people dying all from a liquid that can’t be extinguished easily, and you somehow figure out during all the chaos that horse poop will stop the flaming flooding.
@@YeahNo It's flammability would vary a great deal depending upon its moisture content. Fresh manure would probably work very well for fire fighting, especially with a high fiber content making it clump together well. 🤔
@@YeahNo old dry manure is fire fuel, fresh moist manure is not. Plus when it's packed together it's really difficult to get to burn nicely. Use to burn the manure piles that was forked out of the barn but it a job to keep the fire going so we switch gears and just hauled it out.
Whoever said you should never change the intro/outro music was spot on. The perfect balance of dread and tragedy without being creepy. I didn’t know that pure alcohol would be so deadly.
"It says here they had a flood of whisky in Dublin," "Oooh, that's good!" "No, that's bad, it caught on fire," "Ooooh, that's bad!" "No, that's good, that's how Dublin got so good at fighting fires," "Oooh, that's good," "No, that's bad, you see all they had were pigs to slow the fire," "Oooh, that's bad!" "No, that's good, 'cause it slowed the burn and saved a bunch of people," "Oooh, that's good!" "No, that's bad, you see, because it slowed the burn down enough that people tried to drink it," "Ooh, that's good" "No, that's bad, 'cause it burned as it went down and killed a bunch of folks," "Oooh that's bad," "Yeah that's bad."
oh that's bad no that's good now you know not to drink whiskey from your boot or hat off the street that's bad no that's good now you know what content the whiskey should be oh that's good no that's bad people still drink to death
I'm incredibly late, but this comment needs more than 71 votes. You perfectly described the fickle nature of humans and hearing news. That's precisely how I respond much of the time. Should I feel good or bad, and how does the person presenting it want me to respond? Well, as I get older I realize that everything is complicated and full of good and bad anyway. You just have to listen carefully and weigh the good and bad over time to decide what is the actual bad.
When I visited Ireland in the nineties this story was told to us. I thought it was a joke until the details were told to me. Having worked in the hospitality industry and liking a drink myself, I totally understood the situation that had happened & the flammability of the whisky & also the danger of the 100%proof condition of what people thought was safe to have a drink of! It was quite a significant amount of damage that resulted & most people don't believe it! The odd things that can cause disasters!!!!❤️🇦🇺
I had a shot of the undiluted barrel whiskey when I took a class at the Jamison factory in Ireland. And it CRAZY strong, but also very tasty. They only gave everyone a very small half shot of it. But we talked our guide into giving us two and he did because it was his last class of the day. I left there with my sister and friends very drunk. Good thing they always have cab drivers waiting out front.
@@guymetdrapedes220 That shot wasn't why I was drunk. I took the cocktail making class and was already drunk from those before we went to the barrel room. It was a great time. I'd love to go back.
Newfie swish. Take one of the empty barrels and pour water in, the water draws the old alcohol out of the wood. You can hardly get it in ya but it gets ya some drunk
It was this time last year that I discovered your channel, and since then I've come across a fair few others that produce similar content. However, I still prefer your style the best; succinct, informative, insightful and respectful, with none of those punchy effects or dramatisations that ruin other videos. You do fantastic work, good sir :)
When you started talking about how drinking the whisky made the residents sick, I was almost sure it was due to the manure. Forgot about the alcohol content
I thought that at first too, but actually, it would probably be safe to drink manure after it’s been purified with such high proof, flaming whiskey. That’s going to kill pretty much anything that would try to kill you.
I really appreciate the fact that you take every story with utmost seriousness, even when other channels would be making jokes to lighten the mood. Everything from this, to the X-Ray disaster you covered a while back, to the Legionnaire’s Disease epidemic, to tragic crushes and industrial accidents. You never let us forget that these disasters had real, human costs, both small and large, and that makes you one of the best and most ethical UA-camrs in this genre, in my opinion.
Imagining folks tryna sort out the aftermath. “So this a fire or a flood?” Everyone at once: “fire”, “flood” *arguing* “Alright alright, we’ll tally the damage and decide on which caused more damage.” “That’s stupid” *more arguing*
As someone who is part Irish I enjoyed this story but sad to hear of the 13 lives lost from drinking whiskey to celebrate the fire being put out. I would love to visit Ireland one day. Every picture or movie made there, it looks stunningly beautiful. That fireman who had the idea to use 🐎 💩 was a genius. I can't imagine the smell in Dublin during this event and the clean up.
Fascinating Horror, I was anticipating your upload. You never have content that's anything less than amazing. 💯💯 Even if most of the content that has terrible loss of life. ☹
I've been a subscriber for 2 years and I'm so happy to be. Your stories are always so good! This one reminds me of the molasses flood except it's concentrated whiskey. Potent stuff! Thanks for consistently great content!
As soon as I found out this existed 1 min ago I immediately went to look if you posted a video about it, you’re my favourite account with this kind of content! I love all the informative videos!
This reminds me of a similar incident that took place on the 7th of July 1987 in the town of Herborn, Germany where 34.000 Liters of extremly flammable liquids were shed in the streets and into the sewerage leading to explosions and a major fire. Maybe you could make a documentary about it? 🙂
Yeah the Dublin fire was exacerbated also because of the burning whiskey entering storm drains causing secondary fires behind the fire brigade's lines.
I look forward every week to Tuesday for my dose of Fascinating Horror! Please don't ever change a thing! Suggestion for a story: The Great Chicago Fire. Thanks for all your great work!
Once I was done watching this, my curiosity was piqued about other types of non-water floods. Most of the ones I came across were more inconveniences than deadly floods. Only two would be interesting topics for future episodes. I also learned that there was a molasses spill in Honolulu that killed a bunch of sea-life.
Hmm if I had a nickle for every time there was a molasses spill in the US that ended up in the death of animals I'd have two nickles, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice
Great video. I love learning about my country's history. We weren't taught about this in school. Imagine learning it on a foreign UA-cam channel! :) Not much has changed, except we have fire extinguishers. Alcohol and floods are a huuuuge part of Irish culture. 😜
I never heard of this, having lived in Dublin 10 years after schooling in Cork for the previous 17 years. I'm past 60. Very interesting. Amazing that ex US fire guy had such vast experience in 1875. The pictured fire wagon could easily put out more than 2 candles by itself. Easy to joke about the Irish and alcohol, but they were innocent and it was an awful way to die or suffer permanent illness and injury from what was really chemical poisoning - for want of a better description. There was a case of a hotel barman leaving bleach in a glass on the bar in the eighties and it was a horrible death for the poor soul who mistook it.
Dude I come back and your channel is HUGE. I’m so happy for you man. Love seeing people that provided me so much entertainment get the blow up they deserve. I hope monetization is working well for you.
This was not the first time the streets of Dublin were flooded with whiskey and it probably won’t be the last. Cheers. Seriously though RIP to those lost including the whiskey. 🥃🇮🇪❤️
Reminded me of an old joke... Mrs Sullivan was at home making dinner one evening when there was a knock on the door. She answered it to find a police officer standing there, hat in hand. "Ma'am," he said, "I'm afraid I have terrible news. There was a terrible accident at the distillery where your husband works, and I'm afraid your Jimmy drowned in a vat of whiskey." Shocked, the woman cried "no, not my Jimmy! Please at least tell me he didn't suffer." The cop replied "well, I'm pretty sure he didn't since he got out to take a piss three times before finally going under."
There's also a variation of that joke where a man falls into a vat of beer in a brewery, and despite the brave efforts of his workmates, he resists all attempts to be saved.
It's terrible that anyone died, but man you've really got to question your judgement when you're drinking liquor that's literally being held in place on the filthy ground by horse manure.
Thank you for always showing respect to those who lost their lives in these tragic events. Please take a look into the Johnstown Flood of 1936, also know as the Saint Patrick’s Day flood.
Thank you for your informative & interesting historical videos. I expectedly appreciate how you highlight the lessons learned & improvements made to help avoid these same catastrophes again.
The same thing happened in my hometown when I was younger. Heaven Hill went up in flames creating a long river of burning bourbon. The whole county smelled like bourbon for a week. Fortunately this occurred away from residences and businesses and I don't recall any injuries and deaths---also no one showed up with a boot in hand.
At first I kinda chuckled, because of the title. But now I'm saddened by not just the loss of life (both human and animal), but also the loss of homes and businesses. Great video.
So let me get this straight: The Dublin Whiskey Flood was a flood that killed NO ONE, however, 13 people died because they DRANK the whiskey that flooded onto the streets, and NOT because they were caught up in the fires caused by the whiskey, which they drank of?? This has got to be the weirdest 'disaster' I've ever heard of.
Amazing stuff. Never heard of this incident before. What made the fireman think of using horse dung, I wonder. There would have been plenty of it around with the proliferation of horses in the cities before the advent of mechanical transport. It really made them unsanitary, and there were large numbers of sweepers employed to get the stuff off the streets. In applications such as for street tramway motive power, what a lot of people don't realise is that horses could only be employed a limited number of hours, and so for each vehicle you would need far more than one horse to keep it running all day, they'd have to be swapped out, so there was the multiplier effect. The stables were also a breeding ground for disease, one horse getting a cough would often spread it around the stable, so just as with the pandemic that was a big problem in all getting sick and unable to work at once. The Fascinating Horror series is extremely well presented and a credit to the producer. Many thanks.
I personally do not like Scotch Whiskey. More than likely due to an unfortunate overdrinking of my parents supply in my early teens. 🤔 That said, I really enjoy Irish Whiskey. Even more than I like Bourbon, which as an American I am obliged to like. Thank you for the great videos you keep making. I really appreciate the research you put into them, as well as the direct narration. So much better than channels that try to add drama with their narration. Take it easy.
Another fascinating disaster I'd barely heard of before. For a truly bizarre natural disaster you must do one on the Cameroon Lake Nyos tragedy of 1986.
@@AJWRAJWR You mean the Latvian potato famine? The same bug was killing potatoes all over europe but the Irish were the ones making the biggest deal about it. And no, they werent the worst effected.
This is one of my favourite channels. Always so informative. Have you covered the 1982 Hotel New Japan fire in Tokyo? I used to work in a building opposite its burnt-out shell ten years after the event. The boarded-up ruin was supposed to be haunted.
This is a true horror story, I can hardly imagine people confronting with an unstoppable torrent of flaming liquid. And those drinking it from boots and hats, we must put things into context: people were much poorer back in the day, liquor was pretty much a luxury item and the chance of getting drunk for free must have been irresistible to some.
When I read the title, I thought, this must have been the dream of an Irishman. In fact, it turned into a tragedy, especially for those unlucky pigs and fish in the rivers. Nevertheless, a fascinating story with a very clever way to stop the flood.
I'd like to think that Philip DeFranco decided to give his viewers something that would redirect them here to help bolster your channel, but...I think that may have just been a coincidence. Regardless, well done as always. An informative documentary, explaining everything a viewer would need to know about a terrible event of history. Keep up the great work.
Me, reading title: Whisky flood? What? *sees Dublin* Oh that makes sense "Now, with the immediate danger out of the way, some of them chose to celebrate by sampling the whisky that ran through the streets." I- why...
Not sure if it was intentional, but the part about the wake and having to remove the body in a hurry got me. Unintentional black comedy? Either way, the warehouse was abomb, the casks bombs, the alcohol was on fire. And the solution was to use horse shit which explodes on its own even /without/ fire being involved. I've seen piles of horse manure self combust, so how there wasn't a giant horse crap blast is beyond me...but that was either brilliant, genius, or sheer desperation that worked out fine. Poor dog, too. Poor, poor doggo, but it's worth pointing out that even into the modern day, there's still areas where it's safer to drink alcohol, even diluted, than the local water supply. Remember where society was at the time as far as water and their understanding of how to make it safe and drinkable. EDIT: I guess the whiskey really...really wasn't in the jar I'll see myself out of the comments section... EDIT 3: Oh and not mentioned, only 61 barrels survived. THe ones that didn't get burned or explode, were looted. Yes. Yes. Looters were in among the flames and impromptu night out. So, yes. Looters happened, though I can't find if the barrels were recovered or not. You'd assume the drunk looters would just keep the evidence or later really
As much as I dislike government regulation in general, we have come a long way since the old days. Storing highly flammable liquid in wood barrels with no means of fire suppression would never fly today.
Well, this is one I've never heard of. Wonder how that fire started. All that alcohol, it wouldn't have taken but a spark to light it up, I imagine. I feel sorry for those poor pigs. 😞
A few years ago, one of the bars caught fire by the pier in Hermosa Beach, California. They had a bunch of high-proof liquor stored in the attic above the bar. This made it really hard for the firemen to put out. I think they managed to keep it spreading to all the adjacent businesses. Lots of thick, black smoke.
Deffo the saddest part - and it still happens - fire ripping thru Manchester dogs home ~ 60 dogs died - needlessly. Fell sheep - freezing to death - needlessly. We have anti animal cruelty laws - but they're not used !
This channel always strikes the perfect balance between recognizing the tragedy of situations like this and showing that ingenuity and desire to help others is human nature. Great job as always!
This video was even respectful to those pigs
Perfect description
Yes its a balance act.
And the guy pulls it of.
Absolutely agree!!
Well said, and I agree 💯
I’ve heard this event told a few times now but I never realised the whiskey was so concentrated, it’s a shame this detail was missed in those tellings. The assumption is that they drank themselves to death and although tragic, it’s partly their own doing. Therefore the stereotype of drinking to excess is perpetuated and the victims are likely to be looked upon with less sympathy than they deserve. It’s incredible how one little detail really changes things. I appreciate you going into such detail, FH!
Media takes advantage of this all the time. Use it in favor of governments
While I understand that they drank only a small/moderate amount… I still question the logic of someone who chooses to drink anything when it’s on the ground, contained by horse manure, and on fire. Although if it was so very strong, is it possible to get drunk off the fumes? Because being already drunk combined with celebrating containment of the fire could explain why people thought it was a good idea. And/or age. Were they mostly younger? It does sound like college escapades…
The lesson here is don't drink freeflowing alcohol you find on the streets.
The version sways that narrative to the impossible. Normal spirits are 40-50%. Given that you can’t exceed 100% and the highest level created in alcohol distilling is 90%, the reporting of alcohol “many times stronger” is a lie.
At most the whiskey would be twice as strong.
@@tmwautier I suppose that it depends on whether they were used to drinking whiskey or beer. If someone had high-proof whiskey expecting it to be similar to beer… isn’t beer only like 5%?
On drinking undiluted alcohol: absinthe was typically sold undiluted with the assumption that it was going to be cut with water anyway. It is widely believed now that the people who went mad drinking absinthe were succumbing to the effects of repeated alcohol poisoning and their condition had little if anything to do with the wormwood in absinthe.
I would love to hear your source on this madness, as most absinthe documentaries have cited people and companies adding things in to accomplish that green glow, like mercury, lead, and radium, for the crazy reactions and mind issues. Absinthe is back on shelves today, same process of making it, same amount of wormwood, and there's not an influx of people having issues. Last tidbit: even in victorian era recipes, to get hallucinatory levels of wormwood (measured through the thujone chemical compound) means drinking 1-1.5 bottles of absinthe. You'll have alcohol poisoning before anything else, even then. The Federal Alcohol Control Administration had some lovely studies on absinthe when it came back on the market in mid-2000's, may be worth a read.
Edit that this view is from the US perspective but that absinthe is legal elsewhere.
Just an aside, absinithcones from a type of plant called wormwood, extracts of its bark kills worms . So… it’s toxic at small doses
@@peterf.229 A lot of things will kill worms but that doesn't mean they'll kill humans in small doses. I could pour 1/2 a tsp of salt onto a worm, killing it but that wouldn't make 1/2 tsp deadly for humans. I would be curious how much thujone is in an average serving of absinthe and how much thujone needs to be ingested per lb or kg of body weight before negative effects show up.
@@batkat0 i believe we do know the amount in mice per kg and thujone is in certain herbal meds whose consumption in high amounts is known to cause health problems
absinthe even if diluted with water and sugar is still potent. just drinking a bunch would cause someone to have hallucinations or other health issues. I still have the majority of an opened bottle to drink but it is so potent I dare not drink a glass of it alone.
I have learned so much from this channel. I really enjoy that you speak on the history as well as the disaster
yeah, like in this episode I've learned that you don't drink burning hot whisky that flows down some street in the city
@@LucyKosaki never understood why would people drink from their shoes alcoholo that flows on the streets...
And likewise I've learned so much from yours.
@@kumaahito3927 literally so nasty lol it's alcohol from the streets and then drinking from your BOOTS? where your nasty feet go???? they just asking to get some disease lmao
@@msruag Boots would be thoroughly disinfected.
I lived near Dublin for many years and had never heard of this.
However, I'll add a little - the horses that drew the fire tenders were trained to back into the harnesses when they heard the bell so the firemen just needed to strap them in. The old firestation became a nightclub called "Fireworks" in the 90s as more modern premises were needed.
Years ago, I read a book from the library about the fire horses of San Francisco. It was a fascinating history and description of all the specialized things they did with those horses. In later years, they had simple harnesses suspended above the horses in their stalls, with collars open at the bottom. When the bell rang, the harnesses were dropped onto the horses, a couple latches or buckles fastened, they were hitched up, and away they went!
My wife has written an article about fire horses for when Breyer horses released their horse drawn fire wagon set some years ago. In Southern California there is still a trio pulling a vintage steamer. In America horses were led to stand and the harnesses dropped down onto them and they were quickly strapped in.
This is probably the first industrial/fire/flood/poisoning combo disaster I’ve ever seen
Wombo combo! It’s like someone spun the wheel of wild cards numerous times
And the horse shit!
@@WalterDiamond That too
🤣🤣
@@WalterDiamond I was waiting for someone to determine, that horse shit really adds a somewhat smoothing effect to the whiskey. It is understandable no-one would have experimented with this before, but accidents sometimes produce results. Now we have a secret process to produce really nice whiskey. The most expensive coffee beans pass through a cat's digestive system before humans get it, so it isn't so bizarre.
I love how he is even respectful to animal deaths that occur in these disasters. It's really beautiful to be so serious in the face of tragedy
They must have tasted so good
@@alexlogan202 this is so embarrassing for you
@@KleptoCosplayer no but like imagine the whiskey flavor of the meat for real for real
@KetsaKunta hell ya
I’ve heard this story many times, but you’re the first one to tell it in full detail. I nearly thought it was a different incident! Now it makes much more sense why so many would die of alcohol poisoning. Thank you for what you do.
Every other video I’ve seen on this has said the victims died from something akin to gluttonous over imbibing. It’s so great someone finally said this was just stereotyping and explained the real cause. The humanity combined with the detailed accurate history is what makes this channel’s creator outstanding.
@@roxannepearls901 well gluttony didn't help matters. a river of whisky that horse dung was being flung into or that was extremly hot wouldn't be something I would be keen on drinking.
@@toomanyaccounts They were trying to drink it by using their hats and shoes, I think worrying about it's temperature or combining with whatever permeates the streets was not really something they worried about.
@@dfgfgh244 as I said gluttony they were under
This story has always fascinated me especially as a Dub myself. The whole thing is just a bizarre combination of disasters. I've always thought someone could make a fantastic black comedy out of it, what with absurd situations like a wake having to hastily carry the body away from the flames, the animals running wild, the crowd gathering to witness such a strange sight, people drinking the whiskey while the flood is still ongoing, and even using honest to God horseshit as the eventual solution.
I'd watch that. I want the soundtrack to be every band's version of Rivers of Whiskey. We could have someone cut sad, slowed down version to play as people are being carted off.
Sounds like something Rick and Morty would visit.
Gotta say, if my Gramps could have orchestrated his own wake, a river of flaming whiskey would have been his choice!
I think it's one of those things if you made a movie that was perfectly historically accurate, it would be seen as too ridiculous to believe.
Could you imagine being such an alcoholic that you would drink flaming whiskey running down the street filtered through horseshit out of your own shoe.
My grandma used to say "The Irish were poised to take over the world; then God invented whiskey to slow us down."
Reminds me of that family guy cutaway gag
So the English did it instead. lol
There’s a deep significance to that piece of ancient knowledge. Look into Micheal Tsarions work if you’d like to know more.
We need wake up the Irish to our hostile government
Cheers
I've heard of the London Beer Flood and the Boston Molasses Flood, and here I am learning today that there's yet another drink flood involving flaming whiskey.
You don’t drink molasses it’s too viscous and sugary. Similar to the consistency of honey.
What's next? A Russian Vodka flood? An Italian Wine flood? A Japanese Sake flood?
@@Cyber_kumo The United States Bud Light flood.
@@spacedog12345 Wait is Bud Light the stereotypical American alcoholic drink of choice? Or would it depend on the region? I feel like moonshine could also represent the US, since it has an interesting history.
@@Cyber_kumo The Sambuca Factory disaster..!
I find many channels tend to emphasize the gruesomeness of the events for shock value, I appreciate how you guys always leave clear this are real human tragedies, from we should learn from, not a horror movie for cheap thrills.
I love how this channel covers stories from all over the world and from different time periods.
You've never heard of Wikipedia?
He literally steals all of his copy and imagery.
Play this game at home : who can identify the wiki page where each stolen image is sourced from!
@@donniedeville5102 Don't be a Donnie downer.
@@donniedeville5102 How can he "steal" an info if he actually did give an original source credits?
@@donniedeville5102 *where* he gets his content from is irrelevant to my point.
@@donniedeville5102 omg i already know everything on the internet. keep trying to be like me dumbs
The title got me at the start. I thought this would be similar to the Boston Molasses flood in which people were drowned, but I got it wrong. And this has to be the worst case of alcohol poisoning in history. RIP to the 13 victims
And RIP piggies. 🐷
So did I, or possibly flood-collapsed buildings.
That came to my mind as well. (I never “over-pump” my gas tank now thanks to watching the FH piece on the Boston Molasses Flood.)
Did the fire marshal say " iam be there "?
As a scot pole lol drowning is whiskey or vodka kinda In the blood
"Dublin Whiskey Flood" is probably the most Irish thing I've read about over the tubes.
thanks for the quality content.
The only thing more Irish would probably be "Claregalway Potato Landslide"
I believe the Irish youtuber Qxir already made a video about this incident.
As I recall, the tone of that video was much more flippant, and certainly more Irish.
Only if you're into old stereotypes.
I love how this channel does things. It presents the event, what happened before the event, the aftermath, and the rules that were made because of it. My favorite saying is "rules are written in blood", just to remind myself that there's a reason for certain rules to be in place, no matter how ridiculous they seems
That man probably saved so many people.. imagine dealing with raging fires, and people dying all from a liquid that can’t be extinguished easily, and you somehow figure out during all the chaos that horse poop will stop the flaming flooding.
no one died from the fire itself because it was fairly slow and they all got to evacuate, he saved a lot of property
I immediately thought clay could have be used but I guess horseshit did the trick
And yet manure is also used to fuel fires…
@@YeahNo It's flammability would vary a great deal depending upon its moisture content. Fresh manure would probably work very well for fire fighting, especially with a high fiber content making it clump together well. 🤔
@@YeahNo old dry manure is fire fuel, fresh moist manure is not. Plus when it's packed together it's really difficult to get to burn nicely. Use to burn the manure piles that was forked out of the barn but it a job to keep the fire going so we switch gears and just hauled it out.
Whoever said you should never change the intro/outro music was spot on. The perfect balance of dread and tragedy without being creepy. I didn’t know that pure alcohol would be so deadly.
"It says here they had a flood of whisky in Dublin,"
"Oooh, that's good!"
"No, that's bad, it caught on fire,"
"Ooooh, that's bad!"
"No, that's good, that's how Dublin got so good at fighting fires,"
"Oooh, that's good,"
"No, that's bad, you see all they had were pigs to slow the fire,"
"Oooh, that's bad!"
"No, that's good, 'cause it slowed the burn and saved a bunch of people,"
"Oooh, that's good!"
"No, that's bad, you see, because it slowed the burn down enough that people tried to drink it,"
"Ooh, that's good"
"No, that's bad, 'cause it burned as it went down and killed a bunch of folks,"
"Oooh that's bad,"
"Yeah that's bad."
This should be a children’s book
I guess I'm not the only one old enough to remember Archie Campbell lol
Yeah but no but no but yeah
oh that's bad no that's good now you know not to drink whiskey from your boot or hat off the street that's bad no that's good now you know what content the whiskey should be oh that's good no that's bad people still drink to death
I'm incredibly late, but this comment needs more than 71 votes. You perfectly described the fickle nature of humans and hearing news. That's precisely how I respond much of the time. Should I feel good or bad, and how does the person presenting it want me to respond? Well, as I get older I realize that everything is complicated and full of good and bad anyway. You just have to listen carefully and weigh the good and bad over time to decide what is the actual bad.
With the burning alcohol and manure, I can't imagine how badly the area must have smelled for a while
Like your average farm-town bar, I suppose
When I visited Ireland in the nineties this story was told to us. I thought it was a joke until the details were told to me. Having worked in the hospitality industry and liking a drink myself, I totally understood the situation that had happened & the flammability of the whisky & also the danger of the 100%proof condition of what people thought was safe to have a drink of!
It was quite a significant amount of damage that resulted & most people don't believe it! The odd things that can cause disasters!!!!❤️🇦🇺
Some of the most tragic things are the most weird. Great job FH for conveying this story so well!
the Boston Molasses flood as well
Yes, a completely tragic and weird thing - people still think that consuming alcohol is an acceptable thing.
I had a shot of the undiluted barrel whiskey when I took a class at the Jamison factory in Ireland. And it CRAZY strong, but also very tasty. They only gave everyone a very small half shot of it. But we talked our guide into giving us two and he did because it was his last class of the day. I left there with my sister and friends very drunk. Good thing they always have cab drivers waiting out front.
I drank two shots of “ chokecherry wine” which was about pure ethanol that was kinda sweet , I got drunk from it for sure 🤣
Placebo effect. Undiluted whisky is about twice the strength.
@@guymetdrapedes220 That shot wasn't why I was drunk. I took the cocktail making class and was already drunk from those before we went to the barrel room. It was a great time. I'd love to go back.
Newfie swish. Take one of the empty barrels and pour water in, the water draws the old alcohol out of the wood. You can hardly get it in ya but it gets ya some drunk
It was this time last year that I discovered your channel, and since then I've come across a fair few others that produce similar content. However, I still prefer your style the best; succinct, informative, insightful and respectful, with none of those punchy effects or dramatisations that ruin other videos. You do fantastic work, good sir :)
When you started talking about how drinking the whisky made the residents sick, I was almost sure it was due to the manure. Forgot about the alcohol content
Well, if you can turn manure into whisky, I think you'll be onto something :)
@@millomweb I think Fireball has already done that 🤣
I thought that at first too, but actually, it would probably be safe to drink manure after it’s been purified with such high proof, flaming whiskey. That’s going to kill pretty much anything that would try to kill you.
You spelt whiskey the Scots way, with an e
@@geraldwalsh6489 Yes and no. Scots way is without an e !
I really appreciate the fact that you take every story with utmost seriousness, even when other channels would be making jokes to lighten the mood. Everything from this, to the X-Ray disaster you covered a while back, to the Legionnaire’s Disease epidemic, to tragic crushes and industrial accidents. You never let us forget that these disasters had real, human costs, both small and large, and that makes you one of the best and most ethical UA-camrs in this genre, in my opinion.
Imagining folks tryna sort out the aftermath.
“So this a fire or a flood?”
Everyone at once: “fire”, “flood”
*arguing*
“Alright alright, we’ll tally the damage and decide on which caused more damage.”
“That’s stupid”
*more arguing*
Floodfire
@@mcdjinn6975 Brilliant.
'Tryna'..? Do you mean, trying *to*?
@@aloysiusdevanderabercrombi470 good job! "tryna" is indeed slang for "trying to"
As someone who is part Irish I enjoyed this story but sad to hear of the 13 lives lost from drinking whiskey to celebrate the fire being put out.
I would love to visit Ireland one day. Every picture or movie made there, it looks stunningly beautiful.
That fireman who had the idea to use 🐎 💩 was a genius. I can't imagine the smell in Dublin during this event and the clean up.
Fascinating Horror, I was anticipating your upload. You never have content that's anything less than amazing. 💯💯 Even if most of the content that has terrible loss of life. ☹
I have enjoyed every story on your channel. This is definitely one of my favorite channels. Please keep doing what you do!
I've been a subscriber for 2 years and I'm so happy to be. Your stories are always so good! This one reminds me of the molasses flood except it's concentrated whiskey. Potent stuff!
Thanks for consistently great content!
As soon as I found out this existed 1 min ago I immediately went to look if you posted a video about it, you’re my favourite account with this kind of content! I love all the informative videos!
This reminds me of a similar incident that took place on the 7th of July 1987 in the town of Herborn, Germany where 34.000 Liters of extremly flammable liquids were shed in the streets and into the sewerage leading to explosions and a major fire.
Maybe you could make a documentary about it? 🙂
Yeah the Dublin fire was exacerbated also because of the burning whiskey entering storm drains causing secondary fires behind the fire brigade's lines.
Conveying just enough relevant information, without any sensationalism.
I look forward every week to Tuesday for my dose of Fascinating Horror! Please don't ever change a thing! Suggestion for a story: The Great Chicago Fire. Thanks for all your great work!
Your obscure presentations are the best! I always look forward to Tuesday morning here in the States.
Once I was done watching this, my curiosity was piqued about other types of non-water floods. Most of the ones I came across were more inconveniences than deadly floods. Only two would be interesting topics for future episodes. I also learned that there was a molasses spill in Honolulu that killed a bunch of sea-life.
Hmm if I had a nickle for every time there was a molasses spill in the US that ended up in the death of animals I'd have two nickles, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice
I've seen videos of cheese, chocolate, beer and butter floods. I'm sure those are not the only ones too. It is definitely fascinating
FH pointing out that the pigs’ deaths were not in vain is probably the most uplifting part of the video for me.
Luckily Boston's molasses flood wasn't on fire. This was a disaster that I was not familiar with; thank you for the video.
That was great! There was genuine pride in your voice as you spoke of Ireland. ❤️
My grandparents made "moonshine" and my dad told me, "if it don't burn, don't drink it!" (put a very small amount in a shot glass and set it on fire)
Your theme music is perfect. Haunting, and really good.
I had heard of this event before but don't recall hearing that the whiskey was so high in alcohol. Thanks for sharing
Was told that whiskey contains 80% before watering down to 40%
Learned it during a whiskey tasting in dublin in 2019
@@skylineXpert 80 proof is 40% alcohol by volume.
@@kristinasymons The whiskey is 160 proof before it is diluted for sale.
One of those lesser known disasters beautifully presented as always
Thank you
Great video. I love learning about my country's history. We weren't taught about this in school. Imagine learning it on a foreign UA-cam channel! :)
Not much has changed, except we have fire extinguishers.
Alcohol and floods are a huuuuge part of Irish culture. 😜
came across this channel today and I really like how you immediately are given the gist of it first and then the detailed story.
I never heard of this, having lived in Dublin 10 years after schooling in Cork for the previous 17 years. I'm past 60. Very interesting. Amazing that ex US fire guy had such vast experience in 1875. The pictured fire wagon could easily put out more than 2 candles by itself.
Easy to joke about the Irish and alcohol, but they were innocent and it was an awful way to die or suffer permanent illness and injury from what was really chemical poisoning - for want of a better description.
There was a case of a hotel barman leaving bleach in a glass on the bar in the eighties and it was a horrible death for the poor soul who mistook it.
Dude I come back and your channel is HUGE. I’m so happy for you man. Love seeing people that provided me so much entertainment get the blow up they deserve. I hope monetization is working well for you.
This was not the first time the streets of Dublin were flooded with whiskey and it probably won’t be the last. Cheers. Seriously though RIP to those lost including the whiskey. 🥃🇮🇪❤️
Would it be appropriate to pour one out?
@@DoctorProph3t lol
Never seen a prehistoric pacoderm enjoying some whiskey
I’m glad people took this as a joke. Wasn’t sure how it would go. You still haven’t seen one drink whiskey, I don’t drink. Lol
The angels got their share that night.....
Excellent presentation. I've come to expect as much from this YT channel; and yet to be disappointed. Thank you
11:30 pm here in Auckland New Zealand. Sending out love to everyone watching this tonight.
6:30 am Michigan USA, have a good night 👍
@@Dannyiiiii Have a good morning!
Respects to Dublin from 🇨🇦. Was lucky enough to visit your great city a few years back and was amazing. ✌️
Reminded me of an old joke...
Mrs Sullivan was at home making dinner one evening when there was a knock on the door. She answered it to find a police officer standing there, hat in hand. "Ma'am," he said, "I'm afraid I have terrible news. There was a terrible accident at the distillery where your husband works, and I'm afraid your Jimmy drowned in a vat of whiskey." Shocked, the woman cried "no, not my Jimmy! Please at least tell me he didn't suffer." The cop replied "well, I'm pretty sure he didn't since he got out to take a piss three times before finally going under."
Brilliant
There's also a variation of that joke where a man falls into a vat of beer in a brewery, and despite the brave efforts of his workmates, he resists all attempts to be saved.
@@TheTimberwolf01 Rick Moranis-"Strange Brew"
Hah!
Those poor pigs.
Truly a fascinating horror to learn about. Well done!
It's terrible that anyone died, but man you've really got to question your judgement when you're drinking liquor that's literally being held in place on the filthy ground by horse manure.
And with boots and shoes 😂😂
@@Hecatom Is it any worse then raw egg and alcohol?
I would think though the fact that it had been on fire might be a bigger problem.
@@catprog Did you just equate a raw egg to horse manure?
@@Prismatic_Truth Nope. The raw egg to the germs on the ground.
@@catprog Well, that's not comparable, either. A normal raw egg contains no germs/bacteria/parasites/pathogens.
So glad that you share tragedies of the past. I learn about events that are not in any history books thatni have read.
Thank you for always showing respect to those who lost their lives in these tragic events. Please take a look into the Johnstown Flood of 1936, also know as the Saint Patrick’s Day flood.
Thank you for your informative & interesting historical videos. I expectedly appreciate how you highlight the lessons learned & improvements made to help avoid these same catastrophes again.
Gotta love the Irish. As a Slav I consider them our kindred spirits (pun not intended)
The picture at 6:05 is actually of drogheda a town about an hour north of Dublin in Louth
The same thing happened in my hometown when I was younger. Heaven Hill went up in flames creating a long river of burning bourbon. The whole county smelled like bourbon for a week. Fortunately this occurred away from residences and businesses and I don't recall any injuries and deaths---also no one showed up with a boot in hand.
Thank you for all of your hard work. I really enjoy watching your videos.
I learn about something new with this channel. Keep up the great work man, take care!
great video as always!
have you ever done one about grain dust explosions?
At first I kinda chuckled, because of the title. But now I'm saddened by not just the loss of life (both human and animal), but also the loss of homes and businesses.
Great video.
Those poor pigs!
@@chatteyj Agreed.
@@chatteyjthose poor people
It’s always great when the only complaint you have about a content creator is that you want them to make more. Great job guys
So let me get this straight: The Dublin Whiskey Flood was a flood that killed NO ONE, however, 13 people died because they DRANK the whiskey that flooded onto the streets, and NOT because they were caught up in the fires caused by the whiskey, which they drank of?? This has got to be the weirdest 'disaster' I've ever heard of.
Yes
Amazing stuff. Never heard of this incident before. What made the fireman think of using horse dung, I wonder. There would have been plenty of it around with the proliferation of horses in the cities before the advent of mechanical transport. It really made them unsanitary, and there were large numbers of sweepers employed to get the stuff off the streets. In applications such as for street tramway motive power, what a lot of people don't realise is that horses could only be employed a limited number of hours, and so for each vehicle you would need far more than one horse to keep it running all day, they'd have to be swapped out, so there was the multiplier effect. The stables were also a breeding ground for disease, one horse getting a cough would often spread it around the stable, so just as with the pandemic that was a big problem in all getting sick and unable to work at once. The Fascinating Horror series is extremely well presented and a credit to the producer. Many thanks.
When every Irishman’s dream of having the city flooded with whiskey goes horribly wrong.
Always a good day to come home and find a new vid by my favorite UA-camr.
I personally do not like Scotch Whiskey. More than likely due to an unfortunate overdrinking of my parents supply in my early teens. 🤔
That said, I really enjoy Irish Whiskey. Even more than I like Bourbon, which as an American I am obliged to like.
Thank you for the great videos you keep making. I really appreciate the research you put into them, as well as the direct narration. So much better than channels that try to add drama with their narration. Take it easy.
You mean Scotch WHISKY.
No self-respecting Scot would tolerate the extraneous _e._
@@the_once-and-future_king. Well, I did admit to being American. 🤷♂️ 😎
@@Dsdcain lol. American =/= ignorant.
Except Florida Man. Florida Man is....special, let's say.
@@the_once-and-future_king.they aren't Scottish. Reading is fundamental
Another fascinating disaster I'd barely heard of before. For a truly bizarre natural disaster you must do one on the Cameroon Lake Nyos tragedy of 1986.
🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪👍 I am from Ireland, please do the Dublin Stardust fire of 1981
The best narration on the Internet. I like this video
This is the most Irish tragedy I've ever heard about...
To be sure.
What til you hear of the potato famine.
@@AJWRAJWR You mean the Latvian potato famine? The same bug was killing potatoes all over europe but the Irish were the ones making the biggest deal about it. And no, they werent the worst effected.
@@StrazdasLT Nah, I mean the Irish Potato Famine.
Great vid FH. Thanks for covering these old disasters.
This is one of my favourite channels. Always so informative.
Have you covered the 1982 Hotel New Japan fire in Tokyo? I used to work in a building opposite its burnt-out shell ten years after the event. The boarded-up ruin was supposed to be haunted.
Another great upload by a great British Channel. 👍🏻🇬🇧🇬🇧
This is a true horror story, I can hardly imagine people confronting with an unstoppable torrent of flaming liquid. And those drinking it from boots and hats, we must put things into context: people were much poorer back in the day, liquor was pretty much a luxury item and the chance of getting drunk for free must have been irresistible to some.
Your channel is very calming. I appreciate you.
When I read the title, I thought, this must have been the dream of an Irishman. In fact, it turned into a tragedy, especially for those unlucky pigs and fish in the rivers.
Nevertheless, a fascinating story with a very clever way to stop the flood.
Most excellent presentation, sir!
I'd like to think that Philip DeFranco decided to give his viewers something that would redirect them here to help bolster your channel, but...I think that may have just been a coincidence.
Regardless, well done as always. An informative documentary, explaining everything a viewer would need to know about a terrible event of history. Keep up the great work.
He did shout out the channel in the comments
Wait, wdym Philip DeFranco? Was this channel in Today in Awesome or what?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, art, and talent.
Me, reading title: Whisky flood? What?
*sees Dublin*
Oh that makes sense
"Now, with the immediate danger out of the way, some of them chose to celebrate by sampling the whisky that ran through the streets."
I- why...
It’s free -real estate- whiskey
Why not?
🤣🤣🤣
Top quality channel! Really enjoying watching your stuff.
(You should do videos on the Hillsborough crush and Bradford city fire herein the uk btw)
Not sure if it was intentional, but the part about the wake and having to remove the body in a hurry got me. Unintentional black comedy?
Either way, the warehouse was abomb, the casks bombs, the alcohol was on fire. And the solution was to use horse shit which explodes on its own even /without/ fire being involved. I've seen piles of horse manure self combust, so how there wasn't a giant horse crap blast is beyond me...but that was either brilliant, genius, or sheer desperation that worked out fine.
Poor dog, too. Poor, poor doggo, but it's worth pointing out that even into the modern day, there's still areas where it's safer to drink alcohol, even diluted, than the local water supply. Remember where society was at the time as far as water and their understanding of how to make it safe and drinkable.
EDIT: I guess the whiskey really...really wasn't in the jar
I'll see myself out of the comments section...
EDIT 3: Oh and not mentioned, only 61 barrels survived. THe ones that didn't get burned or explode, were looted.
Yes. Yes. Looters were in among the flames and impromptu night out. So, yes. Looters happened, though I can't find if the barrels were recovered or not. You'd assume the drunk looters would just keep the evidence or later really
Darkly comic indeed. Cremation by fiery whiskey seems like a very Irish funeral.
I love how you always approach these events with respect and sensitivity ❤️
did you hear about the Irishman who fell in to the whiskey vat? .... hes doing fine, he fought his rescuers off valiantly.
Boo
you dont make a single bad video, at least not that ive watched. keep it up man, I really like your style.
I love your content since you immediately get to the point
Your videos have to be my favorite to be uploaded 😃 keep up the good work!
As much as I dislike government regulation in general, we have come a long way since the old days. Storing highly flammable liquid in wood barrels with no means of fire suppression would never fly today.
6:08 These horses left a significant quantity of manure on the streets
6:52 Residents sampled the whiskey that ran through the streets
Well, my goodness! Love this channel ❤️ I'd heard of the Boston molasses fire but not this one. So many ironies to this one
I ❤️ THIS CHANNEL!!! I need this on the ID channel cable for sure.
Well, this is one I've never heard of. Wonder how that fire started. All that alcohol, it wouldn't have taken but a spark to light it up, I imagine.
I feel sorry for those poor pigs. 😞
Look at qixer video on it.
Don't worry those pigs boiled in whisky were absolutely delicious
A few years ago, one of the bars caught fire by the pier in Hermosa Beach, California. They had a bunch of high-proof liquor stored in the attic above the bar. This made it really hard for the firemen to put out. I think they managed to keep it spreading to all the adjacent businesses. Lots of thick, black smoke.
Deffo the saddest part - and it still happens - fire ripping thru Manchester dogs home ~ 60 dogs died - needlessly.
Fell sheep - freezing to death - needlessly. We have anti animal cruelty laws - but they're not used !
I've learned of this event from Sam O'Nella but only now have I learned the details. Great video!
Philip Defranco totally just stole your idea from this video. He released a short talking bout this the same day you posted this.
I love the way you start with the date.