Some businesses are named after what they aspire to. Legacy Irish Cider is named after what it actually is: the continuation of three generations of Waterford apple growing, from grandfather Willie McDonnell’s orchards planted in the 1930s, through his father Pat’s innovations in apple cultivation, to Liam McDonnell pressing and fermenting cider in Dungarvan today.
From Garden Shed to Dungarvan Business Park
Liam set up Legacy in 2015 — initially in his garden shed, which is the kind of founding story that turns out to be true rather than mythological in this case. The operation has grown since then into Dungarvan Business Park, where proper steel fermentation tanks and wooden vats mature the cider on a scale that can actually reach the market.
Three Apples, That’s It
The cider is made from three varieties: a cider apple, a cooking apple, and an eating apple. That simplicity is deliberate — a philosophy of using the right fruit in the right balance rather than masking inferior ingredients behind flavour additions. The result is a cider that tastes of apples rather than apple flavouring: dry, authentic, and genuinely Irish.
Legacy is gluten-free and vegan-friendly, making it one of the broader-appeal options in the Irish craft drinks market without compromising on what matters.
His grandfather planted the orchards. His father developed the trees. Liam makes the cider. The name Legacy is not marketing — it’s the truth of the thing.
Find It
Legacy Irish Cider is available through off-licences and craft drinks retailers, and directly online. Stocked at the House of Waterford Crystal shop, among others.
Legacy Irish Cider
Dungarvan Business Park, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
🌐 legacyirishcider.ie
