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Learn More About Ardara Distillery Short Film
3pm - 4.30pm
Still He Waits - A Powerful Story of Homecoming, Heritage and the Revival of Donegal Whiskey
The Ardara Distillery, the home of Sliabh Liag Distillers, is proud to announce the second screening of Still He Waits, a feature-length documentary directed by Paul McGuckin, that premiered at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh. The film tells the moving story of founder James Doherty’s return to Donegal to revive a long-lost style of Irish whiskey-making.
Originally invited to capture archival footage, filmmaker Paul McGuckin quickly saw the potential for a deeper narrative: “What began as quiet observation grew into a powerful portrait of place, ambition, and ancestral memory” McGuckin said. “The camera started rolling to capture history, but what emerged was a powerful emotional arc – a man returning to the home of his ancestors, not just to build a distillery, but to rebuild ties to a place and a way of life that had almost disappeared. It’s a film about memory, identity, and belonging; and a reminder that sometimes the road home is the longest, but the most meaningful.”
Shot over several years, the film follows James Doherty’s journey from Hong Kong back to Donegal, where he set out to reclaim a lost Irish whiskey tradition. At its heart, the film is a meditation on identity, exile, and belonging. “This isn’t just a business story – and it isn’t just mine,” said James Doherty. “It’s about going home. My parents, like so many others, left Donegal in search of work in England. This is about bringing something back. Something they, and generations before them, were forced to leave behind. It’s about reclaiming a Donegal heritage lost to time and exile.”
A key element of the documentary is its original soundscape, composed by Orri McBrearty. Designed specifically for the film, the score brings emotional depth to a story that is both intimate and epic in scope.
The film’s release comes just ahead of another major milestone for The Ardara Distillery: the launch of the Ardara Single Malt Irish Whiskey. A heavily peated, triple distilled, grain-in expression, the whiskey revives a distinctive Donegal tradition not seen in over a century.This unapologetically bold and smoky spirit mirrors the same sense of revival, place, and pride that lies at the heart of Still He Waits.
******A complimentary tasting of Ardara Single Malt that is due to be released next month will be offered at the end of the screening******
