Carling O'Keefe originated from Canadian Breweries Limited which was the first brewing conglomerate in Canada and is now owned by Molson Coors Brewing Company.

History

Carling 1840-1930

In 1840 Thomas Carling began a small brewing operation in London, Ontario selling beer to soldiers at the local military camp. When he died, his sons William and John took over, naming it the W & J Carling Brewing Co. John Carling became a prominent figure in Canadian business and politics and was later knighted in 1893. Sir John Carling died in 1911. The Carling operation then changed hands several times. In 1930 the Carling company was sold to Canadian Breweries Limited, founded by E.P. Taylor.

O'Keefe 1862-1934

Eugene O'Keefe, a wealthy banker, purchased the Hannath & Hart Brewery in 1862. By 1864, one of his partners had died, while the other Patrick Cosgrave left to found his own brewery. The business was renamed O'Keefe and Company. It was the first to produce lager beer in Canada along with the traditional ale and porter. In 1891 the company was incorporated as O'Keefe Brewing Company Limited. In 1911 another new brewery was built with an annual capacity of 500,000 barrels. O'Keefe was one of the first to use trucks for beer delivery, the first to build a mechanically refrigerated warehouse, and one of the first to advertise extensively.

O'Keeffe (Irish: Ó Caoimh), also known as simply O'Keefe or Keefe, is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork, particularly around Fermoy and Duhallow. The name comes from caomh, meaning "kind" or "gentle"; some reformed spellings present it as Ó Cuív and the feminine form of the original is Ní Chaoimh. As the primary sept of the Eóganacht Glendamnach, the family were once Kings of Munster from the 6th to the 8th centuries.

History

The original Caomh, from whom the family descend, lived in the early eleventh century, and was descended from Cathal mac Finguine, celebrated King of Munster and the most powerful Irish king of the first half of the 8th century. See the main article, Eóganachta, for more discussion, as well as Eóganacht Glendamnach, the specific sept of the family.

The O'Keeffes are famous for claiming descent from the goddess Clíodhna and have a beloved story about her marriage to Caomh (Franklin, pp. 81 ff). Her sister Aibell competed for his affections but Clíodhna ultimately triumphed using sorcery.

O'Keefe is an album by singer-songwriter Danny O'Keefe, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music). It peaked at #87 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. The lead-off single was "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" (a re-recording of a song O'Keefe had first recorded for his self-titled debut album one year earlier), which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was covered by numerous artists. "The Road" was covered by Jackson Browne on his album Running on Empty. O'Keefe was reissued in 2006 on the Wounded Bird label.

Reception

Thom Jurek states in his Allmusic review: "O'Keefe is utterly solid, so completely diverse and tight; it's a forgotten masterpiece."

Track listing

All songs by Danny O'Keefe unless otherwise noted.