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The one that always comes to mind is Drogheda Ale which was made at a number of different breweries. I assume that it would have had some things in common with modern Irish red but that's just guesswork. I'd be willing to bet there were other Irish beer styles which disappeared without trace along with the breweries that made them.

Would they be distinct styles or just local versions of the British beers?

This article on Limerick breweries mentions strong beer, pale ale, porter and stout being brewed in Limerick in 1866. In mentions that Guinness stopped brewing traditional Dublin ale in 1759.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3949,en.pdf">www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3949,en.pdf

&amp;quot;andrew&amp;quot;:29xbxo4y wrote: Would they be distinct styles or just local versions of the British beers?[/quote:29xbxo4y]I don't think there's any way of knowing. But Burton Ale was a style: it didn't just mean beer brewed in Burton, and likewise Edinburgh Ale. I think it's easily possible that the same was true of Drogheda Ale.

I agree with John from the point of view of digging a style out of the graveyard... it's definitely challenging (potentially impossible) and maybe not even interesting (except for those who enjoy beer-cheology, but that's likely a pretty small niche). In the Nederlands they are trying to revive gruits and other traditional beers (all-oats hopped beers, for example, which seemed to be the standard in the early 14th century) and they do have a few examples commercially available, but are those interesting past the "study" phase? Meh...

I suppose you could consider Stout Porter a successfully co-opted style. It was introduced to Ireland, enthusiastically received, died out in Britain, and re-introduced by Guinness.