Irish whiskey is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' comes from the Irish uiscebeatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, arising around the 12th century. It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to southern Europe around 1,000 AD. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit.