Thieves have escaped with 19,000 bottles of Finnegan Irish Whiskey, worth $371,288, which was en route to France. The whiskey was stolen from a warehouse at the Cooley Distillery in County Louth.

The 19,000 of whiskey, a brand of which is not sold in Ireland, was in 3,000 brown cardboard cases with the words 'Uisce Beatha' (Irish for 'Water of Life', another name for whiskey) printed on the side.

Irish police at Carlingford are investigating the crime.