Very interesting thanks. So Bry-96 is the forefather of American strains and probably originates from Europe, with Germany seeming most likely? Makes some sense.
I wouldn't say that Germany is necessarily "most likely" but it's certainly a good guess. Narragansett was a lager brewery but acquired Hanley's brands in the late 1950s. James Hanley was the godfather of RI Brewing. He was an Irish immigrant who got his start as a distributor of Burton Ales before opening several of the largest breweries in RI around the turn of the century. Their Ales are their best known beers. The James Hanley brewery was the only RI brewery to survive prohibition intact.
So there are cases to be made that BRY-96 could be of German origin (via Carl Haffenreffer at Gansett), or either Irish or Burton if it came via Hanley.
I'd love to know about potential irish yeasts. i did hear a bit about irish beer production from the 1700s to present, but not the always mysterious yeast.
so obviously the "irish ale" yeast WLP004/etc is guinness, but am not sure if (though assume) it's origin is english. as guinness was set up to be a profitable company, rather than a preservation of a beer tradition.
murphy's, beamish yeast sources?