It was literally our poison.
Ether drinking was common in Scotland, Norway, Russia and France. But it was particularly popular in Ireland, where the Catholic Church promoted abstinence from alcohol. People pledged not to drink alcohol but from the mid-1840s the Irish consumed ether as a way to get around their pledge – it was drunk neat and the mouth was washed out with cold water before and after.
The British government had worked hard to prevent the illegal distillation of alcohol, but ether was a legal substitute. Like alcohol, it was sold in pubs. It was also available from shops, and groups of women would hold ether parties in their houses. From 1890 the sale of ether was strictly limited in Ireland by the British government after it was classified as a poison.
Hic.
Thanks Sibling of Daedalus