Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
al, interactive exhibits that cover most aspects of the brewery's story and explain the
brewing process in overwhelming detail.
On the ground floor, a copy of Arthur Guinness' original lease lies embedded beneath a
pane of glass in the floor. Wandering up through the various exhibits, including 70-odd
years of advertising, you can't help feeling that the now wholly foreign-owned company
has hijacked the mythology Dubliners attached to the drink, and it has all become more
about marketing and manipulation than mingling and magic.
Gravity Bar
Whatever reservations you may have, however, can be more than dispelled at the top of
the building in the circular
Gravity Bar
, where you get a complimentary glass of Guinness.
The views from the bar are superb, but the Guinness itself is as near-perfect as a beer can
be.
Real aficionados can opt for the
Conoisseur Experience
, where you sample the four different
kinds of Guinness - Draught, Original, Foreign Extra Stout and Black Lager - whilst
hearing their story from your designated bartender.
Getting to St James's Gate Brewery
To get here, head westwards beyond Christ Church, and you'll end up in the area known
as the Liberties, home of the historic 26-hectare St James's Gate Brewery, which stretches
along St James's St and down to the Liffey. On your way you'll pass
No 1 Thomas St
, where
Arthur Guinness used to live, across the road from the 40m-tall
St Patrick's Tower
, built
around 1757 and the tallest surviving windmill tower outside the Netherlands.
BEST DEAL IN TOWN
When Arthur started brewing in Dublin in 1759, he couldn't have had any idea that his name would become syn-
onymous with Dublin around the world. Or could he? Showing extraordinary foresight, he had just signed a lease
for a small disused brewery under the terms that he would pay just £45 annually for the next 9000 years, with the
additional condition that he'd never have to pay for the water used.
The company was once the city's biggest employer - in the 1930s up to 5000 people made their living at the
brewery. Today, the brewery is no longer the prominent employer it once was; a gradual shift to greater
automation has reduced the workforce to around 450.
