Return of the craic – St Patrick’s Day at the Guinness Storehouse  

Delebrations of the national holiday return to the ‘Home of Guinness’ 

Excitement is brewing in Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse as St Patrick’s Day celebrations are underway. 

The Guinness Storehouse at St. James’s Gate, Dublin 8, has been the home of the brewery experience, ‘telling the tale of Ireland’s famous beer’ since 1759. 

This year, for the first time since 2019, the Guinness Storehouse will be hopping with Irish music and dance for the entirety of their St.Patrick’s Day festival – which will run from 16 March right through until 22 March. 

The five-day festival will be celebrated on each of the seven storeys of the Storehouse and will ‘showcase the very best of Irish culture and craic’ for the national holiday. 

“Some of Ireland’s best artists will entertain and delight visitors from near and far, in our first celebration in three years,” said Guinness Storehouse social media. 

“It’s been a really tough two years off, and the Guiness Storehouse is one of the venues I’m most excited to return to and perform in,” said Gary O’Brien, a professional Irish dancer from Dublin 3. 

O’Brien has been an Irish dancer for over 20 years and has been performing as a member of the ‘Celtic Rhythm Dancers’ at the Guinness Storehouse for the past eight years. 

“I gig in venues all over Dublin, but the St. Patrick’s Day festival is by far the most craic,” said O’Brien. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, O’Brien’s career as performer in the entertainment industry was hit hard. He has recently found a new career as a builder/carpenter and computer numerical control (CNC) engineer, but regularly finds some fun in getting on stage to showcase his dancing talents. 

“Dancing isn’t our main source of income at the minute, so when we do gig, it’s purely for the fun,” said O’Brien. 

Last year, ‘the home of the black stuff’ offered a virtual festival in honour of St Patrick’s Day.  

A walking tour of ‘Guinness in the Liberties’ was hosted online and included a virtual tour of the Storehouse and the Liberties as well as entertainment from DJ Tara Stewart, Pillow Queens, Gemma Dunleavy and Adam Mohamed. 

The founder of the brewery, Arthur Guinness, signed a 9000-year lease on the St. James’s Gate brewery in 1759 – so it seems that celebrations will continue for many years to come!