Tag Archives: drink

Alcoholics Unanimous

Last year, I wrote a post about about the 250th anniversary of Arthur Guinness’s decision to lease out the St. James’s Gate brewery in Dublin and his success at developing an alcoholic beverage that has become synonymous with Ireland and Irishness. I thought it would be just a once-off, but Arthur’s Day (as it was called) has returned again this year. I guess Guinness need all the marketing they can get. So, I’ve decided to do my bit to assist this cottage industry by spreading the word again. It seems that most of Ireland’s main urban areas will be offering promotions and putting on live music to commemorate the day (and to get thirsty punters to spend their cash in their pubs, of course). I won’t actually be taking part in these celebrations myself as I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I need to ensure that I don’t wake up with a hangover in the morning and the only way to do that is to stay away from beer and pubs tonight. You see, I’m going to be babysitting my two nephews tomorrow and the next day. Neither of them are babies and there won’t be much sitting involved, so I’m going to need to have my wits about me. Instead, I’m going to spend the day listening to drinking songs. Here are a few that come from some seasoned veterans as well as a new kid on the block. I’d like to dedicate these to the Gilday family in Ohio who know a thing or two about drunken lullabies. Sláinte!

Answer in One of These Bottles – Caitlin Rose

Why Don’t We Get Drunk – Jimmy Buffett

Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk – The Wedding Present

Nice Work If You Can Get It


The increasingly difficult economic situation in Ireland in recent times has brought with it the threat of industrial action amongst the nation’s dwindling workforce. But spare a thought for the employees at the home of one of Scandinavia’s most famous exports. Carlsberg is the fourth largest brewery group in the world and are based in Denmark’s capital city. 45,000 people around the world work for the company, but some of their Copenhagen employees are none too pleased at the moment. One of the perks of working there is that employees get free water, soft drinks and, most importantly, free beer. Up to recently, drivers and warehouse workers had been allowed to drink up to three beers outside of lunch hours (I presume they could down as many as they wanted during their lunch break). My understanding is that it was only the manual workers who were entitled to these additional cold beverages. After all, they would be more likely to build up a thirst doing their job and would also have greater access to the product than their co-workers in the offices. Well, no more. Management at the company have introduced new rules that prohibit the consumption of alcohol during working hours. These extreme measures came into effect on Wednesday and caused around 800 workers to down their, er, bottles and walk out. By yesterday, one third of those protestors were still revolting. Their actions mean that distribution of beer from Copenhagen and around Denmark will be affected. Free beer is still on the menu at lunchtime, but locks have been placed on Carlsberg trucks in an effort to cut down on drinking and driving, Danish-style. Carlsberg don’t do industrial dispute resolutions but if they did, they’d probably be the best in the world


Drinking On The Job – The Happy Bullets

Publicans Raise Spirits After Nailing Good Friday Opening Hours


You remember that the pubs in Ireland used to close every Good Friday? Well, not this year. At least, not in Limerick anyway. On April 2nd, the Munster rugby team takes on their Leinster counterparts in a Magners League game at Thomond Park in Limerick. Due to concerns about player safety and also television rights, the game was scheduled for the unusual date of Good Friday. The publicans and bar owners in Limerick weren’t too happy about this as it meant that the public wouldn’t be able to watch the match on the TV screens in their bars and pubs. In addition, the 26,000 or so thirsty rugby fans who attended the match wouldn’t have the option of celebrating victory/drowning their sorrows afterwards. The publicans and other Limerick business people did their sums and reckoned that they would lose around €10 million if the pubs remained shut. I don’t know exactly where they got this figure from, but it would mean that every adult in Limerick would have to drink ten pints on the day, admittedly not an impossible task. At first, the publicans tried to get an exemption from the State that would allow them to open for a few hours on the day in question. When this didn’t happen, they applied to the Limerick courts on the basis that the match represented a ‘special occasion’. Of course, as every Irish person knows, with only 52 Fridays in the year ANY Friday is a special occasion. Amazingly, Judge Tom O’Donnell announced that he would allow Limerick publicans to open their doors on Good Friday from 6.00pm to 11.30pm. Even more amazingly, Judge O’Donnell’s reason for allowing them to open wasn’t because he felt it was a special occasion, but for “health and safety” reasons! Nice one, Judge

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Poguetry In Motion


I mentioned on Wednesday that I’d be spending Patrick’s Day immersing myself in Irish culture. I had planned to take it easy on St Patrick’s Eve, but shortly after writing the post I got an unexpected text from a good friend of mine. It didn’t take too much for Tom to persuade me to call over to his place for a few drinks and to watch Chelsea take on Inter Milan in the Champions League. Watching English football teams is one of the most popular pastimes amongst Irish males and the tie was nicely balanced at 2-1 to the Italian team. I brought along an 8-pack of Bulmers cider (the Irish one, not the English one). The game was quite close, but Inter scored near the end to ease their passage into the quarter-finals. As the number of cans got fewer and fewer, Thomas put on one of the best Irish films of recent years, In Bruges (it’s in Belgium). The next morning, Tom’s lovely lady Linda made an Irish breakfast for the three of us. Even though Linda was unable to offer any evidence as to the food’s heritage, I had no reason to believe that it wasn’t an Irish one. It was cooked and eaten in Ireland and it even tasted like an Irish breakfast. After that, Tom checked out Cheltenham and we watched the Irish trainers, horses and riders cleaning up. After Linda cleaned up, she dropped me home. My thanks to Thomas and Linda for a lovely Irish day

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Happy New Year Everyone!

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and prosperous 2010. 2009 saw a drastic drop in the temperature as well as the amount of cash in people’s pockets. Here’s hoping the coming twelve months bring us a lot more sunshine


Reelin’ in the Years – Steely Dan

My Year In Lists – Los Campesinos!

This Will Be Our Year – The Zombies

January – Ravens & Chimes

Letting the New Year In – George Formby

New Year’s Resolution – Otis Redding & Carla Thomas

Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon

January Man – Rachel Unthank

Last Year’s Ugly Duckling Shall Be This Year’s Beauty Queen – Minotaurs

I Made A Resolution – Sea Wolf

What’s Another Year- (Johnny Logan cover) – Shane MacGowan

January Rain – Hunters & Collectors

Another Year – Amanda Palmer

Here Comes The New Year – Toasted Heretic

Thank You For The Music, Liam

The last member of one of the first internationally successful Irish music acts passed away last week. Liam Clancy finally succumbed to interstital lung disease on December 4th in a hospital in Cork city and was buried in Ring, Co Waterford a few days later. No less a figure than Bob Dylan had this to say about him in the 80s: “I never heard a singer as good as him ever. He was just the best ballad singer I ever heard in my life, still is probably”. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were one of many acts that showed up regularly on Irish television and radio throughout the 70s and 80s. I could take or leave most of these acts, but I always liked the music of Liam and the boys. I think it was the way they sang, their choice of songs and the sense of fun that came across in their music and performances. Over the last few days, I’ve been listening to Liam’s songs and reading a few books about him and the brothers
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Lovely Day For a Guinness

The Pour of the Pint

250 years ago, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 a year to rent St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin. Tomorrow, September 24th, has been designated as Arthur’s Day and will feature celebrations all around the world. Unsurprisingly, the biggest party will take place in Dublin as dozens of bands will converge on Ireland’s capital city to raise a toast to Arthur. The day begins at 17:59 with an invite-only concert at St James’s Gate itself featuring Tom Jones, Kasabian and Estelle. Four Dublin venues (Vicar St, the Academy, Tripod and Whelan’s) will put on gigs that will include Richard Hawley, Lisa Hannigan, David Gray and the Undertones. And Live at the Local sees Noah & the Whale, Mick Flannery and dozens of other acts perform at 28 Dublin pubs throughout the night. Sounds like it’s going to be a busy day. For those of you who’d like to celebrate Arthur’s Day early or in the confines of your own home, here are a few drinking songs to accompany the creamy pints of stout

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