Berkley Center

Almost every encounter I have had with an Irish student thus far has started with: "What part of the United States are you from?" Surprisingly, the next one to follow was: "Have you had your first Guinness yet?" Yes, I have had my first Guinness, and personally I despise the taste, but I would never tell any Irishmen that! Guinness is the most widely drank beer in Ireland, and I have yet to find a pub that doesn’t serve Guinness on draft.

For the past month there have been billboards and signs all over Ireland containing the phrase: “Paint the town black, Arthur's Day 2012.” What is Arthur’s Day? It is the celebration of Arthur Guinness, the man who established the Guinness factory in Dublin. I was quite taken back when I heard what the holiday would be celebrating. It is a national holiday celebrating a man who started a beer brewing company; it seemed a bit odd to me. Despite my perplexity, this holiday is a huge deal in Ireland.

Arthur’s Day just recently started in 2009 to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Guinness brewing. On this special day, which now occurs the last Thursday in September, Guinness sets up over 500 local music acts to play at all the local pubs in Ireland. They also set up 10 headline acts to appear at ten different venues all over Ireland. No one in Ireland is told where the bands will be; you have to go to a pub and hope that your favorite headliner will come, a really neat concept that had everyone talking about which pub they should head to that day!

The highlight of Arthur’s day occurs at 17:59. At this time, everyone in the pubs raise their glass and cheers to Arthur Guinness. This occurs at 17:59 because it is the year the factory was founded. This was definitely my favorite part of the day.

I did not really know what to expect when Arthur's Day came around, if it would actually be as big of a deal as everyone was hyping it up to be. I was not disappointed. The day started with an email from a professor stating that class was cancelled due to Arthur’s Day. I was in shock, but delighted that I would instead be done with class at noon.

At around 3 p.m. I met up with many other students from Georgetown that are studying in Dublin this semester. We decided to head out to the pubs because we were told by Irish students to get there early. At 3 p.m. in the afternoon the pubs were absolutely packed. Everyone was cheerful and happy, and traditional Irish music was being played all over the town. My favorite part of the day was the cheers to Arthur Guinness. At exactly 17:59 the music stopped inside the pub, and everyone held up their glass and a cheer roared through the building. As I looked around every single person was holding up a Guinness for the cheers, even me.

Although we weren’t lucky enough to be at a pub where one of the headliners performed, this was the most fun day I have had here in Dublin. I felt like I was experiencing real Irish culture, by celebrating beer. So many Irish people, drinking Irish beer, and listening to traditional Irish music, surrounded me; I was a true Dubliner.