ARTHUR GUINNESS HAS had a hard time of it lately but there is still a lot of love for the man responsible for the black stuff in his hometown.
A statue of the businessman was unveiled in Celbridge, county Kildare today.
Guinness was born in the village in 1725 and lived there for 30 years before leaving to start his career.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan was at the event today, paying respect to the Guinness family.
“The Guinness name is recognised across the world, and I hope this statue encourages more people to visit Celbridge town and Castletown House,” he said.
Castletown House is Ireland’s largest and earliest Palladian-style house. It was saved from the hands of a property developer in 1967 by the Hon. Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society.
The statue was commissioned by Celbridge Tidy Towns with the support of Diageo Ireland. It was created by local sculptor Jarlath Daly.
While Celbridge is the home of the master brewer, neighbouring town of Leixlip claims to be the birthplace of the drink itself. Guinness set up his first brewery in Leixlip.
Guinness is buried with a number of relatives in the nearby Oughterard cemetery, which TheJournal.ie took a tour of for Arthur’s Day last year.
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