10 Years of the Guinness Storehouse

10 years ago on 2nd December 2000 Guinness Storehouse first opened its doors to the public. Those humble beginnings weren’t all that humble either, with former US president, Bill Clinton being the first in a long line of famous faces to pay a visit. Today the Storehouse is recognised as Ireland’s No.1 visitor attraction and has received over 8 million visitors.

Managing Director, Paul Carty, speaking about the auspicious milestone, said “We are delighted to mark 10 years since we first opened our doors back in December 2000. We have welcomed millions of people from countries all over the world, and this year we were particularly delighted to see a 25% increase in Irish people coming to visit Guinness Storehouse, to learn more about their own genealogy and an important slice of Irish culture.”

Paul continued “2011 promises to be another exciting year for Guinness Storehouse as we will be undertaking a €2 million investment in a new restaurant and catering facilities on our fifth floor. We’re obviously hoping that plenty of Irish visitors also take the opportunity to come and enjoy a great meal here, accompanied by the fantastic views we have out over Dublin.” Further details of these exciting plans will be made available in the New Year.

Beyond Mr. Clinton, some of the other famous faces to make up the 8 million happy patrons that the Guinness Storehouse has enjoyed over the past decade are Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, Susan Sarandon, Dermot O’Leary, Adam Sandler, Beyonce Knowles, Pink and Sean Penn. Each of whom had the pleasure ofa complimentary pint of Guinness the Gravity Bar, the highest viewpoint of Dublin City.

Interestingly, it is estimated that in total over 7,086,142 pints of Guinness have been served up in the Gravity Bar over the ten year period.

If you’re somehow unaware, the Guinness Storehouse is a seven storey treasure trove of everything Guinness –allowing visitors to gain an understanding of why Guinness has become one of the world’s most iconic and best loved brands. For further details on Guinness Storehouse visit www.guinness-storehouse.com.

Guinness Storehouse Over the past 10 years

• Has welcomed approximately 8,336,638 visitors
• Over 1.6 million visitors have tasted Guinness for their first time
• Over 400,000 visitors have learned how to pour a pint of Guinness
• The Guinness Archive has collected over 7,500 linear meters of paper records
• Has provided nearly a quarter of a million servings of Beef & Guinness stew

General Guinness Storehouse Facts

• General building was erected between 1902 and 1904 for use in the fermentation process
• The building is 125 feet high, 170 feet long and 151 feet wide.
• It would take 14.3 million pints of Guinness to fill the giant glass atrium in centre of the GUINNESS STOREHOUSE building
• Gravity Bar is the highest bar in Dublin located 46 metres off the ground
• The interactive genealogy pods contain the records of nearly 20,000 former Guinness Brewery employees dating back to the 1880’s.