Guinness Sources

[Hawkerhellfire]

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations for sources of info on Guinness' internal railway system. I have "Shifting the Stout, the book by the Amberley Museum. And "Irelands Largest Industrial Railway" which is mainly photos. I also have the excellent contemporary article witten in Model Engineer in 1957 on the system. I'll be joining up and diving into the IRRS archives in September but is there anything else I'm missing? 

[Mol_PMB]

Those are the two books I have on the system and I'm not aware of any others, though it features a page or two in many general Irish railway books. 

It's a long time since I visited the brewery/museum but there was plenty to see there too.

 

[Hawkerhellfire]

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Those are the two books I have on the system and I'm not aware of any others, though it features a page or two in many general Irish railway books. 

It's a long time since I visited the brewery/museum but there was plenty to see there too.

 

Thank you! Aye a trip to the Brewery is on the list, I'll probably make some enquiries there too. Thanks for your reply. 

[WRENNEIRE]

A good source of Guinness is Mulligans of Poolbeg St, just left an hour ago, hic! 

[jhb171achill]

On 19/7/2025 at 4:48 PM, Hawkerhellfire said:

................... And "Irelands Largest Industrial Railway" ...................

The Guinness system was by several zillion light years NOT Ireland's "largest industrial railway"; Bord na Mona had many hundreds of kilometres of lines all over the country; the several largest ones being individually bigger than the Guinness lines...... dunno how that book, interesting as it is, managed to acquire that title!

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, WRENNEIRE said:

A good source of Guinness is Mulligans of Poolbeg St, just left an hour ago, hic! 

I was in Gibney's this evening, assisting in the consumption of said liquids.

Edited Monday at 01:28 by jhb171achill

[GSR 800]

3 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

The Guinness system was by several zillion light years NOT Ireland's "largest industrial railway"; Bord na Mona had many hundreds of kilometres of lines all over the country; the several largest ones being individually bigger than the Guinness lines...... dunno how that book, interesting as it is, managed to acquire that title!

They must've been drunk.

[Mol_PMB]

The statement might have been true before BnM’s expansion in the 1940s/1950s.
In the 1920s, the railway system used to build Ardnacrusha was probably bigger too. 

[Hawkerhellfire]

8 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

The Guinness system was by several zillion light years NOT Ireland's "largest industrial railway"; Bord na Mona had many hundreds of kilometres of lines all over the country; the several largest ones being individually bigger than the Guinness lines...... dunno how that book, interesting as it is, managed to acquire that title!

Indeed! It is tiny compared to BNM, perhaps they meant it as the biggest railway around a Single site, even then it would be incorrect. Maybe they meant the largest privately owned industrial railway? 

[jhb171achill]

54 minutes ago, Hawkerhellfire said:

Maybe they meant the largest privately owned industrial railway? 

That bit would probably be true…

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

The statement might have been true before BnM’s expansion in the 1940s/1950s.
In the 1920s, the railway system used to build Ardnacrusha was probably bigger too. 

Good point!!

[Flying Snail]

4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

The statement might have been true before BnM’s expansion in the 1940s/1950s.
In the 1920s, the railway system used to build Ardnacrusha was probably bigger too. 

 

1 hour ago, Hawkerhellfire said:

Indeed! It is tiny compared to BNM, perhaps they meant it as the biggest railway around a Single site, even then it would be incorrect. Maybe they meant the largest privately owned industrial railway? 

Regardless - the statement used in the title was wrong when they wrote and published the book. It did make for a more catchy title though ...

[spudfan]

Used to walk by Guinness's down the cobble streets with the track. The smell used to very pleasant. You could arrive at your destination smelling like you'd been in a pub. Got a cab ride many years ago when I was a child.

[Hawkerhellfire]

On 21/7/2025 at 11:31 AM, spudfan said:

Used to walk by Guinness's down the cobble streets with the track. The smell used to very pleasant. You could arrive at your destination smelling like you'd been in a pub. Got a cab ride many years ago when I was a child.

Fantastic, I can only imagine! 

 

The footplate ride was on the Hudswell Clarkes? I can't see their being much room on the Geoghegans!

[spudfan]

It was in the "cab". I was very young at the time so did not take up much space. You could walk down the canal past Fatima Mansions to the depot where the canal barges were stabled and worked on. Then you could nip down to the Guinness place along the coble stones and watch the trains going in and out of the complex. Easily amused in those days.