Guinness Storehouse

Overview

Arthur Guinness signed his lease on St James’s Gate in 1759, and the Storehouse is where that story gets sold back to you – seven storeys of it, in a glass atrium built in the shape of a giant pint. The route is self-guided and always upward: from the raw ingredients of water, barley, hops and yeast on the ground floor, through the industrial guts of brewing, to the Gravity Bar on the seventh. Your ticket buys a pint at the top (or a soft drink), poured against a 360° view over Dublin, the Wicklow Mountains and the Poolbeg chimneys.

Be clear about what this is: a very well-made advertisement you pay to walk through, and one of the busiest attractions in the country. It is also genuinely good at what it does, and the view is the best of it. If you only have an hour, don’t linger over every ad-gallery panel – ride to the top, get your pint while the light is still on the city, and work your way back down.

History & Architecture

Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the St James’s Gate site on 31 December 1759, paying £45 per year for a then-unused brewery. Ten years later, the first export of Guinness left Dublin. The business grew rapidly: by 1838 the brewery was the largest in Ireland, and by 1886 it was the largest in the world, producing 1.2 million barrels annually. As the operation expanded from a single acre to over 64 acres, the Guinness family built workers’ housing, a private power plant, a network of narrow-gauge internal railways and the famous black cast-iron Guinness Gates on James’s Street. By the 1930s, the brewery employed over 5,000 workers – the largest single employer in Dublin at the time. Automation has since reduced the workforce to around 600, while a €153 million modernisation completed in June 2013 consolidated all UK and Republic of Ireland Guinness production on the site, which now produces roughly 2.5 million pints of stout daily.

The building that now houses the Storehouse was erected between 1902 and 1904 as a fermentation plant. Designed in the Chicago School of Architecture, it was Ireland’s first multi-storey steel-framed structure. The plant operated continuously until 1988, when production moved to a newer facility nearby.

In 1997, the brewery decided to convert the historic shell into a public visitor centre. After a redesign by Imagination and Dublin-based architects RKD, the Guinness Storehouse opened on 2 December 2000. By 2019 it welcomed 1.7 million visitors and passed its 20 millionth visitor since opening – pouring over 1.1 million pints that year. It was named World’s Leading Tourist Attraction 2023 by the World Travel Awards.

Three additional historical details stand out during your visit:

• The 9,000-year lease – A replica of the 1759 lease signed by Arthur Guinness for a nominal £45 per year is displayed on the ground floor.
• Royal visit – Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip toured the Storehouse in May 2011 during a state visit to Ireland.
• Gravity Bar expansion – In 2020 the rooftop bar was doubled in size, offering even broader 360° views across the capital.

The Seven-Floor Journey

The experience is designed as a vertical walk through the brewing process, with each floor dedicated to a different stage of production and brand heritage:

• Ground Floor – The Ingredients: Interactive displays introduce the four essential components of Guinness and display the legendary lease agreement.
• Brewing Journey: Walk through the former fermentation vats, see the massive copper kettles, and learn how barley is roasted at 232 °C to create the stout’s signature colour and flavour.
• Cooperage & Transport: Discover the traditional craft of barrel-making and trace the historic railway lines that once moved casks around the brewery site.
• Advertising Gallery: The campaigns that put Guinness on billboards worldwide, from the 1920s toucans and the “Guinness is good for you” line to the modern “Goodness” series. It’s the floor most people race through and the one worth slowing down for.
• The Perfect Pint Bar: Try your hand at pouring a Guinness; the ritual takes precisely 119.5 seconds for the perfect settle. Roughly 50,000 visitors per year learn the technique at the Guinness Academy, or have their photograph printed on the head of a pint using malt-ink (the STOUTie).
• Guinness Academy: A short, hands-on lesson on the six-step pour, complete with a certificate of completion.
• Connoisseur Bar: For an extra €95, taste four different Guinness variants – Draught, Original, Foreign Extra Stout and Black Lager – under the guidance of a brand expert.
• Gravity Bar: The seventh floor, and the reason most people are really here. Floor-to-ceiling windows give 360° views of Dublin Bay, Phoenix Park, St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Howth peninsula.
• Guinness Archive: Ireland’s only corporate archive open to the public, holding records, photographs and artefacts dating back to 1759.

Tasting Experiences & Add-Ons

Beyond the core ticket, the Storehouse offers several ways to deepen your visit:

• Stoutie – Add a selfie to the head of your pint for €8, printed in malt-ink; a popular souvenir.
• Guinness Academy – An additional €12 experience where you learn the six-step pour and receive a certificate.
• Connoisseur Experience – €95 guided tasting of four Guinness variants, with a private bar and expert commentary.
• Open Gate Brewery – A nearby experimental taproom showcasing small-batch brews and seasonal releases; entry is free and it’s a short walk from the main building. Open Thursday to Saturday; advance booking is recommended.
• Pilgrims’ Passport – St James’s Gate is the traditional departure point for Irish pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. Visitors can have their pilgrim passport stamped at the Storehouse or at nearby St James’ Church, which marks the start of the Celtic Camino.

Practical Information

Opening Hours

Closed on Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day and Good Friday.

Tickets & Admission

The Storehouse uses dynamic pricing – the price you pay depends on the day, time, and how far in advance you book. Online is always cheaper than walk-up.

Check the official booking page for the current price before you visit.

• Dublin Pass – Holders receive a discount on the standard ticket and can skip the ticket queue.
• Advance booking – Strongly recommended, especially during the summer months, to guarantee a time-slot and avoid queues.

Recommended Visit Length

Allow 2–3 hours for the core experience; families with young children often linger longer over lunch and the gift shop.

Best Time to Visit

• Arrive early on a weekday (opening time) to beat the crowds.
• Late afternoon slots (after 3 pm) are quieter in the summer and offer softer light for Gravity Bar photography.

Visitor Essentials

• Age: Children 18 and under must be accompanied by an adult and receive a non-alcoholic drink at the Gravity Bar.
• Food & Drink: Several bars and cafés on different floors serve Irish cuisine, many dishes cooked with Guinness – from hearty stews (over 48,000 portions of beef and Guinness stew served in 2019) to fresh oysters (nearly 50,000 servings).
• Souvenirs: The first-floor retail store offers a wide range of Guinness-branded merchandise, from glassware to limited-edition apparel.
• Pets: Only registered service dogs are permitted inside the Storehouse.

Getting There & Parking

• Public transport: Dublin Bus routes 13, 40 and 123 stop nearby. The nearest Luas (Red Line) stop is St James’s Hospital (about a 10-minute walk).
• Walking distances: 15 minutes to St Patrick’s Cathedral, 20 minutes to Kilmainham Gaol, 5 minutes to the Arthur Guinness Heritage Bar.
• Parking: Free on-site parking on Crane Street (limited spaces, first-come first-served). Paid parking is a short walk away at the Four Courts.
• Accessibility: Fully accessible with lifts serving all seven floors, wheelchair-friendly routes throughout, and a ramped entrance to the Gravity Bar.
• Guinness Gates: The arched black gateway on James’s Street is a landmark in its own right and a popular stop for photographs.

Exploring the Liberties

The Storehouse sits in the historic Liberties district, a medieval quarter that escaped Dublin’s 19th-century grid expansion. It’s a short walk from Christ Church Cathedral (founded 1030) and St Patrick’s Cathedral – Arthur Guinness funded a major restoration of the latter in the 19th century. Three whiskey distilleries – Roe & Co, Pearse Lyons and Teeling – sit within a five-minute walk. The Liberties Market on Meath Street runs Thursday to Saturday, with local produce stalls worth a browse. The area’s narrow streets are also dotted with artisan cafés, independent bookshops and the Digital Hub.

The Guinness Quarter

Diageo has announced a €1 billion master plan to transform 12.6 acres of the historic brewery site into the Guinness Quarter, Dublin’s first zero-carbon district. Partnering with Ballymore, the scheme will retain key heritage assets – including the 1798 vat house and the famous brewery gate – while adding roughly 500 residential units, office space, retail, hotels and public plazas. Social housing will form part of the mix, and the development aims to reuse existing structures where possible. For the latest updates see sjgquarter.com.

Book online at least a few days ahead – it’s cheaper than walking up, and summer slots sell out. Aim for the first slot of the day or one after 3pm to dodge the worst of the crush, and remember the rooftop pint is already paid for in the standard ticket, so there’s no reason to buy a round downstairs first.