The Guinness barges were part of everyday Dublin life, transporting wooden barrels full of GUINNESS from the Brewery to the waiting cross channel steamers at Dublin Port and bringing the empty barrels back to the Brewery to be refilled. Dublin school boys used to stand on the Ha’Penny bridge calling out ‘Hey Mister. Bring us back a parrot!’ at the passing barges underneath, as they thought that the barges were sailing off to exotic places laden with GUINNESS.
http://eastwallforall.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Liffey_Barges.pdf
When we first read the above quote from an article by the Guinness Archives, we briefly considered fulfilling Dubliners’ wishes by bringing them a parrot. Clearly, people such as the guy in the feature image used to. However, the story about kids shouting from the Ha’Penny Bridge is almost certainly apocryphal, and even if it were true the last barge left the Guinness brewery over 60 years ago, so anyone’s desire for a parrot has surely faded by now.
On our upcoming trip to England and Ireland we will, of course, be visiting Dublin (but without a parrot). When there, we may make a pilgrimage to the Guinness Storehouse to taste a Guinness at its birthplace, but even if not we’ll certainly have a few pints during our stops around Ireland. More posts to come soon.