While there are numerous Georgian doors that compete for supremacy in Dublin, the city's most famous gate undoubtedly belongs to the Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate. The black nectar created here from a mixture of water, hops, barley, and yeast has found its way around the world, winning converts on every continent (even Antarctica's scientists must indulge every once in a while). The brewery was founded in 1759 on the site of another brewery, but has since expanded to a massive, 65-acre operation capable of brewing 2.5 million pints of Guinness Stout per day!

Whisky is another of Ireland's many contributions to global culture; as an Irish folk song says, "Whisky is the life of man, always was since the world began." While there is no definitive conclusion to the debate about whether whisky was concocted first in Ireland or Scotland, Irish whisky makers are justifiably renowned for their custom of triple-distilling their products for unrivaled smoothness. Here the Monkey prepares to tour the museum set up on the site of the old Jameson Bow Street distillery in Dublin. Jameson opened its doors here in 1780 and only moved out to Midleton, County Cork to continue operations in the mid-1970s.

The Monkey was fascinated by the craftmanship of the coopers who created the wooden barrels in which Guinness Stout had to be stored. In Dublin's Guinness Storehouse museum, you too can see the mesmerizing historic footage of the coopers' considerable talents.

Brewmeister Monkey checks that everything is going according to plan with the latest batch of Guinness Stout.

In the past, imbibing too much of either of these places' products might have landed you in the pillory. Luckily, the Monkey was small enough to slide his head out and escape this one, found in the crypt of Christchurch Cathedral, before anyone noticed.

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