... a potted history.
1759: Businessman Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease, at £45 per annum, on St James's Gate Brewery.
1769: His company starts exporting to England.
1770s: The porter that would become known as Guinness is first brewed at St James's Gate.
1817: Guinness starts exporting to the US.
1880s: St James's Gate Brewery becomes established as the largest brewery in the world.
1929: Guinness is first advertised in the UK.
1936: First overseas Guinness brewery is opened at Park Royal in London (below).
1960: Harp Larger is established and brewed for the first time in Dundalk.
1963: Guinness Brewery is opened in Ikeja, Nigeria.
1965: Guinness purchases St Francis Abbey Brewery in Kilkenny, which has been brewing Smithwick's since 1710.
1997: Diageo plc, with headquarters in London, is formed out of a £24 billion merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc.
2008: Diageo announces plans to close its breweries in Kilkenny and Dundalk and downsize St James's Gate in favour of building a new brewery close to Dublin.