Horses were used to transport Guinness around Dublin for two-hundred and two years from 1759 to 1961. From the founding of the Guinness brewery at St. James’s Gate by Arthur Guinness in 1759, horses were the main form of transport used to deliver Guinness stout to the ale houses in Dublin.
BREWERY WORK
The horses, mainly Clydesdales, Percherons and Shire breeds were used inside the brewery to haul casks on “drays”, a truck or cart without sides, for delivering beer barrels or other heavy loads. At the turn of the 18th century, they were harnessed to wagons on the internal eight-mile long railway to move loads within the brewery.
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GRAND CANAL
When the Grand Canal opened in 1796, horses were used to draw the barges containing wooden casks of stout along the river Shannon. At this time, with the use of the horses, Guinness became available outside Dublin. Access to the river Shannon also meant that it was easier to bring raw materials to the brewery from rural Ireland.
GUINNESS BREWERY STABLES
Initially, Guinness had its own team of horses and an 1891 guide book mentioned over one-hundred and fifty horses employed. There were stables in the heart of the St. James’s Gate site, highlighting the importance of the horses to brewery life.
Each horse in the brewery had its own name. These included ‘William’, ‘Roy’, ‘Cecil’ and ‘Bruce’. The horses were sometimes used in pairs depending on the weight of the loads they carried. These horses had paired names such as ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Thunder and Lightning’ and ‘Rhyme and Reason’.+
DUBLIN DELIVERIES
It was not an uncommon sight for a Dubliner to see a convoy of eight to ten Guinness horse drays setting out from the Brewery at 6:00 am on the twelve-mile journey to Bray. The horses hauled one-ton loads on two-wheel floats on the longer runs and three tons on four-wheel drays around Dublin city. Great pride was taken in the appearance of every team and Guinness horses won many prizes in the “trade turnout” competitions at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Spring Show.
HORSE CARE
Guinness worked hard to ensure their horses received the highest quality of care with three daily meals, treacle on a Saturday and Bank Holiday treats. A special pamphlet was written for the care of the horses: “General Instructions regarding the Care of Horses, Harness and Vehicles. The daily menu for the horses, with instructions to begin feeding at least 1 ½ hours before the horse commences work consisted of 18 lbs. Grain or 17lbs Oats and 1 lb. Bran and also 18 lbs. Hay per horse per day.
There were specific rations set out for Breakfast (6:00 am), Dinner (12:00 pm) and at night in the stables (6:00 pm) with instructions that “the same amount of time should elapse between meals”. On Saturday evenings the horses were given a treat of 6 lbs of Grain, 2 ozs. Treacle and ¼ oz. Ground Ginger. Careful attention also went into the bedding in the stables and that had to be “Good Wheaten or Oaten Straw to be used (the former for choice)”.
This author wonders if the brewery horses were ever given Guinness to drink? Even today, many horse trainers commonly feed their horses Guinness because of its yeast content. Yeast offers a significant portion of the B-vitamin complex, which plays a crucial role in aiding horses’ recovery from stress and providing essential probiotic support.
CONTRACTING MESSRS RICHARDSON
To accommodate fluctuations in demand, Guinness would occasionally contract additional horses from Messrs Richardson of Tara Street, Dublin. Established in 1830, the company had a workforce of up to seventy, encompassing carpenters, blacksmiths, and harness-makers. Richardson’s boasted a comprehensive setup with a farm, stables, forge and paddocks. Richardson’s offered four-wheeled horse-drawn drays (low open-sided carts) as well as two-wheeled floats for contract hire.
The company provided commercial haulage for businesses in Dublin and contracted daily to Guinness for their town deliveries. On 6th July 1932, Guinness sold off their own team of thirty Clydesdales, Percherons and Shires and closed the St. James’s Gate Brewery stables and solely used Richardson’s horses for town deliveries. Thereafter, every morning, in Dublin’s Rialto and Dolphin’s Barn areas, the well-groomed Richardson’s horses, became a familiar sight as they pulled drays into the St James’s Gate Brewery.
Richardson’s closed in 1961 due to the rising dominance of motor trucks for deliveries, marking the end of two centuries of horse-drawn Guinness deliveries in Dublin.
If you would like to contribute a story, please email Kevin Reid [email protected]
Information Sources and Photo Credits:
BioStarus Blog – Beer for horses
Dublin Carriage Act 1853
Guinness Archive
Liberties Dublin Blog
The Harp – Guinness Magazine
