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Tuesday, 25 January, 2000, 15:23 GMT

Welsh genius behind Ireland's favourite

Guinness - the most Irish of all Irish drinks - was originally made in Wales, according to an expert in Welsh food and drink.

Arthur Guinness, who made his fortune selling the "black gold" was probably inspired by a barrel of porter shipped over from north Wales.

At least that is what Deiniol ap Dafydd reckons.

According to Mr ap Dafydd Guinness cannot be sure where the first cask of porter came from.

He says there is a strong possibility that a small pub in north Wales gave Guinness the idea.

Casket

"There is a very strong chance that the drink that inspired Arthur Guinness came from a small pub just outside Llanfairfechan on the north Wales coast on the main coaching route between London and Dublin," he said.

"Most probably the coach was going from London to Dublin and it would be reaching the top of the last mountain pass and at that point you could put a little bit more weight on the back of the wagon.

"If people enjoyed their last drink there they would say let's take a casket of this home with us and by taking it over to Dublin most probably that's where Arthur Guinness would have come across it."

Black wine

The drink which Arthur Guinness started brewing in 1759 has certainly come a long way since then.

Nowadays 10 million pints of Guinness are swallowed every day in 150 different countries.

"To be honest Guinness has got to be Irish but its predecsesor was quite likely to be Welsh," added Mr ap Dafydd.

"And the house from where this was served can be translated as black wine from the Welsh language which would certainly be in keeping with Guinness."

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