"An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold on to one
blade of grass and not fall from the face of the earth."
--Irish Proverb

Aside from an exquisite array of Whisky, Ireland has given the world the gift of Guinness Stout and Harp Lager, for which beer drinkers around the world will be forever thankful. Ireland exports a higher percentage of its beer than any other European country. It's no secret that the peoples of the Emerald Isle are big drinkers; in fact they are consistently among the top three countries that consume the most amount of alcohol per capita in the world. Stereotypes aside, the Irish have good reason to be such lusty drinkers. Irish pubs are of course widely famous for their good cheer and fine Irish fare, and are globally ubiquitous, even found in such unlikely and far off locales as Asia and Africa. The priest responsible for introducing Christianity to Ireland, later known as St. Patrick, was reputed to have his own personal brewer. Famous literary Irishmen partial to strong drink included James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, and Oscar Wilde.