County Roscommon country's second highest Guinness hotspot

County Kerry is Ireland’s number one Guinness hotspot, a new study has revealed. However, County Roscommon has nabbed the second spot.

Irish marketing agency Baldwin Digital analysed data from the Guinness pub finder to reveal the number of pubs serving Guinness on draught in each county. These figures were compared with population data from the Central Statistics Office to determine which areas have the highest number of pubs serving Guinness on draught per 100,000 people. County-wide data was only available for the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland, while the Northern Ireland areas were ranked separately by local authority.

Kerry is Ireland’s top Guinness hotspot, with more pubs serving Guinness on draught per capita than any other county nationwide. Patrons can get a draught pint of Guinness in 343 pubs across Kerry, or 219 pubs per 100,000 people. The county also ranks top among Guinness 0.0% hotspots, home to 40 pubs with Guinness 0.0% cans for every 100,000 locals.

Roscommon and Leitrim rank second and third, with large concentrations of pubs serving Guinness compared to their populations. There are 214 pubs serving Guinness on draught for every 100,000 people in Roscommon, and 199 in Leitrim.

Mayo ranks fourth overall among Ireland’s Guinness hotspots. The county has 263 pubs which serve Guinness on draught, or 191 per 100,000 people.

Mark Baldwin, director and founder of Baldwin Digital Ltd, commented on the study, “With St Patrick’s Day approaching and Guinness sales soaring, it is interesting to see which areas of the country have the highest concentration of Guinness pubs.

“St. Patrick’s Day is well-known for its association to drinking culture, and pubs are important community hubs, especially in more rural areas. Ireland’s more rural counties rank higher in the study than urban centres, like Dublin.

“As the culture around drinking and health evolves, alcohol-free alternatives are becoming more widespread. Dublin ranks low for regular Guinness yet high for no-alcohol Guinness, suggesting that alcohol-free drinking may be more on trend in urban areas this year.”