A painting made recently. I called it “First Sips” – Acrylic on paper. Who remembers their first sips of beer, or running round a pub like a maniac all hopped up on bottles of coke and bags of tayto?

26 comments

  1. I remember my mother buying me my “first beer” at the Stillorgan Park Hotel when I was 15.

    Little did she know it was my six-millionth beer.

  5. I had my first sip in Switzerland when I was six. I don’t remember the beer, probably “Feldschlösschen”. My God, that was some disgusting stuff.

    Still is, if anyone’s wondering. Thing is: it was not beer per se but Feldschlösschen, that was bad.

  6. I have memories of sitting at the bar age 5, by myself eating cheese and onion crisps, with a glass bottle of Coke. About 50cm above my head was a cloud of smoke. Couldn’t see the ceiling.

  7. I remember those days. With my da in the workers club, collecting beer mats and being unable to get my lips below the head of the pint.

    That’s a cracking painting. I’d definitely hang it up.

    Tell me – is Football Special still a thing? Brown soft drink that was kind of like cream soda flavored.

  9. Ah jaysus, this reminds me of me great grandfather picking me up from primary and stopping off at the pub next door before heading home.

  10. My first sip of beer was at the home of my quite elderly Gran Uncle and his sister in the real depths of West Cork. A small cottage with flag stone floors and open beams that I thought could fall on us at any second. Took about 2 hours to drive down there so I was beyond bored.

    My Gran Uncle cracked open a small bottle of Guinness, probably something like foreign extra or the Guinness Original you can get today. I remember it being warm, super fizzy but actually quite nice.

    A bit after that we all went outside to hear the double boom of what was probably the 17:30 concorde flight on its way to JFK as it went supersonic just off the Cork coast.

  13. And not being able to see more than 4ft in front of you because of all the smoke inside! All the family and friends, most whose names you weren’t old enough to know yet. Beer mat pyramids. Auld lads telling you to go in behind the bar to try pull a pint while the barman was gone out back for a minute. Then all the laughs when you were inevitably caught. Many a night spent in the pub when I was that size. The Tayto’s were in seemingly endless supply. My God what fond memories they are now.

  14. OP you are a genius, I love it. Even though I never drank before in my life there something about it thats so Irish, and seems like a rite of passage for many. Well done !!!

  18. OMG this! I used to get a coke and steal the head of my dad’s Guinness so it looked one too!

    Not Tayto though.. KP Dry Roasted Peanuts!

  20. I remember ruining my olds man’s pints by sticking my finger in it and making a “mountain range”.

    I’d commission that painting if I could.

  22. Ah yes, running around like a madman through the smokey haze with a bag of bacon fries in one hand and dry roasted in the other. Good times.

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