"Our gig was we would set everything up for the guy on shift on New Year's Eve to change and put a temporary sign up for the painters in the first week back in the new year, so they could set up ladders and hand-paint the sign for the full year,"
"We'd have the likes of guards going by, the ambulance service might be going by. It's a good auld crowd, it's a great atmosphere and the street comes to a standstill,"
"They'd prep it leading up to the Christmas, so they'd be stripping back the old numbers, but there was also a sign involved, just temporarily put in place until the new year so the lads could permanently paint in the new year,"
A year sign at Dublin's St James's Gate next to a 1759 plaque is changed annually from 2025 to 2026. Two local carpenters, Robbie Minto and Eoghan Kelly, have performed the change each year since 2008. The role historically used ladders and left a blank temporary sign for painters to hand-paint after the new year. The current method uses a cherrypicker to reach the sign. Dubliners gather on New Year's Eve to watch the change, creating a festive atmosphere. The practice is described as one of the last fading on-site traditions at the brewery.
Read at Irish Independent
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