“Lose the ‘w’ but not the lot!”

Foreigners and nationals alike often mis-pronounce Diageo’s brand of ale as “SmithWicks”.

Pat Tynan has walked 30,00km in and around Kilkenny by now. The well-known (well-travelled?) tour guide celebrated 33 years in business last June which he began in 1982. Well-known to the locals in the town, Pat was showing us around the place, pointing out the landmarks and spreading a bit of local history on our uncultured brows as part of the Smithwick’s Experience tour recently.

In the town’s famous Kytlers Inn, he deferentially picked up a pint of Smithwicks, explaining to us that foreigners and nationals alike often mis-pronounced Diageo’s brand of ale as “SmithWicks” instead of the smoothly run-through “Smithwick’s”.

As he concluded, “You can drop the ‘w’ – but don’t drop the pint….”.