Irish eyes will smile on Wednesday

People around the world will unite in celebration to recognise St Patrick's Day and honour Irish heritage on Wednesday.

Over 60 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, including the 4.1 million citizens of Ireland, but genealogy is forgotten at the door of pubs around the world. This cultural celebration has been enthusiastically shared and transformed for generations to form the widely accepted notion that everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day.

And on the heels of the global celebration of its 250th anniversary, Guinness, the world's most famous Irish stout, encourages adults around the world to forego green and raise a pint to make black and white their colours of choice on St Patrick's Day.

Much like St Patrick's Day, Guinness is steeped in Irish history and tradition and has become a symbolic representation of Irish culture. Last year, it engaged the world in celebrating 250 years of Irish tradition brewed in almost 50 countries and enjoyed daily in over 150 nations across the globe. In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the world-famous Dublin brewery at St James's Gate.

St Patrick's Day celebrations take shape everywhere and consist of festive parades in the US, Munich and Tokyo and the flocking of "honorary Irishmen" of Spain and Italy to their local Irish pub.