Mike walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in he back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn.  When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.
    The bartender asks him, "You know , a pint goes flat after I draw it; it would taste better if you bought one at a time."     Mike replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers.  One is in America, the other in Australia, and
I'm here in Dublin.  When we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together."     Mike becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way: He orders three pints and drinks them in turn.     One day, he comes in and orders only two pints.  All the other regulars notice and fall silent.
    When Mike comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "Please let me offer my condolences on your great loss."
    Mike looks confused for a moment, then a light dawns in his eye and he laughs.  "Oh, no," he says  "everyone's fine. I've just quit drinking."

* A joke heard  in many a pub and retold by John Hickey in the book "Irish - Wit & Wisdom" 1998.