The real history behind Netflix’s House of Guinness
8-9 minute read
By Ellie Ayton | September 15, 2025
Sibling rivalries. Political intrigue. A family tree – and a stout beer – that’s endured for centuries.
Billed as a Succession-esque historical drama, Netflix’s House of Guinness dives into the saga behind one of Ireland’s most famous dynasties – the Guinness family, who founded the Guinness Brewery way back in the mid-1700s.
Like a pint settled just right, the Guinness story balances bitterness and sweetness, heritage and change. But how much of this dramatic eight-episode series is grounded in fact? Were the Guinness siblings really as divided as the series suggests?
Let’s delve into the records and historical newspapers behind the Guinness family tree to find out...
What is House of Guinness about?
Created by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame, the series charts the iconic Guinness family after the death of their patriarch, and the sibling power struggles that followed.
The cast includes Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn and Fionn O’Shea as the four Guinness children, Arthur, Edward, Anne and Ben. Supporting them are James Norton (King & Conqueror), Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones), Dervla Kirwan (Smother) and Danielle Galligan (Shadow & Bone).
When was the Guinness Brewery founded?
The Guinness tale begins in the heart of Dublin, Ireland, back in the 18th century.
Arthur Guinness (1725-1803) purchased the St James’s Gate Brewery, Dublin in 1759 with a famously ambitious 9,000-year lease. It's been the home of the Guinness Brewery ever since. Just a few years earlier, in 1755, he’d dipped his toes into the brewing industry with the purchase of a smaller venture at Leixlip.
Arthur, described as ‘Arthur Guinness of Leixlip’, in the Dublin Gazette from 1756.
At first, the enterprise at St James’s Gate produced ale, but in 1778 Arthur began brewing porter: a darker, richer beer that quickly won over Dublin drinkers. It was just the start of a centuries-long relationship between Dublin, Guinness and the wider world.
The real story behind House of Guinness
Arthur’s grandson, Benjamin Lee Guinness (1798-1868), took over the family brewery in the 19th century, inheriting more than vats of stout and the smell of roasted barley in the air. He inherited a growing empire.
Benjamin wasn’t just a brewer; he was a civic figure. He funded the restoration of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and was remembered as both a shrewd businessman and a generous benefactor. Under his watchful eye, the Guinness harp motif was first adopted in 1862.
An obituary for Benjamin in the Cork Constitution, 25 May 1868.
When he died in 1868, Benjamin's passing was marked across Ireland and Britain. His will left behind one of the largest fortunes Ireland had ever seen, proof of just how far Guinness had come since its inception a hundred years earlier.
Benjamin’s estate described in the Chelmsford Chronicle, 7 August 1868.
From the newspapers, we learn who was left what in Benjamin’s will at the start of House of Guinness. In the series, this is the spark that lights the tinder box.
Who inherited what of the vast Guinness family fortune, published in the Illustrated London News, 8 August 1868.
While Anne and Ben were left money and estates, it was Arthur and Edward who were jointly left the jewel in the crown: control of the brewery.
Who’s who in the Guinness family tree?
The Guinness family tree is one that goes back over two hundred years. Countless people have researched its history, and many of these hand drawn trees can be found in our family history records.
A snippet of a hand-drawn Guinness family tree, from Thrift Genealogical Abstracts. You can browse the full tree here.
The newspapers also break down the family tree for us, like this article from 1868.
A breakdown of Benjamin Guinness’s family tree, published in the Nenagh Guardian, 20 May 1868.
And we’ve built a more visual tree too, using Findmypast’s easy-to-use family tree builder, just in case you get lost amongst all the Arthurs and Benjamins.
The Guinness family tree, built on Findmypast.
Now, let’s look at the real historical figures that inspired the main characters in House of Guinness.
Arthur Guinness
Arthur Edward Guinness, later MP for the City of Dublin, was the eldest son of Benjamin Lee Guinness and his wife Elizabeth. Born in 1840, he succeeded his father as second Baronet Guinness of Ashford in 1868 and later became 1st Baron Ardilaun.
Arthur Edward Guinness, in the Illustrated London News, 27 March 1875.
Outside of the Guinness brewery, Arthur became a Conservative MP twice. He was a landlord of various estates and a generous philanthropist. He is perhaps best known for landscaping the park of St Stephen’s Green, which he made available to the public in 1880.
A photograph of Arthur Guinness, Lord Ardilaun, pictured in The Graphic, 21 April 1900.
He married Lady Olivia Hedges-White in 1871. By all accounts, they had a happy but childless marriage. When Arthur died in 1915, his title died with him. But it wasn’t this eldest son who firmly cemented Guinness as one of the most successful breweries of all time.
Edward Guinness
Edward Cecil Guinness (1847-1927) was the youngest of Benjamin’s children. By no means did he shy away from taking both the family and the brewery’s fortunes into a new age - he was arguably the boldest of Benjamin’s brood.
By age 29, Edward was the sole owner of the Dublin brewery, buying his brother Arthur’s shares for £600,000 in 1876. Earlier that year, he’d rushed to Arthur’s side when he fell ill in Germany.
Arthur falls ill, in the Enniscorthy News, 16 September 1876.
Following his illness, Arthur retired to live abroad for his health, giving up his ventures in Ireland, including the brewery at St James’s Gate.
Arthur retires, in the Tablet, 16 December 1876.
Over the next decade, Edward took the reins and vastly multiplied the value of the brewery, steering it into the late Victorian boom with a steady hand.
Edward Cecil Guinness, pictured in the Illustrated London News, 30 November 1889.
By 1886, he became the richest man in Ireland by floating Guinness shares on the London Stock Exchange. He retired as a multi-millionaire aged just 40.
Like his brother, Edward made charitable contributions, providing affordable housing in Dublin and London, donating money to medical research charities and founding the Guinness Trust. He also helped to finance Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition in 1907.
Edward married Adelaide Guinness, and they had three sons – Rupert, Ernest and Walter. He was made Earl of Iveagh in 1919. When he died in 1927, the value of his estate became a British record at around £13m (this translates to around £1 trillion in today's money).
Anne Guinness
Anne (1839–1889), only daughter of Benjamin Lee Guinness, carried the family’s philanthropic spirit into her own life. While her father restored St Patrick’s Cathedral, she turned to helping Dublin’s poor, founding St Patrick’s Nursing Home in 1876 as a training ground for Church of Ireland nurses.
An obituary for Anne in the Dublin Daily Express, 15 November 1889.
Married to William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket, with whom she had six children, Anne supported both charitable and educational causes until her death. She is commemorated in stained-glass windows at St Patrick’s, a lasting tribute to a life poured into compassion rather than stout.
Ben Guinness
The second son of the Guinness family was Benjamin Lee Guinness (1842-1900), named after his father. He took a different course to his brothers, entering the British Army and becoming a captain in the Royal Horse Guards.
He married Henrietta St Lawrence in 1881. They had three sons together: Algernon Arthur, Kenelm Edward and Nigel Digby. Two of them went on to become famous racing drivers in the 1920s.
Ben’s wife Henrietta, pictured in Lady of the House, 15 August 1893.
An article from the Evening News in 1889 describes him as:
"...a little dark-complexioned, slightly-built man... [who] spent a year or two in the Blues, but during the most of his service had the misfortune to be ruthlessly sent to Coventry by a section of his blue-blooded brother officers – probably because he was the son of a brewer. It was no uncommon experience for Mr Guinness to find the furniture of his quarters smashed and thrown out of the window by his mocking comrades."
The article went on to describe an incident between Ben and a ‘patrician commissioned brother’.
Sneering remarks in the mess in the Evening News, 14 December 1889.
Ben died in 1900, leaving Henrietta a widowed mother of three boys.
Ben’s death was announced in the newspapers, like this one in the Dublin Daily Nation, 5 February 1900.
The story of Guinness and the eponymous family behind it is one that still captures our attention to this day, over two centuries since the brewery at St James’s Gate first opened in Dublin. Beyond Guinness being many people’s favourite beer, that’s quite a legacy to leave.
More than just brewers, the Guinness family became benefactors, politicians and philanthropists.
Ready to find secrets, scandals and sibling rivalries in your own family? Start your family tree quickly and easily now.
