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3rd October 2025
09:55am BST
lovindublin
As could be expected, House of Guinness has rocketed to the top of Netflix's TV streaming chart in Ireland.
On top of this success, the reviews of the series have been mostly glowing. We here at JOE called "lively and spirited", adding: "Watching House of Guinness is like getting a crash course about Ireland’s past from a history buff in a pub who has already sunk a few pints of the black stuff."
Other critics seem to have reacted similarly, with the show currently holding an impressive 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Each episode of House of Guinness opens with the onscreen text: "This fiction is inspired by true stories", a message that has left viewers wondering just how much of the series is based on truth.
In the press notes for the show, creator Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) says about this:
"I would say there are two forms of reality in this. One is being faithful to the truth of the characters, and I think it is very true to the characters. So here were a lot of human beings who really existed at this time they were members of the Guinness family, people who worked with them and for them.
"What I’ve tried to do is bring those characters to life as faithfully to the real thing as possible, because the real thing was so interesting and more interesting than I could ever invent, because reality always is so bonkers. So, I stayed true to the characters.
"In terms of the events, the chronology is pretty spot on. I’m picking stepping stones of actual events to leap between, and in the leaps between it are invention, and not just invention but speculation, maybe that happened, maybe that would have happened.
"So, it’s a mixture, but I hope that if those characters were alive now, they would recognise themselves."
For viewers curious about what is fact and what is fiction in House of Guinness, JOE has taken five of the show's biggest elements or events and researched how much basis they have in truth.
House of Guinness begins in 1868 with the death of Benjamin Guinness, the uber-wealthy patriarch of the Anglo-Irish family known for the world-famous alcoholic beverage.
In JOE's review of the drama, we noted that the series really comes to life with the reading of Benjamin's will that kicks off the second episode.
Indeed, creator Steven Knight told JOE at the red carpet Dublin premiere for the show that this moment was one of the things that drew him to the story in the first place.
"One morning in 1868, Benjamin Guinness’ will was read," Knight recounted. "It’s such a powerful moment, because he gave away the equivalent of hundreds of millions of pounds, castles, houses, lakes, land, and [yet] managed to make all four of his children unhappy, which is quite an achievement."
Going by the historical book Guinness: A Family Succession by Arthur Edward Guinness and Antonia Hart, this seems to be mostly true.
"The will was... remarkably unequal in its treatment of Sir Benjamin’s four grown-up children, but he seems to have taken the circumstances, preferences and foreseeable future of each into account," the book reads.
Indeed, the patriarch directed that the brewery be passed on to only two of his sons, Arthur (Anthony Boyle) and Edward (Louis Partridge).
"In order to keep the brewery capitalised, he specified that, if one brother wanted out or was declared bankrupt, then his share passed to the other," the book adds.
His other son, Lee (Fionn O'Shea) was ruled out of the brewery, perhaps because he had previously gotten himself into financial trouble. The same happened to Anne (Emily Fairn), due to women's roles in the workforce being limited at the time.
A major plot point in House of Guinness is Arthur Guinness having to hide his homosexuality, as same-sex sexual activity was illegal at the time (it was shockingly only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993, over a century after the events of the series).
In the series, Arthur is blackmailed over being gay and is forced to marry Lady Olivia Hedges-White (Danielle Galligan) to deflect suspicion and increase his social standing.
While there doesn't seem to be a lot of concrete evidence of the real-life Arthur Guinness being gay, it has long been suspected.
Another historical book, The Guinnesses by Joe Joyce, says he was "probably gay", citing his childless marriage to Hedges-White, which was "agreed in advance, would not involve sex".
It's worth noting, too, that House of Guinness was based on an idea by Ivana Lowell, a Guinness descendant.
On the topic of the series and Arthur's sexuality, she says in the press notes: "Really, it came down to Arthur and Edward. Arthur had come back from Eton and Oxford — he’d gone a bit 'fey'. There was that element, and of course, Arthur being gay, which wasn’t public knowledge and illegal at the time. But I knew about it from my family.
"I thought that would be a good storyline - for blackmail, and all sorts of angles."
As for the plotline about Arthur Guinness being caught up in a bribery and corruption scandal, this is also based on truth.
Joyce says in the book: "Arthur (later Lord Ardilaun) was an MP for Dublin but lost the seat because of bribery and corruption. While Arthur was personally cleared of blame, his party organisers were revealed to have bribed voters with crisp new £5 notes and a campaign of dirty tricks."
The relationship between the wealthy Anglo-Irish Guinness family and the Fenian movement, which sought an end to British rule in Ireland, is where the series seems to take most of its liberties.
Yes, there were definite tensions between the two factions because of their radically different standings in Irish society at the time. However, there is apparently no evidence of public disorder having broken out at Benjamin's funeral, contrary to the show.
Yes, Edward Guinness, though staunchly pro-union, was more open to discussions with Irish nationalists. Yet, the romantic relationship between Edward and Fenian revolutionary Ellen Cochrane (a fictional character, seemingly inspired by poet and activist Ellen O'Leary) is a dramatic invention for the series.
In contrast to the drama, it's also highly unlikely that the Guinnesses had anything to do with the Fenian Brotherhood based in the US.
Like Ellen Cochrane (Niamh McCormack) and her brother Patrick (Seamus O'Hara), the character of Sean Rafferty (played by James Norton, sporting a very impressive Dub accent), the foreman and shady fixer for the Guinness family, is a made-up creation.
Speaking about the blend of fictionalised and real-life characters in the show, Lowell called it "great", praising the creation of Rafferty.
She added: "Rafferty has to be the keeper of the keys - the guard. He’s powerful, and you need someone powerful to deal with everything: the family, the religious tensions, the brewery workers.
"He’s the glue that holds it all together."
One of the best scenes in House of Guinness sees Edward trying to pitch his brother Arthur on why they should adopt the symbol of Brian Boru's harp as the trademark logo for Guinness.
It will be a "symbol of all Ireland", Edward says, only for Arthur to respond, shocked: "Of Celtic Ireland, of Catholic Ireland..."
A quick visit to the Guinness Storehouse website will tell you that the harp symbol actually first appeared on a Guinness bottle label in 1862, six years before the Netflix drama starts, while Benjamin was still alive.
"As Guinness began to spread its reach across the globe in the 18th century, the company realised it needed a way to identify Guinness as an Irish beer and serve as a mark of its quality," the website notes.
"The harp device first featured on a Guinness bottle label in 1862 and has been synonymous with the brand ever since."
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