House of Guinness is a 2025 historical drama series streaming on Netflix, created by Steven Knight, the same man behind other British period shows like Peaky Blinders and A Thousand Blows. The eight-part show is centered around the Irish family who built an empire out of their distillery, which is still one of the leading beer manufacturers in the world. With plenty of intense drama and a convincing historical setting, House of Guinness makes for a fairly entertaining watch, although it does not necessarily live up to the high standards of Knight’s previous work.
Spoiler Alert
What is Netflix’s TV Show about?
House of Guinness begins on the 27th of May, 1868, in the Irish capital of Dublin, where an angry mob gathers outside the gates of the Guinness distillery and bottling factory on the day of the funeral of Sir Benjamin Guinness. Although Sir Benjamin had been loved and respected by many because of his contributions in making Guinness a global company and taking Irish beer to all the British colonies, he had made his fair share of enemies as well, many of whom had gathered in front of the factory gates. Supporters of the temperance movement considered the man to be the embodiment of Satan himself because of his decision to build a business empire on the backs of people’s alcoholism, and they now remain intent on not letting his coffin be carried out of the factory.
In a nearby neighborhood, a different set of enemies awaits the funeral procession, as the Fenians are also unwilling to let Benjamin Guinness have a normal and respectful funeral. A revolutionary group aimed at securing the independence of Ireland from the colonial grasp of the British, the Fenians were naturally opposed to the Guinness family, who supported the British rulers in every possible manner. Besides, the Guinnesses were Protestants, as opposed to the Fenians and the majority of Irish population, who were Catholics, and so the two sides were bound to be enemies. Thus, when the funeral procession passes through the streets of Dublin, a group of Fenians, led by a local goon, Patrick Cochrane, descends upon it with weapons of all kinds. However, the Guinness family had been prepared for such a public reception, since they had known about their many enemies and had appointed the foreman of the factory, Sean Rafferty, to deal with the matter. It is because of Rafferty’s effective planning, by making the factory workers carry weapons of their own, that the funeral procession safely reaches its destination, and the ceremony can begin in time. But the death of Sir Benjamin has naturally left a void in the family, and particularly in the business, which his four adult children are expected to fill. However, when his will is finally read, it leaves only two of the four in control of the business, and all four of them disheartened.
Arthur Guinness, the eldest son, had never wanted any role in the business, but his father’s will states that he will have to forfeit his share of the family wealth as well if he chooses to not become the joint director of the Guinness distillery business. Second son Edward had been eyeing the whole business for himself, and so he too is let down upon learning that he will only be a joint owner and director, alongside Arthur. The only sister among the siblings, Anne, is left no share in the business, much to her disappointment, and can only access the family properties if her brothers allow her to. Lastly, the youngest son, Benjamin, feels that he has been cheated and robbed of his true inheritance, as his father leaves him nothing other than a meager monthly allowance because of his extreme alcoholism and drug abuse. Thus begins the struggle of the Guinness siblings to not just find peace in their respective roles, but also deal with the consequences of these new developments on their respective personal lives.
How does Anne’s journey to Ashford Castle change her life?
Anne is obviously granted permission by her brothers to visit as many properties owned by the family as she wants, and she is also given the responsibility of overseeing the philanthropic activities of the family business. During one such visit to Ashford Castle in Galway County, Anne experiences a sudden shooting pain in her body, and she even starts to bleed from her abdomen. As she forces her carriage to stop and gets herself checked by a local medical practitioner, she is told that she has just lost a baby, which she had been carrying in her womb for the last two months. Anne had been completely unaware of the fact that she was pregnant, and perhaps the accidental death of the fetus saved her a lot of shame and misery, since she had gotten pregnant from an intense night with the foreman, Rafferty, outside of her marriage with Reverend William Plunket. But the painful experience strikes a chord in Anne’s heart, making her much more emotionally sensitive and attentive to the miseries of people around her, and her carriage happens to pass through a small village called Cloonboo. The aristocratic families in the country generally avoid Cloonboo as much as possible, or ride fast through the village with a few extra men for further protection, owing to the violent nature of the residents, who try to attack their carriages. Anne is also initially scared and confused about the villagers and their extremely aggressive nature, but later learns more about their history through the medical practitioner named Sultan.
The villagers at Cloonboo had been subjected to a horrific and brutal drought some years ago, which had seemingly been caused by the British rulers, since they did not like the villagers because of their Irish nationalist sentiments. Some of Sultan’s own family members passed away during this extreme food shortage, and they were then also evicted from their homes by the landowner, who had been appointed by the Guinness family themselves, and this move had also been facilitated by the British rulers. They were the ones who had wanted to punish the villagers for refusing to bow down to their rule, and the Guinness family had helped in carrying out their orders as well.
Learning about this history makes Anne realize how her own family had partaken in the oppression of Irish people, and she wanted to make amends in her own way. Thus, she focuses more on her philanthropic responsibilities and recruits more women of the family to work for the poor and the helpless. When she finds an equally invested partner later on in Edward’s wife, Adelaide Guinness, the two women come up with a plan to eradicate the slums in Dublin and build apartment complexes in their place, ensuring that the slum-dwellers can finally live a safe and respectful life. Despite having once been involved in systemic oppression and even continuing to have similar involvements in some aspects, the Guinness family, led by Anne, also brings about a lot of important changes to the city.
Why is Arthur dragged to court following his election win?
Arthur Guinness decides to fulfill his father’s ambitions of the family entering the realm of politics, as he too has ambitions of becoming a Member of Parliament. He even uses his family’s popularity and influence to win the election in 1868, or so it initially seems, until a grand conspiracy is found to have been executed by Arthur’s men. In reality, he had made an extensive plan to essentially buy votes and had managed to keep the matter a secret for the first few months after the election as well. His men had spread the word among the lower classes of society that anybody voting for Sir Arthur Guinness would be handed a used railway ticket at the election booth after casting their vote. If they were to take this ticket to a specific library, then they would be secretly paid 5 pounds for their efforts, obviously out of the candidate’s pocket.
Edward himself finds out about this extremely illegal scheme and confronts Arthur about it as well, but the latter takes the matter lightly. However, the authorities find out, and Arthur is soon dragged to court over the matter, after his win in the election is voided. By the end of the trial, all the charges of corruption and conspiracy are proven true, meaning that the election is officially considered to have been rigged. It is only because of his family’s influence, and possibly a bit of a bribe, that Arthur avoids being imprisoned, as no direct link between him and the men who had carried out the act can be found. Thus, the blame for the corruption is ultimately pinned on his election agent, and Arthur walks away scot-free.
Why does Edward try to make peace with the Fenians?
Edward Guinness initially starts to reach out to the Fenians and make some sort of arrangement with the group of rebels, despite them being passionate haters of the family and their business. He realizes very quickly that approaching Patrick Cochrane is out of the question, because of the man’s haughty and aggressive nature, and picks his sister, Ellen, as the more ideal candidate for talks. The historic enmity between the Guinness family and the Fenians is what drives Edward to make these attempts at peace, especially with regard to their respective associations. Because of their friendly relations with the British government, Dubliners consider the Guinness family to be solely interested in helping their British rulers.
The whole matter has a religious angle to it as well, since the Irish are predominantly Catholics, and they do not want the Protestant English royalty to rule over them. The Guinness family happens to be Protestant as well, which makes them an even bigger enemy to Irish nationalists like the Fenians. However, the Guinness family, at least under Edward, do not want to be identified as Protestants who only help the British rulers, they also want to embrace their Catholic Irish roots. Edward wants the family and their business to be perceived as a bridge between the Catholics and the Protestants, as a sort of representative of all Irish people, irrespective of religion.
Firstly, such a step would obviously save the family a lot of trouble, and more importantly, it would be beneficial for their business. The Fenians proudly only drink Guinness that has been stolen from the distillery, meaning that there is a significant portion of Dublin that regularly drinks the beer without the Guinness family earning a penny. Thus, Edward sets out to try and make peace with the Fenians, believing that this is the first and most necessary step in the global expansion that he has been planning.
Why did the expansion to the USA turn out to be a risky move?
Edward’s plan of introducing Guinness to the American market gets a massive boost when a young man named Byron Hughes walks into his office one day. Byron happens to be a distant half cousin of Edward, whose mother was a Guinness, but his father had been a member of the Fenians. Byron agrees to take bottles of Guinness to America and oversee the company’s sales in the country after introducing the product in the market, and he openly talks about his plan of taking help from the Fenians living abroad. Most of the Irish people living in the United States of America had emigrated out of their homeland to escape the oppressive British rule, meaning that they were either members or supporters of the Fenians as well.
Edward had always known this, and so he had been looking to make amends with the Fenians in Dublin in order to appease those living in the USA as well, but he can avoid all that hassle with the introduction of Byron, who already has a link with the rebel group. The first few months of Byron’s time in New York bring immense success to the Guinness company, as he manages to introduce the product to customers and sellers alike. Soon, humongous metal casks filled with Guinness beers are shipped from Dublin to New York, and Edward’s plan of expanding to the USA succeeds. However, Byron eventually makes an unexpected deal with the Fenians in order to further increase the sales, and this new agreement has Guinness pay a small amount of money to fund the Irish revolution out of the sale of every bottle of beer. Information about this deal reaches the British authorities in Ireland as well, and they are naturally irked by the family’s sudden change in loyalties. As a direct consequence of this deal, Edward and Arthur even receive a bullet with the family name engraved on it, sent by either the British or the Irish, both of whom they have managed to anger with the reckless deal.
Why Does Reverend Henry Guinness Try To Sabotage His Nephew’s Life?
Just like in any story about internal politics in families, House of Guinness also features a jealous family member trying to sabotage the protagonist’s life, and this member happens to be Edward and Arthur’s uncle, Reverend Henry Guinness. Despite being a religious man with his own church, Henry had wanted to claim parts of his brother’s wealth and therefore had felt left out when there was no mention of him in the will. In the following years, Henry wants to exercise his control over his nephews, for both financial and social power, but is turned away by them in every instance. This makes the elderly man already vindictive against his nephews, and when he learns about Arthur’s homosexuality, baseless thoughts of protecting the family’s image and status make him act out. Thus, Henry gets in touch with an old lover of Arthur, Patrick, and pays the man to return to his nephew’s life. The reverend then arranges for Patrick to bring Arthur to a secret gay party, which would be interrupted by a police raid. Henry’s plan is to get Arthur arrested by the police and locked away for 20 years for the crime of sodomy, as this would make it easier for him to take a more direct role in the running of the business. However, Patrick ultimately helps Arthur escape the raid and tells him about the whole conspiracy, leading to Arthur sending Rafferty to confront Henry and beat him up. This is a strong enough message for Henry to not mess with his nephews again, and the man does not appear in House of Guinness season 1 after this point.
What happens to each of the Guinness siblings?
In House of Guinness’ ending, the youngest Guinness sibling, Benjamin, has finally acknowledged his feelings for Christine, the young woman who had been romantically pursuing him for years now. He has also seemingly gotten his alcoholism slightly under control, this time letting his love for Christine overpower every other addiction. However, Benjamin is already married by the time he decides to acknowledge his feelings, but Christine does not mind this at all, and she agrees to be an official mistress of the Guinness family.
Anne Plunkett maintains her loveless marriage with William Plunkett and even gives birth to his children. Her physical health deteriorates with time, as she struggles to walk straight because of a degenerative illness, but she continues to be by the side of her brothers till the very end of the series. Anne also oversees the philanthropic activities of the company, putting a lot of focus on donations and charitable programs on behalf of the Guinness company.
Edward Guinness remains a joint director in the company, alongside his brother, Arthur, but he continues to be the more determined and dedicated of the two. Edward still has hopes of expanding the business even further across the world, and he also admits to still loving Ellen in the last private meeting that they have. However, Edward is now married to Adelaide, and therefore the prospect of his reunion with Ellen is extremely difficult, if not completely out of the question.
Arthur Guinness’ fate is left unclear at the end of House of Guinness, as we see Patrick Cochrane seemingly shoot him during a public speech before the elections in Dublin. But as Arthur being hit by the bullet is not shown, it is very possible that he survives the assassination attempt unscathed or with minor injuries. Whether Arthur will survive the attack and whether he will be elected a Member of Parliament will become clear only in the next season of House of Guinness, but if we are to refer to actual history, both of these events will actually come true.
