Is House of Guinness based on a true story? What's real (and what isn't) on Netflix's stout-soake...

The historical drama about Dublin's Guinness dynasty comes from &34;Peaky Blinders&34; creator Steven Knight. Is House of Guinness based on a true story? What's

The historical drama about Dublin's Guinness dynasty comes from "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight.

Is House of Guinness based on a true story? What's real (and what isn't) on Netflix's stout-soaked series

The historical drama about Dublin's Guinness dynasty comes from "Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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September 25, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

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'House of Guinness' on Netflix. Credit:

courtesy netflix

- *House of Guinness*, from *Peaky Blinders* creator Steven Knight, follows the Guinness dynasty in 1860s Dublin.

- The series is based on the real-life family drama, business dealings, and political tumult of the Guinness clan.

- Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, Fionn O'Shea, and Jack Gleeson lead the cast.

Some beers you chug. Others you savor. Guinness is one of the latter.

First brewed and sold in Dublin by Arthur Guinness in the 18th century, the dark, creamy stout went on to become a fixture of Irish culture, something of a calling card for the country. And the Guinness family made a mark well outside the brewery, with subsequent generations branching into politics, banking, land development, and more.

But, as with any dynasty, an undercurrent of darkness pulses beneath that rich history. That underbelly will be on full display on *House of Guinness*, a Netflix series about the Guinness family from *Peaky Blinders* creator Steven Knight. Early critics have compared it to HBO's *Succession*, as it aims to explore the complex dynamics that emerge when family, business, and politics intertwine.

But while it's based on real people, is the story itself one of fact? With the historical drama now streaming, we answer that question below.**

What is House of Guinness about?

'House of Guinness' on Netflix.

courtesy netflix

*House of Guinness* begins in 1868, just after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, Arthur's grandson and the business savant who helped grow the brewery into a global phenomenon via export trade, becoming very, very rich in the process.

Per a logline, the series explores "the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur (Anthony Boyle), Edward (Louis Partridge), Anne (Emily Fairn), and Benjamin Jr. (Fionn O'Shea), as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness."

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"They were all so young, and their father left them both huge responsibility and a huge legacy," said Ivana Lowell, a descendant of the Guinness family who serves as an executive producer on the series, in a chat with the BBC. "Each was forced to find a path."**** As his children reckon with the loss of their father, the future of the business, and their personal demons, they must also navigate the political tumult of the era. The Guinnesses, after all, were among the targets of the Fenians, revolutionaries desiring Irish independence and the toppling of the Protestant Ascendancy, of which the Guinnesses were a part.

Is House of Guinness based on a true story?

'House of Guinness' on Netflix.

courtesy netflix

Yes, *House of Guinness* is based on the real-life history of the Guinness family, though, as is true of many dramatizations, certain liberties have been taken.

Lowell, the Guinness descendant who dreamt up the idea for the series, was inspired to pursue the project after watching (and being disappointed by) the popular historical drama, *Downton Abbey*. "Our family history was a lot juicier and more interesting than this – plus it was all true," she told the BBC.

Knight has also acknowledged that much of the Guinness family history sounds too fanciful to be true. He pointed to the late Benjamin's will specifying that his sons Arthur and Edward, opposite in temperament, must run the brewery together or forfeit their sizable inheritance, an act that sets the series' events in motion.

"If you were writing fiction," Knight told *GQ*, "you'd invent that, and people would say, 'Really?' But this is real."

Speaking with Netflix's Tudum, however, Knight discussed how the intimate details of real-life figures will always be something of a mystery. "There's no Facebook, no Instagram pages," he said. "What I had to do is take things that these family members did, things that they said, achievements they made, mistakes that they made, and use them as stepping stones. Then I had to fill in the gaps myself."

The biggest liberty the writers took was creating an entirely fictional character, Sean Rafferty, played by James Norton. A loyal foreman at the brewery who doubles as a "fixer" for the family, Rafferty offers audiences entry into the dark underbelly of the Guinness business and the family's less-savory efforts at exerting power.

That darkness, Lowell told the BBC, was important to the story's authenticity, as she wanted to avoid any "fluffy nonsense."**

Who owns Guinness now?

Jack Gleeson on 'House of Guinness'.

courtesy netflix

The Guinness family hasn't owned the brand since 1997, when it merged with Grand Metropolitan, a British food and drink conglomerate. Their merger resulted in a new company, Diageo, which is now the parent company of Guinness.**

Where can I watch House of Guinness?

James Norton as Sam Rafferty on 'House of Guinness'.

courtesy netflix

All eight episodes of *House of Guinness* are available to stream on Netflix.

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