House of Guinness opens in Dublin in 1868, on the solemn funeral day of Sir Benjamin Guinness — the man who laid the foundation for the Guinness beer empire, turning St. James’s Gate into an international symbol. The family estate trembles beneath the weight of tolling bells, reverence, and dignity, yet it is clouded by the heavy smoke of power and responsibility. When the will is revealed, an invisible verdict emerges: the division of power will be anything but ordinary.
At the reading of the will, Sir Benjamin entrusts the management of the famed brewery to his two sons — Arthur and Edward — on the condition that they run the business together. Meanwhile, Anne and Ben — the other two children — are pushed to the margins of the legacy, excluded from the greater responsibilities borne by their brothers. This decision sparks a series of hidden conflicts within the family: greed, honor, sibling rivalry, and the pain of abandonment.
Arthur Guinness — the central figure burdened with a double responsibility — is hard-edged and ambitious, forever feeling cornered by the demands of power. Edward, in contrast, is gentle, impressionable, and determined to prove he is more than a shadow. Anne Plunket (née Guinness) and Ben Guinness, though denied great authority, hold the family’s deepest secrets: buried emotions, hidden business assets, and decisions long kept in silence. Outsiders — factory workers, satellite managers, and the enigmatic Sean Rafferty — also play pivotal roles in this dangerous game of power.
Dublin in the 1860s is a city on fire: political unrest, religious divides, the clash of old traditions against modernity, and a restless working class demanding rights. These tensions are not merely backdrop but penetrate every choice the Guinness heirs must make: should they expand into New York as a bold leap forward, or is it a reckless gamble that risks the family’s very soul? Balancing business expansion with the preservation of reputation and legacy places them on the razor’s edge between progress and betrayal.
Arthur and Edward are bound not just to co-manage but to shoulder responsibility together, their hearts and work chained by the will. Cooperation is necessary, but partnership forged in suspicion and envy is never easy. Anne and Ben, carrying regret and wounded pride, witness fairness slipping away — forcing them to find their own paths: to endure, to defend their honor, or to resist in silence. The arrival of figures like Sean Rafferty ignites buried business secrets and dark alliances, challenging the empire not only from within but from outside forces as well.
As night after night drags on, the Guinness family faces an unspoken question: if success comes at the cost of kinship and honor, what is truly left behind? House of Guinness closes its opening chapter under the crushing weight of power, the shadow of the will, and the image of Sir Benjamin’s heirs — suspended between personal ambition and responsibility to legacy. Yet within the chaos flickers a fragile hope: that love, honesty, and courage might preserve the Guinness name not only as a tale in history books but as a legacy imbued with humanity.