Arthur Guinness: The Man Behind the World’s Most Famous Beer

Ireland is famous for being the home of many talented people, from poets and authors to actors and even inventors. One of Ireland’s greatest-ever inventors is a man that most Irish people will already know; he is, of course, Arthur Guinness.  

If you’re unsure who Arthur Guinness is, he only happens to be the man who created one of Ireland’s biggest exports: the iconic Guinness beer, after he founded the Guinness brewery in 1755.

Guinness has become one of the most popular beers in the world and one of Ireland’s most recognised symbols. It has also become a huge tourist attraction for Ireland, as many come from all over to enjoy a pint of Guinness in their home country and visit the Guinness Storehouse, where it all began.

The story of Arthur Guinness is genuinely fascinating and worth exploring. Please keep reading to learn how he began the Guinness empire that quickly took over the world. If anything, Ireland owes a lot to Arthur Guinness for putting the country on the world map.

Arthur Guinness and His Beginnings

It’s believed that Arthur Guinness was born on 24 September 1925 in County Kildare at his mother’s home to the privileged Guinness family. Although there are no official documents to back this up, the Guinness estate chose this date to help end speculation on Arthur’s birthdate.

He was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Guinness, the children of Catholic tenant farmers in Kildare and Dublin. DNA testing at Trinity College revealed that Arthur Guinness was a descendant of the Magennis chieftains from County Down.

£100 that helped create the Guinness Brewery

When he was a young Irish man in his late 20s, Guinness’s Godfather, ‘Arthur Pirce’, the Archbishop of the Church of Ireland, left £100 each to him and his father Richard in 1952.

100 euros back then in Ireland was the equivalent of four years of wages, which was remarkable. The money allowed Arthur Guinness to set up his brewery in Leixlip, County Kildare, in 1755. The brewery was a quick success, and he bought a longer lease in 1756 close by as a further investment.

The Big Move to Dublin

Arthur Guinness continued to find success with his brewery business in Kildare but had always had his sights set on moving to the Irish capital, Dublin. So, at 34, Arthur chose to gamble his luck and bravely moved to Dublin, signing a lease for St. James Gate Brewery in the city.

This was when he began to make history with the Guinness Brewery, which would unknowingly, at the time, become one of Ireland’s greatest brands. He took out an incredibly 9000-year lease on the brewery, costing £45 a year. The brewery was small: only four acres in size, it was in disuse, and there was little brewing equipment available.

Arthur Guinness took it all in his stride. Despite the potential downfall, he believed in himself and his brewery. Soon, he had a thriving trade in Dublin but saw more opportunities in 1769 when he started exporting his beer to England.

The Success of Porter Beer for Arthur Guinness

At St.James Gate, he first began brewing Ale, but in the 1770s, Arthur experimented with various brewing styles, such as Porter, a new English Beer created in London in 1722. This offered something very different from ‘Ale’, giving the beer an intense dark colour. This would later become the legendary image of Guinness in Ireland and around the world.

By 1799, Arthur chose to just focus on brewing only ‘Porter’ due to its quick success and popularity.

He would brew a variety of Porter’s to suit different tastes, including a unique export beer known as ‘West India Porter’. Even today, it’s still one of the beers brewed at the Guinness factory, called ‘Guinness Foreign Extra Strout.’

Remarkably, 45% of all Guinness sales worldwide come from this special porter beer, which is most popular in the Caribbean and Africa.

Arthur Guinness’ Death and How He Impacted Ireland

Sadly, Arthur Guinness passed away in 1803, but he had made an incredible career in the brewing business, and Guinness became a successful export trader.

In the decades following, his famous beer travelled worldwide and was brewed in over 49 countries. The success in America was incredible, as around one pint of Guinness is believed to be poured every seven seconds. It’s pretty impressive for a man who started his brewing business in a small part of Ireland.

Arthur Guinness was undoubtedly a brilliant businessman and Irish brewer, but he was also recognised for helping change Ireland’s drinking society. Arthur believed liquors like gin had an awful effect on the lower-class society in Ireland.

He wanted to ensure that everyone, regardless of class or income, had access to high-quality beer. Arthur considered this a much healthier form of alcohol.

So, he began to support reducing beer taxes in Ireland, along with Irish Politician Henry Grattan, who campaigned for this in the late 1700s.

A Good Man?

Arthur Guinness was rumoured to be a British Spy after criticising Irish nationalism during the 1789 Wolftone Rebellion.

But politics aside, he was recognised as a decent man through the ‘Arthur Guinness Fund’, which saw him donating to charities, trying to get better health care for the poorer Irish citizens and was a supporter of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1793

Long after his death, employees at the Guinness brewery received unique benefits like health care, pensions, and higher wages that were unique to anywhere else in the country during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Continued Success for Arthur

Arthur Guinness also had a successful marriage and family life with his Wife, Olivia Whitmore, whom he married in Dublin in 1761. They had 21 children together, but only ten made it into adulthood.  

He passed on his business to his son, Arthur Guinness II. As generations passed, the brewery business stayed in the family, going from father to son for five successive generations. The Guinness family became a world-renowned brewing dynasty.

The success of Guinness may have begun with Arthur Guinness, but it was kept alive by his family and those who loved the beer. It’s estimated that around 10 million glasses of Guinness are consumed worldwide. It’s also sold in over 150 countries worldwide, who simply can’t get enough of the famous Irish stout.

Most asked about questions around Guinness:

1. Do the Guinness Family Still Own Guinness?

The answer is yes. They still own around 51% of the Guinness business, but they did merge the company with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 for $24 billion. Lately, the two companies have been known as DIAGEO Plc.

2. How Much is the Guinness Family Worth?

It’s believed that the Guinness family is worth well over a billion, at around £ 1,047 billion. According to the Sunday Times Irish Rich List 2017, they are also considered the 13th wealthiest family in Ireland. One of Arthur Guinness’ descendants, Ned Guinness, inherited around £73 million of the Guinness shares in 1991.

3. Does Guinness Have a 9000-Year Lease?

Arthur Guinness purchased the 9,000-year-old lease on 31 December 1759 for £45 a year, meaning the beer is still brewed at the St. James Distillery in Dublin. The lease will expire in 10,759 AD, so until then, St. James Gate will be the famous home of the famous black stuff.

4. What Country Consumes the Most Guinness?

Around 40% of Guinness is consumed in Africa. In the late 2000s, Nigeria passed Ireland to become the second-largest market for Guinness consumption. Nigeria is one of the five Guinness-owned breweries worldwide.

But Great Britain is in first place because it consumes the most Guinness, followed by Ireland in third, Cameroon, and the US.

5. Is Guinness Better in Ireland?

A study undertaken in 2017 by Scientists from the Institute of Food Technologists found that most people think Guinness tastes better in Ireland. They interviewed people in 33 cities in 14 countries who concluded that Guinness doesn’t travel well. So yes, scientifically, Guinness is better in Ireland.

6. Best Place to Enjoy a Pint of Guinness?

Ireland, of course.  After all, it’s the birthplace of Guinness. A must-have experience is to take a guided tour around the Guinness Storehouse, fill yourself up on its marvellous history, and pour a pint of Guinness into the place where it was made.

Did you know the fantastic history of the Guinness Family? Where have you enjoyed the best pint of Guinness? Could you share with us in the comments below?

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