House of Guinness has sparked a furious backlash in Ireland just a day after it launched – with one real-life family member claiming bosses at the streaming giant ‘got it all wrong’.
The gritty period drama, starring James Norton, Anthony Boyle and Louis Partridge, tells the story of the legendary family behind the world-famous brewery, set against the backdrop of 19th-century Dublin and New York.
However, the saga – which Netflix explains in the opening is ‘inspired by true stories’ – has come under fire in Ireland for its ‘cliched’ portrayal of the country’s history, ‘jarring’ attempts by British actors at an Irish accent, and an ‘invented’ gay storyline.
The show has accompanied its period drama setting with a modern soundtrack, including Irish punk band Fontaines D.C and controversial Irish rappers Kneecap, whose Glastonbury performance was not streamed live by the BBC after one of the members was charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has denied the charge and it has since been thrown out following a technical error in the way the charge was brought.
Even one of the family’s descendants, writer Molly Guinness, said she felt a ‘righteous’ fury while watching the show and was left in disbelief at how bosses had chosen to portray her late ancestors.
Writing in The Times, Molly said she grew ‘more and more indignant’ while watching the show, which she said turned ‘my great-great grandfather Edward and his brother Arthur… into knaves and fools’.
She said the show’s portrayal of Sir Benjamin implied he was cruel to his children, but, in reality, he was a ‘loving father’.
The writer, who grew up in Wiltshire, also alleged that Arthur’s ‘gay exploits’ had been ‘invented’, while the love stories of Anne and Edward were ‘inappropriate’.
Netflix ‘s latest hit House Of Guinness has sparked furious backlash just days after it launched on the streaming giant – with one real-life family member claiming bosses ‘got it all wrong’. Anthony Boyle and Louis Partridge are pictured in the show
She added: ‘All the characters come straight from a bingo card of modern clichés around rich people.’
In Ireland, where the show is set, House Of Guinness has sparked controversy for its dramatised portrayal of Irish history – as well as the British actors’ accents.
Writers in the Irish Star said James Norton’s accent as Irishman Sean Rafferty was more similar to ‘Darby O’Gill’ than 1800s Dublin.
They said: ‘Five episodes in, there’s one thing that keeps pulling me away from the action – James Norton’s accent.
‘While he’s not the only English actor in the series, his accent is the most jarring.
‘As an Irish person whose job involves watching TV and movies, some attempts at Irish accents haunt my dreams – and not in a good way.’
Meanwhile Ed Power, reviewing in The Irish Times, said that show creator Steven Knight showed his ‘understanding of Ireland under colonialism is rudimentary’, and lamented that the show was filmed in Liverpool not the Emerald Isle.
Though it was supposed to be Netflix’s answer to Succession, he noted that there were ‘many negatives’ in the ‘wildly unfaithful retelling’, in which most of the Irish characters seemed ‘the same’.
Even one of the family’s descendants, writer Molly Guinness (pictured), said she felt a ‘righteous’ fury while watching the show
Power did, however, appreciate the show’s portrayal of a ‘Fenian’ riot in Dublin, and seeing Irish history told with an ‘epic budget’, but compared James Norton’s character to a ‘steampunk Mr Tayto’.
He added: ‘On one side are Dublin Metropolitan Police units with flint urban burrs, on the other ‘Fenians’ who dress and speak like feral leprechauns.
‘At no point in an eight-part series unfolding in a post-Act of Union Ireland do we encounter a single person with a British accent – which Americans might call burying the lede.’
Ann Marie Hourihane of the Irish Independent said the show was ‘thick and fast’ with cliches, dubbing it ‘boring and predictable’.
She said Jack Gleeson’s Byron Hughes is the ‘most vivid’ character in the show, while James Norton’s Dublin accent is ‘almost flawless’
But she took issue with ‘terrible lines’, describing it as going too hard on the swearing and the cliches.
‘For the most part, House of Guinness is a shocker,’ she wrote, again in a largely scathing review.
‘Who knows if the Guinnesses made a pact with Fenians in order to break the American market? Surely the Fenians were making plans to invade Canada in the 1860s – and you can guess how well that turned out.’
Critics in Ireland said James Norton’s accent was ‘jarring’, while another called him ‘steampunk Mr Tayto’
The Irish Examiner, meanwhile, said the Netflix show was ‘all pour, no pint’.
Reviewer Pat Fitzpatrick added: ‘If it’s pitched as a cross between Succession and Peaky Blinders, then it lacks the comedy of the former and the jeopardy of the latter.’
He concluded that it is: ‘Opulent and dramatic, beefed up with explosions and music by Fontaines DC and Kneecap. All the boxes are ticked. Except the one marked entertainment.’
House Of Guinness, which launched on September 25, is the first Netflix title to have Irish subtitles.
The series opens with the death of their formidable patriarch, brewing mogul Sir Benjamin Guinness, leaving his heirs – Arthur, Edward, Anne and Ben – to shoulder the weight of legacy, family rivalries and personal demons – all against the backdrop of an Ireland poised on the brink of revolution.
Inspired by real history but told with dramatic licence, the saga follows the siblings as they attempt to cement their family’s name while navigating political turmoil, complex relationships and the looming threat of retribution.
Despite growing backlash, it has received mainly positive reviews, such as four stars from The Daily Mail’s Roland White, who called it a ‘fast-moving opener’ with ‘simmering family tensions’.
Jack Seale of The Guardian awarded it a full five stars, saying it had ‘smarts, heart and serious sex appeal’ and ‘Knight has never made a better show than this’.
Negative reactions have continued on social media, with people criticising the use of a modern soundtrack
The Times‘ James Jackson said the series was ‘never dull’, with ‘flavourings’ of Downton Abbey and Succession making it a ‘rip-roaring’ family saga – again dubbing it a four-star performance.
But on social media, negative reactions have continued.
Darren Mooney, who is from Dublin, said: ‘Oh, we can talk about House of Guinness now. I hated it. Hated it. I hated it so much.
‘It’s Peaky Blinders without the specificity meeting “Succession” without any moral insight. A trashy soap opera love letter to benign benevolent billionaire corporate overlords. It sucks.
‘I cannot get over how badly House of Guinness wants to be Succession, but Succession if the billionaires were slightly dysfunctional but ultimately decent people who cared for you plebs, which they do.
‘It’s such a strange, strange choice.’
Adam Pollock took issue with the modern soundtrack used, writing: ‘Started watching House of Guinness this evening.
‘Incredibly jarring to hear Kneecap rapping about a political party that won’t exist for another century, in what is now a different country, while watching a scene of mid-19th-century Dublin. Just bizarre.’
Fionn O’Shea, Louis Partridge, Anthony Boyle and Emily Fairn in Netflix’s House Of Guinness
Kneecap’s Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was accused of showing a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November.
Speaking of Bob Vylan and Kneecap following Glastonbury this year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: ‘There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.
‘I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence.’
Meanwhile a BBC spokesperson said of Kneecap: ‘We have made an on-demand version of Kneecap’s performance available on iPlayer, as part of our online collection of more than 90 other sets.
‘We have edited it to ensure the content falls within the limits of artistic expression in line with our editorial guidelines and reflects the performance from Glastonbury’s West Holts stage.
‘As with all content which includes strong language, this is signposted with appropriate warnings.
‘As we have said before, acts are booked by the festival, and the BBC doesn’t ban artists. We didn’t stream Kneecap live.’
House Of Guinness is available to stream now on Netflix.
