The expert on country houses, Adrian Tinniswood, reveals the Guinness story through their properties. Extensive research and archived images chronicle the family’s place in a changing Ireland during the Ascendancy. As their wealth and status grew, so did their houses.
Beaumont House, their first country house, was inhabited by unmarried and widowed relatives who lived off Arthur Guinness II. A pious man, Arthur ended meetings with, “Let us pray ...” But others lived lavishly, letting their money do the talking. St Anne’s in Dublin had a Druidic circle made of basalt rocks from the Giant’s Causeway. The ballroom floor at Farmleigh was made from beer barrels, a symbol of pride in their legacy. Dinners at Iveagh House were so crowded that guests took it in turns to eat at the table. Elveden’s marble hall, inspired by the former owner, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, was so cold that Lady Fingall danced an Irish jig to keep warm.
Ashford Castle, perhaps the most memorable property, was the setting of violent opposition from tenants who rejected landlordism. In 1879 Ashford’s land agent, William Burke, was attacked by Margaret Noonan, who threw a bucket of boiling water in his face. Two bailiffs were murdered as they served eviction notices on 12 tenants.
The latter homes were a hotbed of scandal, and Tinniswood’s anecdotes sparkle. Diana Guinness (nee Mitford) was the chatelaine of Biddesden before eloping with fascist leader Oswald Mosley. Aileen Guinness, of Luttrellstown Castle, feuded with her decorator, Felix Harbord, who also worked for Maureen Guinness, at Clandeboye. Cecil Beaton sided with Harbord and wrote a letter to Aileen, signing it, “Yours never”. Likewise Kelvedon, the home of Honor Guinness and Chips Channon, was the scene of her affair with the gamekeeper – Channon nicknamed it “Heartbreak House”. Luggala hosted the writer Brendan Behan, who famously gave a drunken toast to Oonagh Guinness before collapsing on to the dinner table.
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Preservation was the driving force behind the properties, as demonstrated by Desmond and Mariga Guinness, who saved Castletown House in 1967. However, many houses were abandoned and demolished, others are hotels, and a few remain in the family today.
Tinniswood has created a tome of architectural brilliance, uncomfortable historical truths, and a complicated legacy of power and philanthropy.
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