Being a Guinness has never been simple, as Ivana Lowell can attest. A proud descendant of the famed brewing dynasty, Lowell is now a co-creator of the captivating new Netflix drama, ‘House of Guinness.’
The Times of London aptly described the series as ‘Succession with beer and brutality.’ Starring James Norton and Louis Partridge, the show kicks off with the demise of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the 19th-century patriarch and Ireland’s wealthiest man, then follows his four children as they fiercely contend for command of the vast stout empire.
The inspiration for the series struck Ms. Lowell over a decade ago during Christmas holidays spent with her cousin, Desmond Guinness, the Anglo-Irish aesthete and son of a baron, at his ancient 12th-century castle in County Kildare.
From her London home, Ms. Lowell, 59, recalled, ‘I was at Leixlip with Desmond and a host of other Guinness relatives. We were idly watching ‘Downton Abbey,’ and it dawned on me, ‘Our family is infinitely more fascinating and eccentric!”
Upon returning to Sag Harbor, New York, Ms. Lowell penned a treatment detailing the story of the beer’s origins with its inventor, Arthur Guinness—’He’s the face on the bottle,’ she noted—and chronicling the family’s rise to power, culminating in Sir Benjamin’s ownership of Europe’s largest brewery.
It took six years for Ms. Lowell to join forces with Steven Knight, the brilliant mind behind ‘Peaky Blinders.’ Knight skillfully crafted a narrative that finally propelled ‘House of Guinness’ out of development hell and into full production.
Ms. Lowell shared, ‘Steve envisioned commencing the series with the reading of Benjamin’s will. Benjamin bequeaths the brewery and his entire fortune to his two sons, forcing them into a fierce struggle for control.’
Filmed against the gritty industrial landscapes of 19th-century Dublin (though actually shot in Northern England), a city embroiled in a fight for independence from British rule, ‘House of Guinness’ starkly contrasts with the refined period dramas it might initially evoke.
‘This isn’t your typical ‘Downton Abbey’; it’s raw and authentic,’ Ms. Lowell explained. ‘I’m naturally a bit apprehensive about the family’s reaction.’
However, her worries may be unfounded. The sprawling Guinness clan, renowned for attracting tabloid attention, possesses a keen awareness of their public persona. She added, ‘My family members are incredibly dramatic, eccentric, and possess a fantastic sense of humor. These are the tales I’ve grown up hearing. But it’s a drama, not a historical documentary, so Steven had the creative freedom to embellish.’
Steven Knight, in an email, noted how effortlessly the family’s history lent itself to storytelling: ‘I considered it an embarrassment of riches—though, thankfully, the Guinnesses themselves are not easily embarrassed.’
One particular fictional detail came straight from Ms. Lowell herself: ‘I specifically requested a charismatic foreman who frequently loses his shirt,’ she revealed, referring to the character played by Mr. Norton.
‘House of Guinness’ isn’t Ms. Lowell’s inaugural dive into her family’s past. Her 2010 memoir, ‘Why Not Say What Happened?,’ meticulously detailed the grim reality of her childhood in a dilapidated English manor, raised by parents and guardians whose neglect could only be described as monumental.
Lowell’s memoir reveals that at age six, she endured sexual abuse from her nanny’s husband. A severe kettle accident left her with third-degree burns and permanent scars. The man she believed to be her father, pianist Israel Citkowitz (Caroline Blackwood’s second husband), was not biologically related; she later discovered her true father was screenwriter Ivan Moffatt, one of her mother’s many lovers. Tragically, her sister Natayla died from a heroin overdose at just 18.
‘I often wonder how I made it through,’ Ms. Lowell confessed. ‘I believe it’s because I didn’t know anything different, neither better nor worse. Being burned, raped, and abused—that was just my reality. When you’re unaware of alternatives, you perceive it as normal. The Guinness family’s dark humor certainly provided a coping mechanism.’
Indeed, a wry, dark humor runs deep in the family. Ms. Lowell shared a particular phrase often uttered by Guinnesses when misfortunes struck: ‘This is bad, even for us.’
In developing the series, she drew extensively from the stories of her grandmother Maureen Guinness and her mother, the brilliant yet acerbic and alcoholic writer Lady Caroline Blackwood, who had been married to notable figures like painter Lucian Freud and American poet Robert Lowell.
Ms. Lowell believes her grandmother Maureen and her two sisters, Aileen and Oonagh—collectively known as the ‘Glorious Guinness Girls’—could easily inspire an entire series themselves, given their scandalous escapades. ‘That generation was utterly spoiled, pampered, and seemingly allowed to do whatever they pleased,’ she remarked.