Netflix drama House of Guinness filmed at Penrhyn Castle, Bangor

A neo-Norman castle in north Wales has become host to the Guinness family home in a new Netflix drama.

Despite being set in 19th Century Dublin and New York, the House of Guinness captures the the family’s tumultuous tale within the walls of Penrhyn Castle, in Bangor, Gwynedd.

The series was first devised by Guinness heiress Ivana Lowell, and retells the triumphs and travails of her clan, the descendants of Arthur Guinness (born 1725), who first brewed the famous Irish stout beer.

More recently known for the trend of “splitting the G”, the brewery now sells more than 10 million glasses of Guinness around the world each day.

Starring James Norton and created by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the period drama is inspired by the brewery’s legacy, selecting Penrhyn Castle for its “many parallels” with the Guinness original family home, Ashford Castle, in Cong, County Mayo, Ireland.

Penrhyn Castle, as well as remodelled Ashford Castle, were built to appear older “for industrialists who made a fortune during the Victorian era”.

The story begins, however, after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness in 1868, the man responsible for the success of the Guinness brewery.

It follows the impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben.

“It’s the extraordinary story of a family who happens to be the inheritors of the biggest brewery in the world,” said Knight.

“They’re young and are given the task of taking on this incredibly successful brand,” he added.

A drama first and foremost, fact and fiction “blend together” in the series said Knight, which has already been compared to the likes of Succession, The Crown and Peaky Blinders.

Most of the filming has taken place in north Wales and England’s North West, as producers said “very little” of Dublin still resembles how it looked in 1868.

Executive producer Karen Wilson said the team travelled the “length and breadth of Ireland and the UK” before ending up in the North West, which had “stately homes and Dublin-style streets”.

Wilson said they had to move around more than a TV production usually would.

“Places like Manchester, Liverpool, north Wales, and Yorkshire gave us what we needed,” she said.

“I really hope we’ve done Dublin justice.”

Ceri Williams, general manager for Penrhyn Castle, National Trust Cymru, said it was “great” to host the series which “explores wealth, class disparities and conflict, similar to the themes we explore here at Penrhyn”.

The trust’s website says Penrhyn Castle’s “formidable architecture, opulent interiors and fine art collection lean on a long history of sugar and slate fortunes, social unrest and the longest-running industrial dispute in British history”.

Owned by the Pennant family, its says Penrhyn is a “key example of how wealth derived from slavery shaped the built environment of Wales” as it was created within sight of the slate quarry they created and a port which sent their products by ships around the world.

The eight episode series launched on Netflix on 25 September.