Guinness History Timeline

In 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on a disused brewery at St. James’s Gate, Dublin

for an annual rent of £45. 1769 The first export shipment of six and a half barrels of GUINNESS® left

Dublin on a sailing vessel bound for England. 1775 On 16th May 1775 a Dublin Corporation

committee & sheriff were sent to cut off and fill in the water course from which the Brewery drew

its free water supplies. Arthur defended his water by threatening the party with a pickaxe. The water

dispute was finally settled with Dublin Corporation in 1784 after 20 years. 1799 Last ale brewed -

decision made to concentrate solely on porter. 1801 West India Porter brewed. Precursor of modern

day GUINNESS® Foreign Extra Stout. 1803 Arthur Guinness died and his son, Arthur Guinness II, took

over the Brewery. 1815 GUINNESS® was well known on the Continent – reputedly aided the

recovery of a cavalry officer wounded at Battle of Waterloo. 1821 Arthur Guinness II set down

precise instructions for brewing GUINNESS® Extra Superior Porter – the precursor of today’s

GUINNESS® Original. 1824 GUINNESS® well known worldwide. Advertisement in Dublin newspaper

for “Guinness’s East & West India Porter”. 1833 Brewery survived post-war recession to become the

largest brewery in Ireland and the largest employer of coopers. 1850s Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness,

son of Arthur Guinness II, took over the Brewery on the death of his father. Sir Benjamin Lee became

a Member of Parliament for Dublin City and also served as Lord Mayor of Dublin. 1860 Sir Benjamin

Lee donated £150,000 towards the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. 1862 Trademark label for

GUINNESS® was introduced - a buff oval label with the harp and Arthur Guinness’ signature. The

Harp was registered as a trademark in 1876. 1868 Benjamin Lee Guinness died and his son Edward

Cecil took over the Brewery. Under Edward Cecil, the size of the Brewery doubled and spread north

to bound the river Liffey to accommodate a cooperage, a racking shed, a malting’s, an internal

railway system, new vathouse and a storehouse for fermenting vessels. 1877 Guinness

commissioned a fleet of barges. Barges built between 1877 and 1913 were named after Irish rivers

and those built between 1928 and 1931 were named after villages around Dublin, eg. the

Castleknock built 1930. 1886 Guinness became the first major brewery to be incorporated as a

public company on the London Stock Exchange. It was the largest brewery in the world with an

annual production of 1.2 million barrels. 1890s Edward Cecil appointed the first Lord of Iveagh and

established the Guinness and Iveagh Trusts to provide homes for the poor in Dublin and London. He

made substantial contributions to Trinity College Dublin and Dublin hospitals. His brother Arthur

landscaped St. Stephen’s Green and gave it as a gift to the public. 1898 “World traveller” appointed

to report on overseas markets in North and South America, Africa, Far East and Australia. 1927

Rupert Guinness took over as Chairman of the Company 1929 First ever advertisement for

GUINNESS® with the slogan “Guinness is Good For You” published in the British national press. This

was soon followed by advertisements featuring the cartoon characters created by John Gilroy. His

famous series of posters of the distraught zoo keeper and his mischievous animals carried the line

‘My Goodness, My Guinness’. 1936 First overseas brewery built at Park Royal, London. William Sealy

Gosset, the father of modern statistics, appointed Head Brewer. 1955 First Guinness Book of

Records was published. 1955 Planet diesel engine gradually replaces Geoghegan’s steam locomotive

to cope with the narrow twists and turns of the Brewery’s narrow gauge track. The Planet diesel ran

until 1975. 1959 Bi-centenary of the founding of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin 1963 First overseas

brewery outside the British Isles was opened in Nigeria. 1977 M.V. Miranda Guinness was built. She

was the world’s first specially commissioned bulk liquid carrier. 1985 Guinness acquired Arthur Bell

and the Distillers Company, later United Distillers. 1988 The first “widget” beer, Draught GUINNESS®

in a can, was launched and wins the Queen’s award for technological achievement in 1991. 1997

Merger between Guinness PLC & Grand Metropolitan PLC to form DIAGEO PLC. 1999 GUINNESS®

Draught in Bottle is launched using the rocket widget. 2000 DIAGEO announcement of merger of

Guinness and UDV (United Distillers and Vintners) to form Guinness UDV 2000 GUINNESS

Storehouse, Home of GUINNESS, Ireland’s No.1 Visitor Attraction opened to the public 2009

GUINNESS® celebrates 250 years 2012 GUINNESS® Made of More campaign is launched 2014

Brewhouse 4, a state of the art brewery at St. James Gate, Dublin, officially opens. The new

brewhouse is one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable in the

world, and is also the largest stout brewery in the world