David Bianculli

Let's begin by noting the way Stephen Knight begins The House of Guinness.

he starts with a very unusual and very freeing disclaimer.

This fiction, it says in a message superimposed on the screen, is inspired by true stories.

Right up front, that gives Stephen Knight the creative license to do just about anything he wants with his story and his characters, even though it's taking its inspiration from actual events, locations, and personalities.

The House of Guinness has been described as a sort of 1860s succession, with the adult children of a very wealthy and powerful man jockeying to gain control of his empire.

And there were indeed four grown children of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, all of whom had their own ideas about what to do with his fortune and his beer-producing empire.

But in the House of Guinness, Sir Benjamin, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Member of Parliament, owner of the dominant Irish brewery, dies almost immediately.

At his memorial service, the bishop, played by Sean O'Callaghan, lays out the stakes for the surviving family members.

But most of all,

At the reading of the will, the parcels of the father's kingdom are handed out, but unevenly and with a purpose.

The eldest son, Arthur, is forced to work with the youngest son, Edward, to run the brewery.

The black sheep of the family, the wild child, Ben, is severely restricted as to funds and influence.

And so is the daughter, Anne, because, well, because it's the 1860s and she's the daughter.

But immediately, all four siblings start scheming for ways to improve their individual fortunes.

Meanwhile, outside the family, other troubles are brewing.

There's Ireland's recently won independence from England and its ongoing rebellion against English rules.

Those play out in Dublin, but also in New York, as the narrative and the imported Guinness beer find their way to America.

And in both places, there are those who seek to bring down or manipulate the Guinness family.

In Dublin, one of those is Ellen Cochran, played by Niamh McCormick, who explains to her less crafty brother her plans to blackmail the Guinness family.

Ellen is a great character, completely outside Irish high society, but completely unafraid of it as well.