Arthur Guinness - Politics

Politics

Guinness supported Henry Grattan in the 1780s and 1790s, not least because Grattan wanted to reduce the tax on beer. He was one of the four brewers' guild representatives on Dublin Corporation from the 1760s until his death. Like Grattan, Guinness was publicly in favour of Catholic Emancipation from 1793, however, he was not a supporter of the United Irishmen during the 1798 rebellion. In general, the Guinness family were Irish Unionists as was Arthur Guinness himself, with Arthur "directly opposed to any movement toward Irish independence".