The Guinness Connection

17 March 2025 was St Patrick’s Day – the anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century, he was kidnapped aged 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped only to return later after becoming a cleric to spread Christianity in Ireland.

Nowadays we are likely to associate the day with parades (which had their origins in the US as early as the 18th century – the largest is in New York City), green (Chicago has dyed its river that colour since 1962) and Guinness; but traditionally in Ireland it was a spiritual and religious occasion. In 1903 it was made an Irish bank holiday but in 1927 legislation was passed making it illegal to sell alcohol and for pubs to open on 17th March. This ban was partially repealed in 1961 but not fully until into the 1970s!

But what of the Brewers’ Company’s connection with Guinness? This year’s Master, Katherine Smart, is Global Technical Director and Chief Scientist at Diageo, a company formed in 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness, both of which were already members of the Brewers’ Company.

Guinness joined as a corporate member in 1972, long before the UK-wide extension of membership in the 1990s. Although today all the UK’s Guinness is brewed at St James’s Gate in Dublin, Guinness built a large brewery at Park Royal in West London and began supplying southeast England in 1938, continuing to 2005 when the site was closed. Therefore, when the Court adopted revised membership rules in 1972 to include ‘a Brewery Company brewing or having a substantial trading interest within Greater London’, Guinness was eligible to join.

Edward Guinness became Master in 1977. A descendant of a brother of the Guinness founder, Arthur Guinness, Edward began working at Park Royal in 1945, progressing through many roles and serving on the Board for 44 years until his retirement. Prior to the current Master, there have been two further Masters from Guinness, one from Diageo and one from Grand Metropolitan.