THE GUINNESS FAMILY
This website was made to tell you about the story of the Guinness Family, the history of the drink and the house in St. Anne's Park.
THE GUINNESS HOUSE IN ST ANNE'S PARK
Scroll down for more information on house
The Guinness house that burned down
The Guinness' house, known originally as 'Thornhill', was bought by brothers Benjamin Lee Guinness and Arthur Lee Guinness from the O'Reilly family in 1835 for £500.
In 1837, Benjamin Lee Guinness renovated and rebuilt the house as a lavish, Italianate-style mansion and renamed it 'St Anne's' after a nearby holy well.
The house was located in what we know today as St. Anne's Park.
Further renovations & sale of the property
Whilst Benjamin Lee Guinness and his wife Elizabeth completed the initial renovation, their son, Lord Ardilaun (Arthur Edward Guinness), and his wife Lady Olivia later in 1873 developed the house further to give it its iconic 'palatial' look. The original property comprised of 29 acres of land, however by the time it was sold to Dublin Corporation in 1939, the property had expanded to over 500 acres.
After the deaths of Sir and Lady Ardilaun, their nephew Bishop Plunket inherited the house. He sold the property to Dublin Corporation for £55,000.
What happened to the house?
In December 1943, a time when the house when under the ownership of Dublin Corporation and the Guinness Family no longer lived there, the house unfortunately burned down. A fire was started on Christmas Eve and due to the house being used by the Defence Forces to store chemicals at the time, it burned for three days and the damage was extensive. The land became a public park in 1948 and the remains of the house were demolished in 1968 as it was deemed unsafe.
Excavation of the site
This is a photo of the site where the house once stood, taken in March 2026. Test trenches and community excavations, with volunteer archaeologists, have been taking place since 2021.
The excavation team have found significant portions of the mansion's footprint, including the cellar and parts of the ground floor. Fragments of stained glass, decorative plasterwork and ornate floor tiles have been discovered.
The purpose of the excavations is to identify and document remnants of St Anne's House to help understand the mansion's layout and its role in the park's history.
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