House of Guinness star Niamh McCormack has revealed that playing a Fenian rebel in the new historical drama was in her "DNA" as she has a real-life family connection to the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
The new Netflix series from Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight tells the story of the Dublin brewing family and begins in 1868 with the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness and the fight between his four children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, over the company's legacy and future against a backdrop of Irish republicanism.
The eight-part drama is on Netflix from 25 September, and Irish actress McCormack plays the whip-smart IRB street campaigner Ellen Cochrane. She hatches a plot to influence the decidedly Protestant and crown supporting brewing dynasty to further the cause of Irish nationalism at a time of a new wave of opposition against the Union with Britain following the Famine two decades earlier.
Watch: House of Guinness star reveals Fenian family connection
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, McCormack said: "I have a personal connection to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. My great grandad was the First Lieutenant in the IRB so it's in my DNA somewhere. It’s like cosmic or something! I had no idea and it just makes it so much more special for me.
"But I only found that out about him after we wrapped the show and I’m kind of glad about that because I feel all my choices came from an organic place within myself."
However, McCormack, who has previously appeared in Everything Now and The Magic Flute, doesn’t know much about her great grandfather’s activities in the late 19th century and his part in the fight for Irish freedom.
"It was such a horrible time in history, I don’t think people ever want to talk about it," she says. "But as far as I know he set up a lot of meetings and hid guns. I’d love to delve into that part of Irish history and my own family history."
House of Guinness is a sweeping saga set in Dublin and New York and powered by a cracking soundtrack featuring Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Lankum, Lisa O'Neill, Adrian Crowley, The Scratch, The Stunning and even Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy.
It also has a huge cast including Irish actor Anthony Boyle as Arthur Guinness, Louis Partridge as Edward Guinness, Danielle Galligan as Lady Olivia Hedges, Emily Fairn as Anne Guinness, and Jack Gleeson, who famously played King Joffrey in Game of Thrones.
He plays Fenian fixer Byron Hedges, an impish and enigmatic long-lost cousin of the Guinness dynasty. He's a rogue with a brogue who makes Edward an offer he can’t refuse.
Gleeson says he had a lot of fun playing the role. "It was a lot of fun, a lot of fun. On my first day on House of Guinness, my first scene is when Byron is first introduced and the director kept saying 'more, more, more!’
"He wanted Byron to be this really colourful character so yeah, it was a joy to lean into that and bring his impish, cheeky chappie personality to the screen."
House of Guinness is a tale of skullduggery, betrayal and dark family secrets and it’s all carried off with Stephen Knight’s customary mad energy and shot through with some pitch-black humour.
James Norton pretty much steals every scene he's in as the Guinness family enforcer Sean Rafferty, a tough customer who punches and bed hops his way around Victorian Dublin.
And as well as Ellen Cochrane, the show is full of very strong female characters who often get the best lines, not least Dervla Kirwan as matchmaking aunt Agnes who remarks at one stage "I’m learning Irish so I can speak to poor people."
"I feel like it’s the women who lead the men where they’re going," says McCormack. "Stephen Knight wrote such compelling and layered female characters and it is such a joy to step into that role. Women have been around forever! So, it’s brilliant that Stephen has put them at the forefront of this story."
Asked if she hoped House of Guinness would help English viewers learn more about Irish history, McCormack said, "Definitely and also to give a bit of respect to the women who fought for Irish independence.
"They’ve been written out of history, literally erased from pictures, and I also hope viewers take that away from it and also how hard we fought for that freedom."
House of Guinness is on Netflix from 25 September.
