The four-acre site had a mill, stables and a small brewery, and its lease included water rights. Guinness brewed ales at first, but in the 1770s he began making porter, a dark beer popular in London, and in 1799 he stopped brewing ale altogether. By the 19th century the brewery was the largest in Ireland, and by the late 1880s it was one of the largest in the world. The company later bought the site outright, making the famous lease unnecessary.
Arthur Guinness had learned brewing and had run a small brewery in Leixlip, near Dublin, before moving to the city. The site at St James's Gate had been out of use, and the long lease he signed on December 31, 1759, gave him security at a low rent, although the 9,000-year term was not as unusual in Irish property law as it now seems.
In the 1770s, Guinness became involved in a dispute with the Dublin city authorities over the water supply. According to company history, when officials came to cut off his supply, he seized a pickaxe and refused to let them proceed. The matter was eventually settled.
The brewery expanded steadily under his descendants. Guinness porter and its stronger version, stout, were exported across the British Empire, and in 1886 the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The brewery employed thousands of Dubliners and built housing for them. The original lease is displayed at the Guinness Storehouse, now one of Ireland's most visited tourist attractions.
Key people: Arthur Guinness