Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, KP, GCVO, FRS (10 November 1847 – 7 October 1927) was an Anglo-Irish businessman and philanthropist.

That same year, he was created a baronet of Castleknock, County Dublin, for helping with the visit of the then Prince of Wales to Ireland.

He was appointed a Knight of St Patrick (KP) in 1895, and ten years later was advanced in the Peerage of the United Kingdom to Viscount Iveagh.

[2] Lord Iveagh was managing director of the Guinness partnership and company, from his father's death in 1868 until 1889, running the largest brewery in the world - it spanned 64 acres (26 ha).

By the age of 29 he had taken over sole ownership of the Dublin brewery after buying out the half-share of his older brother Lord Ardilaun for £600,000 in 1876.

Over the next 10 years, Guinness brought unprecedented success to St James's Gate, multiplying the value of his brewery enormously.

[4] He then became the richest man in Ireland after floating two-thirds of the company in 1886 on the London Stock Exchange for £6 million before retiring a multi-millionaire at the age of 40.

Like his father and brother, Lord Iveagh was a generous philanthropist and contributed almost £1 million to slum clearance and housing projects, among other causes.

[11] Interested in fine art all his life, from the 1870s Guinness amassed a distinguished collection of Old Master paintings, antique furniture and historic textiles.

[12] While he was furnishing his London home at Hyde Park Corner, after he had retired, he began building his art collection in earnest.

Much of his collection of paintings was donated to the nation after his death in 1927 and is housed at the Iveagh Bequest at Kenwood, Hampstead, north London.

He did however stand as a Conservative for the seat of Dublin St Stephen's Green in the 1885 general election, losing to the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate.

The existing free trade within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland would likely turn protectionist, causing a loss of sales, employment and profits.

[19] In 1936 his family installed the "Iveagh Window" in his memory, in the north transept of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.