was the illegitimate son of a couple who had fled Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne, leaving their young child at an orphanage in Leixlip. By contrast, Guinness's mother, Elizabeth Read, is known to be the daughter of tenant farmers in Oughter Ard, also in County Kildare. Richard Guinness and Elizabeth Read married in the early 1720s, possibly in the parish church at Oughter Ard. While rumours at the time suggested that the couple had eloped while Guinness was working for Read's parents as a groom, this is historically unlikely, as the vicar would likely have refused to marry a couple without obtaining the bride's parents' permission. By 1722, Richard Guinness was in the employ of Arthur Price, a vicar in Celbridge. Arthur Guinness was the first of five children born to Richard and Elizabeth. Likely born on Price's Oakley Park estate, Arthur was named for the vicar, who also served as his godfather. Guinness's exact date of birth is disputed by historians: while many sources suggest that he was born on 24 September 1725, the Guinness Company formally declared in 1991 that their founder's date of birth was on 28 September. His gravestone, meanwhile, states that he was 78 years old upon his death in January 1803, making it possible that he was born in 1724 rather than 1725. In August 1742, Guinness's mother died at the age of 44, when her oldest son was 18. That same year, he followed his father into work for Price as a registrar. The occupation would have required Guinness to be literate, versed in arithmetic, and capable of writing, all opportunities that were rare for non-nobles. In 1744, Price was appointed Archbishop of Cashel, one of the most prestigious positions afforded to a clergyman in the Church of Ireland, and which came with a substantial pay raise that would have also extended to his staff. The Guinnesses remained in Price's employ until his death on 17 July 1752. Upon his death, he bequeathed his estate, valued at IR£8,850, to several relatives and employees, and both Guinness and his father received £100 apiece. On 19 October 1752, Richard Guinness married his second wife, Elizabeth Clare. Herself a widow, Clare had taken over the White Hart Inn upon her first husband's death, and Richard and his children worked at the public house after the wedding. Working for his stepmother was likely one of