This week was big on Guinness parties - not big black pints, but books. On Monday, in the midst of the floods and torrents, Jonathan Guinness celebrated the publication of his book, Requiem For A Family Business. Of course, all the extended Guinness family came along to Knockmaroon house in Castleknock for the occasion - Desmond was there with his wife, Penny, who was doing good business as a book-seller for the night.
Patrick and his sister Marina were there, talking of the second Guinness event of the week - the launch of a book about their mother, Mariga And Her Friends, on Thursday. Jasmine Guinness, Patrick's model daughter, flew in to make sure the party celebrating Mariga Guinness, in the Tailor's Hall, went with a bang, and a few pithy comments by Desmond Fitzgerald of the Irish Georgian Society ensured Mariga's ideals were not forgotten.
Lord Henry Mount Charles was at Knockmaroon on Monday night chatting about his new career as rock manager. Coinciding with the recent decision to allow him to hold annual concerts at Slane, he has started to manage a young singer/songwriter Dara O'Toole. You can catch Dara, who plays with a 10-piece classical orchestra and a six-piece rock band, tonight at the Funnel Bar on City Quay, but earplugs might be advisable if you're sensitive to noise . . .
Other people who waded, swam or sailed to Castleknock on Monday night were author J.P. Donleavy, who introduced Jonathan; artist Ed- die Plunket; old friends Julian and Victoria Lloyd; art historian Maurice Craig and his wife, singer Agnes Bernelle; architect Denis Looby, and publisher Antony Farrell.