Desmond Guinness

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Hon. Desmond Guinness (born 8 September 1931) is an Irish author on Georgian art and architecture and a conservationist.

Born on 8 September 1931, he was the second son of the author and brewer Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne and Diana Mitford. He was educated at Eton, Gordonstoun and Christ Church, Oxford.^[1]

In 1958 he bought Leixlip Castle, Leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland, where he continues to live with his second wife, the former Penelope Cuthbertson, whom he married in 1984. As a member of the extended Guinness family he has a number of well-known relatives, such as Garech Browne. He has been Master of the North Kildare Harriers.

Contents 1 Irish Georgian Society 2 Books 3 Family 4 Further reading

[edit] Irish Georgian Society

He and his first wife, Mariga (the former Princess Marie Gabrielle of Urach), founded the Irish Georgian Society in April 1958 to help to preserve Irish architecture of all periods. This was timely as the Irish planning laws were enacted only from 1963.^[2]

The IGS became involved in numerous projects and started publishing quarterly bulletins. Some early preservations or campaigns were at: Damer House (Tipperary) The Conolly Folly (Kildare), Mountjoy Square, Tailors' Hall and Hume Street (Dublin) and the Dromana Gateway (Waterford).

The IGS also held Georgian cricket matches played to the rules of 1744.

In 1967-79 the Guinnesses bought and started to preserve Castletown House, in Celbridge, Kildare, said to be the finest Palladian house in Ireland.^[3][4]

In more recent years he has founded a scholarship for students of architecture.^[5][6]

His conservation work has been recognised by many American and English cultural groups, and Europa Nostra. In 1980 he was made an honorary Doctor of Laws at Trinity College Dublin. In 2006 he was presented with a Europa Nostra award by the Queen of Spain.

[edit] Books

• “Portrait of Dublin” (New York, Viking Press, 1967)
• “Georgian Dublin” (Batsford, B.T., Ltd.1979) ISBN 0-7134-1908-3

Three books with Julius Trousdale Sadler:

• “Mr Jefferson, architect” (New York, Viking, 1973) ISBN 0-670-49261-2
• “Palladio: A Western Progress” (New York, 1976) ISBN 0-670-53732-2
• “Newport preserv'd : architecture of the 18th century” (New York : Viking Press, 1982) ISBN 0-670-50938-8

With William Ryan:

• “Irish Houses and Castles”; with William Ryan. (London: Thames & Hudson 1973).
• “The White House: An Architectural History” (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980). ISBN 0-07-054352-6

With Jacqueline O'Brien, wife of the famous racehorse trainer Vincent O’Brien:

• “Dublin - A Grand Tour” (Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1994)
• "Great Irish Houses and Castles" (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.) ISBN 0-8109-3365-9 (December 1998) and in paperback (Weidenfeld & Nicolson September 1993) ISBN 0-297-83236-0.

He has also written numerous articles such as: "Thomas Jefferson: Visionary Architect." Horizon, 22 (1979): 51-55.

[edit] Family

Married at Oxford in 1954 to Princess Henriette Marie-Gabrielle ("Mariga") von Urach, daughter of Prince Albrecht von Urach and a granddaughter of King Mindaugas II of Lithuania, by whom he had a son, Patrick Desmond Carl-Alexander, and a daughter, Marina: [2] Throught Desmond he is a grandfather of the fashion model Jasmine Guinness.^[7]

In 1984 he married Penelope Cuthbertson, a granddaughter of the artist Nico Jungman^[8][9]

He has also been a member of Irish groups such as the Iveagh Trust, the CKAS, the RIAC and the Kildare Street & University Club.^[10][11]

[edit] Further reading

• Gannon, Charles: Cathal Gannon - The Life and Times of a Dublin Craftsman (Lilliput Press)
• Address on the award to Desmond Guinness of the European Union Prize for Dedicated Service to Heritage Conservation Irish govt. 2007.
• The peerage.com