Mariga Guinness (born ''Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach''; 21 September 1932 – 8 May 1989) was an architectural conservationist and socialite, and co-founder of the

Irish Georgian Society The Irish Georgian Society is an architectural heritage and preservation organisation which promotes and aims to encourage an interest in the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods across Ire ...

Life

Early life and family

Mariga Guinness was born Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 21 September 1932. She was the only child of the marriage of Prince Albrecht von Urach, from Lichtenstein Castle, a member of the

House of Urach The House of Urach is a morganatic cadet branch of the formerly royal House of Württemberg. Although the Württemberg dynasty was one of many reigning over small realms in Germany into the 20th century, and despite the fact that marital ''mésal ...

, a

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

branch of the royal

House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is an uradel, ancient German nobility, German dynasty and former royal family of the Kingdom of Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors ...

, and his first wife, Rosemary Blackadder (1901–1975) from Berwickshire in Scotland, a journalist and artist, who were married in Oslo in 1931. She was a princess from birth. For the first few months of her life she was very ill. In 1934, her parents, both working as journalists, moved the family to Venice. They later moved again, to Japan. Her mother developed depression, and in 1937 tried to gain uninvited access to Emperor Hirohito's palace with her daughter. This resulted in her mother being arrested, sedated, and deported, which was the beginning of a decline in her mental health which culminated in a lobotomy in 1941 and spending the rest of her life in private mental institutions. Urach was returned to Europe, where she was brought up by her godmother, Hermione Ramsden, in Surrey and Norway, and educated by as many as seventeen governesses, with brief spells in boarding schools. Until the age of eighteen she was known as Gabrielle. Urach met

Desmond Guinness Desmond Walter Guinness (8 September 1931 – 20 August 2020) was an Anglo-Irish author of Georgian art and architecture, a conservationist and the co-founder of the Irish Georgian Society. He was the second son of the author and brewer Brya ...

in 1951, when she was nineteen, and they were married in Oxford in 1954. Upon marriage, she became a member of the prominent

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its achievements in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout beer Guinnes ...

. They had two children,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

(born 1956) and Marina (born 1957).

Life in Ireland

The couple moved to Ireland in 1955 where they rented

Carton House Carton House is a country house and surrounding demesne that was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster for over 700 years. Located 23 km west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton Demesne is a 1,100 ...

, County Kildare. They shared a love of Georgian architecture which resulted in them buying

Leixlip Castle ''Leixlip Castle'' is an 1825 short story by the Irish writer Charles Maturin. His final work, it was published posthumously. Maturin's earlier novels had been heavily Gothic in tone. With his previous work '' The Albigenses'' (1824) he moved to ...

in 1958, and establishing the

on 21 February the same year. Through the society they campaigned for the restoration and protection of architectural sites such as

Mountjoy Square Mountjoy Square () is a garden square in Dublin, Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey. One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Luke Gardine ...

, the gateway to the Dromana estate in County Waterford, the

Tailors' Hall Tailors' Hall is the oldest of two surviving guildhalls in Dublin, Ireland. It is located on Back Lane, off High Street, in the part of the city known as the Liberties. Aside from meetings of its own and many other of the guilds of Dublin, th ...

in Dublin, and

Conolly's Folly The Conolly Folly (), a.k.a. The Obelisk, is an obelisk structure located between Celbridge, Leixlip and Maynooth in County Kildare, Ireland. It was built in the mid-18th century by the Conolly family, then owners of the Castletown Estate. It ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. In 1967 they bought

Castletown House Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of an estate. The estate was sold in 1965, and late ...

, also in County Kildare, with a plan to restore it, and make it a base for the Irish Georgian Society. During the 1960s Leixlip Castle was a hub for those interested in architecture and conservation, and the Guinnesses worked hands-on on a range of projects. By 1969, their marriage was in difficulties and Mariga moved to London. She later moved to

Glenarm Glenarm () is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It is situated in the civil parish of Tickmac ...

, County Antrim to live with Hugh O'Neill, and when that relationship ended, she returned to Leixlip Castle, but a divorce was finalised in 1981. Having lived in Dublin for a time, she rented Tullynisk House, the dower house of

Birr Castle Birr Castle ( Irish: ) is a large castle in the town of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland. It is the home of the 7th Earl of Rosse and his family, and as the castle is generally not open to the public, though the grounds and gardens of the deme ...

in County Offaly in 1983. Guinness became isolated and developed a problem with alcohol. While returning to Ireland from Wales on a car ferry on 8 May 1989 she had a massive heart attack which was compounded by a reaction to an injection of penicillin. She was buried at

near Castletown.

Descendants

Mariga and Desmond had two children, Marina and Patrick. Marina is a patron of the arts and of Irish musicians including

Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...

, and the band

Kíla Kíla is an Irish folk music group formed in 1987 in Coláiste Eoin, an Irish language secondary school in County Dublin. History Early formation The original lineup of the band included Rossa Ó Snodaigh (whistle and Bones (instrument), bon ...

. Marina has three children of her own: Patrick (by

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

), Violet (by photographer Perry Ogden), and Finbar (by record producer

Denny Cordell Dennis Cordell-Lavarack (1 August 1943 – 18 February 1995), known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Proc ...

). Through Patrick, Mariga became grandmother of the fashion model

Jasmine Guinness Jasmine Leonora Guinness (born 28 September 1976) is an Irish designer and a fashion model active since 1994. She is a member of Anglo-Irish brewing Guinness family. Personal life She is the daughter of Patrick Guinness and Liz Casey. She was ...

Popular culture

In 2020, a new film on Guinness's life and work, entitled ''Memory of Mariga'', received its US premiere as part of the Elizabethtown Film Festival on Saturday 19 September, at the Crowne Pointe Theatre in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. In 2021, the same film received its Irish premiere at the Fastnet Film Festival.https://www.onlinefastnetfilmfestival.com/collection/documentary/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Mariga 1932 births People from London Mariga Guinness Irish architectural historians Irish people of German descent 1989 deaths People who died at sea