Oonagh Guinness (22 February 1910 – 2 August 1995) was an Anglo-Irish socialite, society hostess and art collector, and the second wife of Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne.

Early life

She was born on 22 February 1910 in Hanover Square, London, the youngest of the three daughters of Ernest Guinness (1876–1949) and Marie Clothilde Russell (1880–1953), daughter of Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet. Ernest Guinness was the second son of

Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, (10 November 1847 – 7 October 1927) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish businessman and philanthropist. A member of the prominent Guinness family, he was the head of the family's eponymous Guinnes ...

(1847–1927). She believed that she was "the favourite of her father's three blonde and blue-eyed daughters". Along with her two sisters,

Aileen Aileen is an Irish feminine given name, a variant of Eileen. Notable people with this name include: People * Aileen Adams (born 1923), British consultant anaesthetist * Aileen Allen (1888–1950), American diver * Aileen Armitage (born 1930), ...

and

Maureen Maureen is a female name, the female form of the male name Maurice. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. Some notable bearers of the name are: People * Mauree ...

, the Guinness sisters were celebrated as the ''Golden Guinness Girls'' of 1920s British society.

Public life

Oonagh was a prominent hostess, particularly after her second divorce in 1950, when the Luggala Estate became a centre of Irish social life. "Oonagh somehow imbued Luggala with enchantment. Nobody could keep away: Dublin intelligentsia, literati, painters, actors, scholars, hangers-on, toffs, punters, poets, social hang-gliders were attracted to Luggala as to nowhere else in Ireland — perhaps even in Europe, from where many would come. And the still centre of this exultant, exuberant chaos was Oonagh."

Personal life

At age 19, Oonagh was engaged to the Hon. Philip Kindersley, the second son of the banker

Robert Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley Robert Molesworth Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley (21 November 1871 – 20 July 1954) was an England, English Businessperson, businessman, stockbroker, merchant banker, and public servant who organised the National Savings Movement. Backgroun ...

. In 1929, she married the Hon. Philip Kindersley, and they had two children, though only one lived to reach adulthood as her daughter Teresa died as a teenager and is buried on the shores of Lough Tay near Luggala. Gay Kindersley (1930–2011),

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

jockey and

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

steward was her son. Their marriage was dissolved in 1936. In 1936, she married Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, and her father gave her Luggala, an 18th-century hunting lodge in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

. They had three children: Garech Domnagh Browne (1939–2018), an unnamed son (1943–1943), and

Tara Browne Tara Browne (4 March 1945 – 18 December 1966) was an Irish socialite and heir to a part of the Guinness fortune. His December 1966 death in a car crash was referenced in the Beatles' song " A Day in the Life". Early life Browne was the yo ...

(1945–1966), who died in a car accident. Tara and the unnamed boy are buried beside Teresa. Oonagh and Dominick divorced in 1950. From 1957 to 1965, she was married to Miguel Ferreras Aciro (1927–1999), a New York dress designer. She died at Luggala on 2 August 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Oonagh 1910 births 1995 deaths

Mereworth Mereworth ( ) is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows through the village and powered a watermill, the site of which now lies within the grounds of Mereworth Castle. History In the ...

Oranmore and Browne British socialites

Oonagh Oona is a feminine given name. It is an anglicisation of the Irish-language name ''Úna''. Apart from in Ireland, it is also a popular name in Finland. People with the name Oona * Oona Brown (born 2004), American ice dancer * Oona Chaplin (born ...