Mariga Guinness

Mariga Guinness (born September 21, 1932 in London as Hermione Marie-Gabrielle Princess of Urach ; † May 8, 1989 at sea between Wales and Ireland) campaigned for the preservation of Irish architecture .

Live and act

Mariga Guinness was born on September 21, 1932, the only child of Prince Albrecht von Urach (1903-1969) and Rosemary Blackadder (1901-1975) in London. During the first few months, Gabrielle, as she was known until 1950, was seriously ill, but had recovered when her family moved to Venice in 1934, where her parents worked as journalists . Soon after, the family moved to Japan, where Albrecht worked as a photographer for the German government in conjunction with the German embassy. In 1937, Gabrielle's mother, who had become depressed in Japan, tried to gain unauthorized access to the Japanese imperial palace accompanied by Gabrielle, whereupon she was arrested, drugged and deported to Great Britain. In the UK, her mother collapsed and was admitted to a mental hospital for the rest of her life after a subsequent lobotomy. The parents' marriage ended in divorce in 1943. In the same year the father married the painter and sculptor Ute Waldschmidt (1922–1984), with whom he had two children. Gabrielle was also brought to Europe, where her godmother, Hermione Ramsden , took care of her upbringing. The two lived in Surrey and Norway . Gabrielle was trained by a total of 17 governesses and, for a short time, at two boarding schools.

In 1951 she met Desmond Guinness , the son of the brewery heir Bryan Guinness and his wife Diana Mitford , whom she married in Oxford in 1954. In 1955, the couple moved to Ireland and rented Carton House in Maynooth , County Kildare . The couple had two children.

Increasingly shaken by the poor state of preservation of architecture worthy of protection in Ireland, Desmond and Mariga Guinness founded the Irish Georgian Society in 1958 , which from then on was particularly committed to the preservation of Georgian buildings. At about the same time they bought Leixlip Castle from Leixlip . For the Irish Georgian Society they fought for the preservation and restoration of many architectural treasures in Ireland, such as Conolly's Folly , Dromana Gateway , Mountjoy Sqare and Tailor's Hall . In 1967 they bought Castletown House , County Kildare , with the ambitious goal of preserving it and making it a center for the Irish Georgian Society .

In the 1960s, Leixlip Castle, which had been stylishly renovated and furnished by Mariga Guinness, was a frequent destination for architecture lovers and members of the high society , e. B. Jackie Kennedy , Princess Margaret or the Rainiers of Monaco .

From 1969 the Guinness marriage was in crisis. Mariga began a relationship with Hugh O'Neill, later Lord Rathcavan , and lived with him in London and later in Glenarm , County Antrim . Desmond started a relationship with Penny Cuthbert . After her liaison with O'Neill ended, Mariga lived again for a short time in Leixlip Castle. However, their marriage came to an end and was finally ended in 1981 with a divorce settlement. Mariga then lived in London for some time and from 1983 rented Tullynisk House near Birr , County Offaly . Her last years were less marked by restoration work than by loneliness and increased alcohol consumption.

Mariga Guinness died on May 8, 1989 at the age of 56 on board a ferry on the way back from Wales to England. The cause of death was a severe myocardial infarction in connection with a penicillin injection to which Mariga had an allergic reaction. She found her grave at Connolly's Folly, the site of her first great success as a custodian of Irish architecture.

literature

• Carola Peck: Mariga, and her friends. Hannon Press, Ballivor, Ireland 1997, ISBN 978-0-9516472-5-7 .
• Christopher Hann: A 50-Year Battle to Save Old Ireland. In: The New York Times . November 27, 2008, p. D4.
• William Murphy: Guinness, Mariga. In: James McGuire, James Quinn (Eds.): Dictionary of Irish Biography. Vol. 4: G-J, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-19977-3 , pp. 322 f.

Web links

• Remembering Mariga Guinness on The Irish Aesthete website , with several photos (accessed August 18, 2015)
• Queen of Georgian Ireland. On the website of: The Irish Times . November 18, 1997 (accessed August 18, 2015)
• Mariga Guinness on The Mitford Society website . August 28, 2014 (accessed August 18, 2015)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ There are different variants for the naming at her birth given: 1. Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach according to James McGuire, James Quinn (ed.): Dictionary of Irish Biography. Vol. 4: G-J, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, p. 322; 2. Hermione Marie-Gabrielle Petronella Sophia Devota Florestine von Urach according to Marie Gabrielle Princess von Urach on http://www.thepeerage.com/ (accessed August 18, 2015); 3. Marie-Gabrielle Sophie Joti Elizabeth Albertine Almeria Wurttembern, the Princess of Urach according to Mariga Guinness ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on The Mitford Society website (accessed August 18, 2015) 
2. ^ Queen of Georgian Ireland. On the website of: The Irish Times . November 18, 1997 (accessed August 18, 2015)