Grainne Lowry and Maurice Gillen were married recently in the Church of St Blaise, an 18th-century Baroque church at the end of Dubrovnik’s most famous street, by Fr Tony Coote. The groom’s father, the organist of the Pro Cathedral in Dublin and Emeritus Professor of Music at NUI Maynooth played the organ, and arranged the music for the service.
Grainne is the daughter of Sean Lowry, the former head of the Irish Probation Service who is currently a member of the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime. Her mother Teresa died in 2005. She attended Muckross Park School in Donnybrook until 1999 and graduated from UCD in 2005 with a degree in architecture. She currently works with the Coady Partnership in Ranelagh and has recently been awarded membership of the RIAI. She has one brother, Tim.
Maurice is the youngest of Gerard and Patricia Gillen’s three sons. He attended Willow Park and Blackrock College and studied first engineering and then architecture at UCD. In 2005 he joined Jacobs where he now works as an architect and project manager. He is studying part-time at the Smurfit School of Business for an MSc in project management. His two brothers are Fergus and Eoin Gillen.
The couple met at the start of term 10 years ago when they sat beside each other in the lecture hall. During the next five years at UCD, they became friends, travelling companions and near neighbours in Clonskeagh (“some of the parties were legendary”). They became engaged last year when Maurice surprised Grainne with a trip to Paris, ostensibly to celebrate her birthday. “An old teacher of mine once said to us, in economics class, shortly after he had become engaged – ‘Lads, whenever you decide to get married, make a big deal of the engagement’,” Maurice remembers. He followed his teacher’s advice: “With some generous tipping and careful planning we had an incredible weekend.”
They decided to get married in Dubrovnik, having watched a wedding unfold in front of them as they sat at a cafe in Cavtat during a Croatian holiday in 2007.
“Our wedding took place on June 14th,” writes Maurice. “Our 80 guests had more or less all arrived on the 12th, so the celebrations began that evening. After dinner, younger members of the party headed into Dubrovnik to sample the city’s nightlife – it ended with an early morning swim for many of the guests at sunrise.”
On Saturday a local restaurateur provided a celebratory dinner with drinks on the seafront and on Sunday they were married at 4pm. Tourists and locals applauded as the bride processed up the main street with her father and bridesmaids (left). “The ceremony was the highlight of the day, made special by the personal Mass given by our friend, Fr Tony Coote, and the music.”
While photos were being taken, guests were taken on a pre-dinner cruise, champagne in hand, sailing back to Cavtat for a six-course dinner overlooking the sea at sunset. Dancing was accompanied by a local jazz band which included members of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. The couple spent a week in Montenegro afterwards before returning to their home in Inchicore, which they bought three years ago and are slowly renovating.