The late Go-Go Kirwan was a formidable lady. In the days when independent women were frowned upon, she was a familiar sight around Stillorgan, bombing along in her open-top Morris Minor with her latest auction purchase, a chest of drawers or an antique armoire, on the back seat.

"Very eccentric and very different" is how her granddaughter Julie Cox remembers her. Go-Go, whose real name was Doreen - deemed far too ordinary a name for such an extraordinary woman - had four children and an efficient, if somewhat unusual, naming system.

She called her first-born twins Jack and Jill - after the protagonists of the well-known nursery rhyme. When her second daughter was born, she continued the theme by calling her Hillary, after the second line of the rhyme, "went up the hill". Her husband Valentine Kirwan called a halt when she planned to call their last-born Walter, after "to fetch a pail of . . ." They finally agreed that Tony would be a more sensible option.

Go-Go was as shrewd as she was quirky. When she and Valentine bought the Beaufield Estate in Stillorgan in 1937, she soon set about turning her interest in antiques into a small enterprise.

"She patched up a few holes in the ceiling of the stables and coach-house and would invite people over for coffee and biscuits between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at night to look at the antiques. My mother as a child used to bake the biscuits to make a bit of pocket money."

The restaurant element came later in 1951.Go-Go enlisted the help of the famous Monsieur Jammett to do the cooking.

"There were no restaurants in Stillorgan up to then so people had to travel into the city centre. There were only a few tables and the menu was simple, steaks and chicken, as they didn't have the same range of ingredients then. As it slowly started making money, she would patch up another hole in the roof, the menu would become a bit more elaborate and she would add extra tables."

"In the early days, everything in the restaurant was for sale, down to the china, the cutlery and the table you were sitting at. It saved having to buy new stock for the restaurant, but became impractical, especially when a customer broke an expensive plate."

Valentine Kirwan was a well-known solicitor in town. "It wasn't the done thing to have a wife working as it looked like you couldn't support her. But she ignored all that and insisted that this is what she wanted to do. She wouldn't let it bother her."

Some of the earlier menus might have been considered somewhat tacky by today's standards. "They had prawn cocktail with marie rose sauce which was popular in the 1960s and of course the infamous dessert trolley - they'd come around to each table with all sorts of sticky gateaux - which was often pretty unfortunate for the last person they got to."

Julie's mother Jill Cox has been involved in the business since childhood when she would accompany Go-Go to auctions. Antiques gradually became a passion. Jill inherited the restaurant when her father died, but the antiques element has always been her baby. Now, people can browse the shop with an aperitif before dinner. Her particular interest is in 20th century Irish art, some of which is displayed in the restaurant, and early Irish glass. Jill's husband Brian Cox, whom Julie describes as "a very good cook" is also involved in the business. He has developed the kitchen as well as an extensive and much-praised wine list.

They have had a number of lucrative offers over the years from developers to sell. It must have been tempting, particularly during the depressed 1980s.

"By that time the restaurant was in need of repair and updating to meet health and safety regulations," says Julie. "For 10 years all the profits were pumped back into the business. We are now reaping the rewards and the restaurant has been restructured. Looking back there were times when we could have knocked it and built houses but we would hate to have seen that happen because it is not just a business, it's a passion."

Julie, the youngest of four and the only one currently involved in the family business, is general manager of the restaurant. It is not surprising that coming from a family of strong women, she says there was always a sense "that the women of the house were equal, there were no gaps." Married with a young son, it can be difficult juggling a rota of day and night shifts but she says it is made easier with the help of a great team.

Although there are antiques everywhere, the look of the restaurant is informal, and occasional couches and sofas soften the look. The cuisine is modern European, simple, well-cooked, no elaborate nouvelle cuisine-type sculpted towers of food and no screaming chefs causing mayhem in the kitchen. A five-course table d'hote menu meal costs £24 (€30.47) plus a 12.5 per cent service charge. They also have an α la carte menu.

There are two restaurants, one on the ground floor with 130 seats and access to fabulous rear gardens and the Hayloft upstairs, which overlooks an 18th century courtyard and holds 60 people.

In the spring, they will have a new facet to the business, a wine shop which will be run by Julie's husband John Hoade. She is not particularly worried that working as well as living together will become a bit too claustrophobic.

"I already work very closely with my parents but we don't overlap. We all have our own areas to look after and we don't interfere with anyone else's. John will be running the wine shop, and while I like wine and know some, I wouldn't pretend to have the expertise to get too involved."

Beaufield Mews and Antiques recently had a big bash for their 50th year in business. Whether they will celebrate another 50 years largely depends on the next generation but Julie doesn't intend to force her son into it.

"I would be of the attitude: let them do their own thing. It would be egotistical to expect that your children would get involved. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."