LAURA DALY AND Ian Monk were married recently in the Church of the Holy Name in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, by Fr Bernard Kennedy. They then hopped aboard the Luas at the Cowper stop and travelled into town, stopping for photographs in St Stephen's Green before walking to the Merrion Hotel for their reception.
"Everyone was generally very kind," Laura remembers, "and girls from Loreto on the Green were whispering behind our backs, wondering whether we were really getting married or secretly in some kind of film".
From Ranelagh, Laura is the youngest of four children, with three older brothers. She is the daughter of Mary and Peter Daly; her father, an oncologist at St James' Hospital, retired two years ago. She attended St Mary's School in Donnybrook, Alexandra College in Milltown and studied English at University College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast. She taught English at the John Scottus School in Donnybrook before training as a solicitor in Blackhall Place. She recently set up a law firm with solicitor Emmet Butler, Butler Monk Solicitors, which opened its doors in Camden Row on March 2nd.
Ian, a microbiologist, is from Dunedin in New Zealand. He is the son of Jean and Brian Monk (who is also a scientist), and he has one brother who lives in England. He studied at Logan Park High School, received an MSc from the University of Otago and a PhD from University College Cork. He now works in the microbiology department of Trinity College Dublin.
The couple met at the Cork Jazz Festival in 2004, and became engaged in March 2008.
Their wedding was at the centre of a week-long celebration with many of their friends having travelled from New Zealand. During the church service, Ian's 13-year-old-niece Perry read a passage from The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, about the nature of enduring love. One of the highlights of their reception was when guests gathered around a piano for a singsong, which included a rendition of Cabaret by Noelle Forde, a family friend and one of Laura's early, most inspiring teachers. The following night, everyone gathered for another party in the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse, where the couple had their first date.
The couple spent a month in New Zealand last September, which they regarded as an early honeymoon. For now, the bride is busy establishing her new practice. The couple live in Windy Arbour, Dublin 14.