Ranelagh stake-outREGULAR CUSTOMERS of the original Ely Wine Bar in Dublin's Ely Place have been missing Kevin McMahon, who was for many years the wine bar's tall and genial manager with an uncanny gift for remembering names and vintages with great spirit and elan, writes Patsey Murphy.
He has flown off to Ranelagh, as it happens, to open his own wine bistro called The Wild Goose, above McSorley's public house at 1 Sandford Road, and many of his devotees have been flocking there since it opened last weekend.
Head chef is Derek Brown from Enniskillen, and the classic bistro menu is designed for an easy night out, with platters of hors d'oeuvres that come in a variety of sizes and pasta or risotto (c. €16) as well as steak or seafood (c.€25, including sides). All very straightforward - until you get to the wine list, that is, with more than 300 bottles to choose from and a rotating selection of two dozen wines-by-the-glass.
The room is very smart, with white-linen service, and it's open seven days a week - for dinner only- from 5.30pm to 11pm. They hope to phase in Sunday lunch as they take flight. To book call 01-4912377.
SEAN OSBORNE is an Irish jeweller and gemologist, who served a long jewellery apprenticeship in the UK before setting up on his own in Ireland. Now he has a client list as glittering as his jewellery, with members of Ireland's rock star elite such as Gavin Friday (who opened Osborne's recent exhibition) prominent among them.
Osborne's style is discreet and often the most precious jewels are hidden from sight. One of his new pieces, for example, is a cross in platinum and yellow gold, in which the diamonds are actually set in the back plate of the cross, almost like a host in a monstrance.
The secret of how it comes apart is only shared with the client who buys it. A dagger-shaped finger ring in l8 carat gold, silver and set with diamonds, Osborne calls a "ringdent" because it can double as a pendant.
Another ring, set with 64 diamonds on the side of the piece, pushes technology to the limits, so that when the ring tilts, it catches the light with a cascade effect. Prices are from €600 to €6,000. Osborne's studio is at 8 Rear Cope Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, 01-6792602/087-2201512, www.seanosborne.ie -
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Make mine a Guinness
LIKE MANY of us, fashion maven Daphne Guinness has heralded spring's arrival with a good clear-out of her wardrobe, donating the rejects to charity.
Unlike the rest of us, that does not mean a few bin-liners of bobbly jumpers abandoned at the Cancer Research shop; that means an auction in aid of Womankind Worldwide, to be held this Tuesday in London.
The 267 lots can be viewed at www.kerrytaylorauctions.com (click on "Current Sale"), and quite frankly, even if you're not in the market for a "Swedish basket weave birch-bark rucksack" (lot 65), it makes for marvellous reading. But be warned, you should probably prepare yourself for a fair amount of existential soul-searching.
How, for example, could you have survived so long without a pair of Christian Dior platform wedges, as depicted in lot 32? What possessed you to attempt spring/summer 2008 without a leopard-print silk and tulle safari-style waistcoat (lot 78)?
Why would you even question your right to own "a striking brown leather jacket heavily embroidered in metallic thread, 'Expensive Shit' to the shoulders" (sic, lot 112)?
To be fair, many of the lots are less outré - elegant YSL trouser suits, snappy little Chanel two-pieces, Helmut Lang numbers in shades of charcoal and fog. Aside from a worrying penchant for oversized fur collars, leather cut-outs and laced-up corsetry, Guinness, a devotee of haute couture and scion of the banking Guinnesses, is justifiably renowned for her good taste.
Yet even here, among the plainer pieces, a certain excess reigns. The sale includes more than 40 different white shirts and some 50 black jackets, which, as a glimpse into one woman's fashion-buying habits, is dizzying. Surely, it suggests a near-Olympian level of perversity to take two basics of pared-back dressing and introduce that level of choice: "Hmm, I'll just slip on a simple white shirt. Now let me see . . ."
Most of all, one comes away from the catalogue overwhelmed by the volume. Most of the 267 lots are made up of several pieces, many marked "unworn". Guinness must have donated close to 1,000 pieces and these are only her cast-offs. Fittingly, her chosen charity, Womankind Worldwide, works to improve the living condition of women in developing countries.
Should you fancy you getting your hands on some nearly-new fashion and can't attend in person, you still have time to send in a commission bid. Call 0044-2086764600 or check the website. The shoes range in size from 36 to 38, and Guinness is a tiny dress size - six or eight. The estimates are surprisingly reasonable - most hover around the £100 to £250 mark - but seem likely to be exceeded on the day. Happy shopping. - Louise East
If you come from Youghal - and even if you don't - tune in to the RTÉ Radio Documentary on One slot tomorrow night. When producer Liam O'Brien set out to make a programme about the River Blackwater and the communities living along its banks, he uncovered a long-running dispute centring on fishing rights, land rights and an absentee landlord that, unexpectedly, looks like having a happy ending.
The story begins with Walter Raleigh, one time Mayor of Youghal and favourite buccaneer of Queen Elizabeth I. In recognition of his services to the crown, he was granted the River Blackwater and its fishing rights, as well as ownership of Youghal harbour, into which the river flows. These rights are now vested in the Duke of Devonshire, whose Irish residence, Lismore Castle, is but a cottage compared to his English home, which has 175 rooms.
Local fishermen have, for a long time, tried to challenge these rights, which seem to be protected, under English law, by the Magna Carta. But that was then and this is now, so Liam O'Brien travelled to London to meet the Duke and hear his side of the argument and it turns out the Duke is a scholar and a gentleman - and genial to boot.
I won't spoil the story, but it looks as if he is going to make a ducal offer the Youghal authorities will find hard to refuse. Documentary on One is on RTÉ Radio 1 tomorrow at 7pm. - Mary Russell.
Forget flip-flops this summer and try out FitFlops which are, their makers say, the nearest thing to walking barefoot.
Engineered by footwear technologists to make every step a
workout, the sole is a fusion of three different densities of hard
foam that make the muscles work in certain ways.
They also look rather snazzy, some having gold or sequined
uppers, or the current high-fashion gladiator look.
Retailing at about €55, they can be found in Arnotts,
Dublin 1, Harvey Nichols, Dublin 14, Brazil Body Sportswear in the
Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2, and Champion Sports branches
nationwide. -
Deirdre
McQuillan.