THE SOCIAL NETWORK:At the opening of the Irish Antique Dealers Association 47th Annual Fair at the RDS on Thursday evening, antiques expert Judith Miller said her parents were part of the Formica generation. The broadcaster said that she came to antiques through a love of history.
Miller is giving a talk today at noon entitled, How to be an antique expert.
Phyllis MacNamara of Cobwebs in Galway gave a short talk on the charity Console, which she said helped her survive suicide and the death of her husband in 2008. “If it wasn’t for Console I don’t think I would have coped,” she said.
Clodagh Duff of Glendalough Green in Laragh, Co Wicklow, was taking time out from her deli to catch up with her brother, Arthur Duff, of Duff Tisdall. Clodagh said that many of her customers are men in lycra; apparently, she gets quite a few cyclists calling in to the store.
Prof John Gilmartin told me that he gave a successful lecture on Casimir Markievicz the previous evening in the Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland building. The genealogist Harry McDowell, from Celbridge Lodge in Celbridge, mentioned that he will be available for consultation in the genealogical library in his house shortly. Anne Dillon-Carrigan, formerly of Sotheby’s, was chaperoning her friend, Nuala Ramseyer, from Straffan in Kildare, around the fair.
Who we spotted
Roxane Moorhead of the IADA and the event manager Paddy Bollard, who were at the door meeting and greeting; the president of the RDS, Phonsie Mealy; retired solicitor Philip O’Connor and David Goldberg SC; Michael Maughan of the Gowan Group; Howard Kilroy, formerly of Jefferson Smurfit; Judge Peter Smithwick; artist Gay O’Neill; former TD Michael Mulcahy SC; Arabella Bishop of Sotheby’s; Christine Ryall of Christies; Philip Sheppard of Sheppards Auction house; Prof Alan Fletcher
