Alas

Last year I wrote about the exuberant and open hospitality offered us by Lady Dunsany when she gave us a private tour of Dunsany Castle in Ireland.  This castle is the seat of the second-oldest Irish peerage, and also the home of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, the 18th baron, who wrote stories, poetry, and plays under the name Lord Dunsany.

Now word has reached me that the Brazilian-born architect Maria-Alice De Marsillac Plunkett, Lady Dunsany, has passed away, a victim of the COVID epidemic.

She was such a dynamic personality that it’s hard to believe that she’s no longer with us.  It was Lady Dunsany, more than anyone or anything, that made that afternoon unforgettable.

My condolences to her friends and family.