Bairbre Power... Out and about
Our resident diarist calls into the best parties and events around the country
Picture the scene after Ladies' Day at the Galway Races... As we made our way back to the bus, we lost celebrity judge Baz Ashmawy, so a scout was sent off to locate him. And where was he found? "I was hiding behind a Garda van - I really should have Snapchatted it," laughed Baz.
He took refuge after he was besieged with throngs of race-going ladies looking for selfies. The dad-of-two was a huge hit as the first ever male judge at Ballybrit Ladies' Day, and that night he was back on judging duties to pick the g Hotel's Most Stylish Man, with the Hugo Boss suit prize going to Robert Kerins, dapper in plum velvet beside Baz.
Meanwhile, Clare Garrihy, mum of actress Aoibhín - who won all our hearts on RTÉ's Dancing with the Stars - told me how Gerry Barrett, owner of the g Hotel, had taught her at Seamount College in Kinvara. "We all failed maths in the Leaving Cert 'mocks', and Gerry came in and tutored and we all passed," recalled Clare, whose husband, Eugene, runs Dublin Bay Cruises between Howth and Dún Laoghaire. Both are originally from Doolin, from where they run ferries out to the Aran Islands. Aoibhín (above, right), with g Hotel GM Triona Barrett (left) and Verity Lawrence, winner of Best Hat, grew up in Castleknock but now lives in Clare, having married Spanish Point hotelier John Burke.
Marija Aslimoska and husband Brendan Coyle of Parfumarija looked glam at the Krug Champagne Dining Experience launch at Dublin's Wilde.
GRAPEVINE
One of the revelations of Race Week was discovering the new Galway Gin Company, which plays up to its location on the edge of the Atlantic - the gin is made with dillisk seaweed and they'll be opening up a distillery and school this autumn. Defo a night course with benefits!
SPOTTED
There's no getting away from TV programmes and newspaper articles about Princess Diana, as the 20th anniversary of her death falls this month. Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting a 40-minute Q&A with (above) Elizabeth Emanuel, designer of Diana's wedding dress, at Newbridge Silverware's launch of the Diana - A Fashion Legacy exhibition, which runs at their Style Icon Museum until the end of September. Elizabeth shared lovely insights about the 19-year-old bride who, even with all the excitement on her wedding day, never forgot her manners and rang the Emanuels from Buckingham Palace to thank them.
Chefs Cliodhna Prendergast (left) and Imen McDonnell of Lens & Larder curated a special menu for Kildare Village's 'From the Isle' dinner.
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