Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany

Edward John Carlos Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany (born Dublin 10 September 1939 — died Navan, County Meath, 24 May 2011), the late 20th Baron of Dunsany, with Irish, Brazilian and UK citizenship, was the grandson of the author Lord Dunsany, and a modern artist and property owner. Lord Dunsany succeeded to the title in 1999 on the death of his father, Lt-Col Randal Arthur Henry Plunkett, 19th Baron of Dunsany.

Plunkett was educated at Eton College and the Slade School of Fine Art, where he showed himself a brilliant draughtsman. He also attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

An artist and architect, he was based in London, Rome, and New York, as well as spending short periods in Brazil and France, before his return to the family estate near the Hill of Tara. Edward Plunkett co-founded de Marsillac Plunkett Inc, Designers and Architects, a New York-based partnership for which he provided design elements for his wife's architectural work. Plunkett was primarily a painter, but also produced sculptures designed by him and manufactured in France or UK. He was also greatly successful at product design. His last architectural work was the contemporary conversion of an 18th-century wing of Dunsany Castle into a studio and exhibition area. It is called The Plunkett Gallery. It houses Lord Dunsany's paintings, lithographs, drawings, architectural projects, sculptures, multiples and his objects (perfume bottles, Champagne bottles, and numbered editions of vases and dinner services). It is open to visitors by appointment.

In 1982, Plunkett married Maria Alice Villela de Carvalho, a descendant of the explorer Vasco Da Gama and of Alves Cabral, the founder of Brazil. Plunkett and his wife, Lady Dunsany, an architect qualified in the US, Ireland and the UK, lived at Dunsany Castle, Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland. They had two sons, Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany, and the Honourable Oliver Plunkett. In addition, Lord Dunsany had two step children Daniel and Joana de Marsillac, who were very close to him and he considered them as his own. Their father was his first cousin and great friend.

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