Champagne and choccies but no oysters at Oriel
To the Oriel’s 50th birthday party last Thursday night on Clare Street. The crowd were enthralled by the sight of eight paintings by Paul Henry, six paintings by Jack B Yeats — admired by many but owned by few — and a Walter Osborne which, I’m told, should be in the State collection. In the foreword from the catalogue which accompanied the night, Mark Nulty wrote: “I was born 50 years ago in 1968, coincidentally, the same year my late father Oliver Nulty opened the Oriel Gallery. From that moment onwards, my destiny was set.”
There was the same sense of fate last Thursday night as Mary Ann O’Brien, founder of Lily O’Brien’s Chocolates, officially opened the celebrations. She said that in the hands of Mark and his wife Mandy’s five-yearold son Charlie, the gallery will continue for another 50 years. In the audience (which included Charlie, holding a party balloon), Conor Lenihan gave his colourful account of the Oriel through 1980s and 1990s — the one-time Minister of State talked about Oliver Nulty’s famous soirees at his home in Pembroke Lane, not least the night when on hearing about the recession in the 1980s he sent out for oysters and Champagne.
No oysters this time, just choccies from Lily O’Brien’s and champagne from Corkscrew.
As well as hosts Mark and Mandy, those at the birthday bash included Christine Ryall, Christie’s representative in Ireland, with her husband Patrick, and composer and writer Glen Austin with partner Rachel Voloczi.