Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany

Edward John Carlos Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany (10 September 1939–24 May 2011),

Early life Plunkett was born in Dublin on September 10, 1939, and brought to Brazil for the years of World War II, returning to Ireland at the age of 7, speaking only Brazilian Portuguese.

Career Plunkett apprenticed with Loio Persio in Rio de Janeiro from 1961 to 1962, and worked and studied gravure with S.W. Hayter in Paris in 1962. He then attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1962 to 1964.

He was also 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. Plunkett and his wife lived at Dunsany Castle, Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland. They had two sons, Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany, and Oliver Plunkett. In addition, he had two stepchildren. Their father was his first cousin and great friend, Jayme de Marsillac.

Plunkett died in May 2011, after some years of a chronic illness, A private funeral with his widow, sons and step-children, sister, close family friends and staff, was conducted within the ancestral castle. He was buried in the grounds, by the Church of St. Nicholas, the reconsecration of which he had helped arrange for his stepson's marriage. The six pallbearers were his sons and stepson, a family friend and Dunsany curator, and two members of the Castle staff. A memorial service was held in Dunsany Parish Church a week after the funeral.