Gill Perdue – author
For our final meeting of the year, Gill Perdue spoke to us about writing children’s books and crime novels. She gave us some insight into how some of her characters come to life, how she draws from family stories and local history.
Outing to Johnstown Castle – May 2025
We had a wonderful day trip to Johnstown Castle, followed by dinner at the Arklow Bay Hotel.
Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – April 2025
Rather than just an ordinary tea party, why not a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!
Marlay Guild AGM 2025
We held our Annual General Meeting on 27th March, where the guild elected our new President, Pauline Maguire. Thanks to everyone in the outgoing committee, to all those from the sub-committees and members of the guild who helped at all our events.
Thanks to the outgoing Committee 
Pauline ringing the bell 
Outgoing President Liza and incoming President Pauline 
Presenting the Guild Presidential chain
Mary Clarke Trophy 2025
Every year, Marlay Guild holds a competition in the Arts, and the winner is presented with the Mary Clarke perpetual trophy. This year, the competition was a photographic one. The categories were Black and White photos showing people at work, and Colour photos showing sunrises.
Black & White – first prize 
Black and white – second prize 
Colour – first prize (and overall winner) 
Colour – second prize
Our 4 winners 
Overall winner – Patsy Mitchell
Proud Mom moment
Our member Una’s son was performing in Carnegie Hall, New York!
Thursday 13th March 2025
Joe, Una and Peter came along once again and entertained us for a tremendous Irish night. Stories, dances, music and plenty of singing were the order of the day.
Thursday 27th February 2025
This year, for International Night our country was Finland. Along with her presentation about life in Finland, Pauline provided some tasty Finnish treats – Karelian pie, cinnamon rolls, licorice and Joulutorttu. The guild took on the spirit of Finland and wore blue and white (representing the lakes and the snow).
13th February 2025
Anne Harte gave us an interesting talk about Kay McNulty – an Irish computer programmer and one of the six original programmers of the first general-purpose electronic digital computers.
23rd January 2025 – Eanna Ni Leamhna
Eanna Ni Leamhna gave us a very informative and thought-provoking talk about Protecting Biodiversity in our world.
5th December – Christmas Lunch
Our Christmas lunch this year was held on a very very wet Thursday afternoon. We had a lovely lunch and plenty of chat.
28th November – Sarah Purser, Irish Artist
Jessica Fahy, Freelance Art Historian, gave us a most interesting talk about Sarah Purser, an important Irish Artist.
For more information about Jessica, go to her website: jessicafahyarthistorian.com
24th October – Who Do You Think You Are?
Our President, Liza Toye, gave us some hints on tracing your family tree, with a few Toye Stories thrown in.
16th October 2024 – A Dublin Saunter
This year’s Dublin Saunter was to the National Botanic Gardens, where we had a really interesting tour (guided by the very knowledgeable Sinead), learning about plant families, the Caucasian Elm, some very old ferns and of course the famous wrought iron glasshouses.
10th October 2024 – John Phelan, Local History
John Phelan from the Rathfarnham and Ballyroan Historical Society gave us a very interesting talk about The Priory, an important local landmark just around the corner.
We learned about the Curran family who lived in the house, and the sad story of Gertie, who fell from a window and died; her broken-hearted father buried her nearby. We also learned about some of the sources for local history like Thom’s Directory.
26th September 2024 – Gillian Logan Interior Designer
Gillian Logan gave us an interesting talk about the current trends in interior design, as well as a lively question-and-answer session about hallways.
12th September 2024
At our first meeting back after the summer holidays, we had the “Welcome Back” Quiz. An opportunity to meet up and chat with friends, as well as puzzle out a few tricky questions!
