Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany

Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany (born 9 March 1983),[1] is an Irish film director and producer,[2] as well as a landowner and holder of one of the oldest surviving Irish peerage titles, and one of the longest-inhabited houses in Ireland.

The Right Honourable

Randal Plunkett, Lord Dunsany
Born (1983-03-09) 9 March 1983
NationalityIrish
OccupationFilm director, property owner
Title21st Baron of Dunsany
Parent(s)Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany
Maria Alice Villela de Carvalho

Early life

Plunkett is the elder son of the 20th Baron of Dunsany with his wife, Brazilian architect Maria Alice Villela de Carvalho,[3] and the great-grandson of the 18th Baron of Dunsany, the author. The current Lord Dunsany, of Irish, Brazilian and English extraction, was born in New York City, where his parents were living and working at the time.[3]

His family subsequently moved, in 1992, to Ireland, his father's homeland.[3] He attended schools in Ireland, including Headfort School, The King's Hospital on the outskirts of Dublin, Institut Le Rosey, a boarding school in Switzerland, and a pre-college course in Oxford, where he moved his focus from sociology to film, a long-term interest of his.[4][5]

He holds a degree in Film Studies from London's Kingston University, as well as a diploma in Digital Video[2] from the SAE Institute, at whose Amsterdam campus he studied.

Succession

He succeeded to the title of Baron of Dunsany on 24 May 2011, upon the death of his father, an artist and sculptor.[3] He lives at his family's ancient castle, Dunsany Castle, on its estate near Dunshaughlin, about 30 km north of Dublin. The heir presumptive to the baronial title is his younger brother, Oliver.[6]

Career

Lord Dunsany has produced and directed a range of film shorts, which have been shown at various film festivals. One,'Walt', won the Best Drama Award at the LIT Festival.[4] In 2010, he established Dunsany Productions, a film production company.[2] He has worked on feature length films since the mid-2000s, including one entitled Out There and another, as of 2019, Green Sea.[7] He has used his estate lands, and its building, some partly ruinous, as locations for some of his filming.[8]

Rewilding

Dunsany has been an advocate of rewilding at his estate.[9]

In 2013, he appeared in the final episode of the second season of TLC's reality television series Secret Princes, in which his brother Oliver was appearing as a series regular.[10]

Personal life

Dunsany's mother died in the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Having previously been in a relationship with Irish actress Emma Eliza Regan,[4] he remains unmarried as of 2020.

Descent

Notes
  1. Dunsany, 21st Baron of (cr 1439). Oxford and London: A. & C. Black / Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. "Dunsany Productions". www.dunsanyproductions.com. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  3. "Obituary of the 20th Lord Dunsany". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. O'Riordan, Alison (2 September 2019). "Perfectly cast for success". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. "Randal Plunkett". IMDb. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  6. http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/dunsany1462.htm Cracroft's Peerage: Dunsany
  7. Bat. "Director Randal Plunkett Teases Poster Artwork For Feature Length Film Debut THE GREEN SEA". Horror Cult Films (online magazine). Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  8. Bat; Williams, Gavin. "HCF Exclusive Interview with Director Randal Plunkett". Horror Cult Films (online magazine). Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  9. Donohoe, John (28 December 2019). "Interview: The Nature Lord, Dunsany's Randal Plunkett". Meath Chronicle. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  10. "Secret Princes - Watch Full Episodes & More!". TLC. Retrieved 25 January 2019.

Sources
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Edward Plunkett		 Baron of Dunsany
2011–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent


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