"Miranda Smiley was the most bewitching debutante of her season; gorgeous and glowing with life and humour, she was popular with the girls of her year as much as with men, and, in 1963, made the match she seemed destined for when she married Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh.
She guided him true, shaping his natural good taste into a kind of killer focus, geared towards architecturally important buildings, "serious" art (he favoured 16th- and 17th-century Old Masters), and fine wines (he had a share in the Chateau Lascombes vineyard in Bordeaux).
Along the way, they had fun together, hosting and attending parties for the kind of people Ryan wouldn't have had access to without her – wealth alone is never sufficient passport to the world of intellectuals and aristocrats.
The Guinness Storehouse at St James's Gate was the venue for the party as Iveagh House, which was the old family townhouse in Dublin, is occupied by the Department of Foreign Affairs and was unavailable for the occasion.
[citation needed] Lady Iveagh died in late December 2010 at the age of 70 at her home, Wilbury House, following a long illness.