Maria Ronayne and Daniel McNicholas

MARIA RONAYNE and Daniel McNicholas were married on June 6th in the Church of St James’s, Spanish Place, Marylebone, in London, where the bride has lived for several years and where the groom arrived last year to begin a diplomatic posting with the US Embassy.

The traditional nuptial mass was conducted by the Rev Fr Terence Phipps and featured traditional Irish music and pieces from Mozart’s Coronation Mass sung by the Choir of St James’s.

The bride was attended by her sister and her niece and arrived at the church in a 1961 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II. She was given in marriage by her brother.

Maria is originally from Bray, Co Wicklow but grew up in Brussels and attended the European School there, before graduating from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in French and Drama Studies. She met Daniel, a graduate of Rolling Meadows High School near Chicago, at Trinity, where he earned his BA in political science.

They met when they were both living in Trinity Hall, the students’ residence in Rathmines. Daniel is originally from Chicago and is now a diplomat with the US foreign service. His foreign postings kept them apart until last year. Maria is a communications specialist with the charity Cancer Research UK, and the couple have made their home in London.

The reception was held at the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn in Holborn, where guests were entertained by speeches and toasts by the best man, the bride’s brother and the groom’s sister, before being encouraged on to the dancefloor for a traditional céilí. This turned out to be surprisingly popular with guests from England, Ireland, America, Luxembourg, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Syria.

Maria and Daniel will live in London until taking up their next diplomatic posting abroad.