ELIZABETH O’BRIEN, from Co Meath, and Alexander Scheer from Austria were married on May 30th at University College Chapel in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, where the bride’s parents were married and she was baptised. A close family friend, Fr Oliver Powell, conducted the ceremony, which included some readings in German.
Elizabeth is the daughter of Sheila O’Brien of Clontarf and the late Patrick O’Brien of Durrow Abbey, Co Offaly, who died in 1999. Her cousin Patrick Kelliher, a close friend of her father’s, escorted her down the aisle, and she was assisted in different ways by her four sisters, Sheila, Michelle, Sarah and Rachael. She was educated at the Loreto school in Navan and at Our Lady’s in Rathnew, Co Wicklow before studying law at Trinity College Dublin (LL.B), King’s Inns, Dublin, and Vienna University, where she received an LL.M in international law. A practising barrister, she is about to begin a doctorate in further international legal studies at the University of Vienna.
Alexander is the son of Frau Inge Egger, and grew up in St Johann im Pongau, 60km south of Salzburg, where the couple now live. Both his father Walter Scheer and stepfather, Josef Egger, are deceased. Gerhard Marihart acted as his best man, and his mother, brother, sister-in-law and godchild were in Dublin for the wedding. He went to school in St Johann im Pongau and qualified as a nurse, and is now proprietor of a shop specialising in bicycles and triathalon sports equipment. Alexander completed both the Vienna and Linz marathons within six weeks of getting married. He is well known as an athlete in Austria.
The couple met while skiing in Ischgl, Austria in November 2007, when Elizabeth was studying in Vienna. They became engaged in London on Alexander’s birthday in January 2009 and decided to get married in Ireland. Elizabeth’s sister Rachael is engaged to a friend of Alexander’s, Valentin Zeller, whom she met on the same skiing holiday. The bride has been commuting for the past 18 months between Dublin and Austria.
Their reception for 50 close friends was held at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, where, steeped in bank holiday sunshine, they had a champagne reception on the terrace before a five-course dinner in the Wellesley Room. The next day Elizabeth’s mother hosted a barbecue complete with an Austrian cocktail hut set up in the garden, and the couple are having a party in Austria on July 11th for “the Austrian contingent”.
The couple travelled to Austria the following Monday. They are planning a honeymoon during the winter when Alex closes his shop during the ski season.