The Social Network

Compiled by JAMES GIBBONS

Girls, girls, girls . . . and Mrs Brown’s boy

Rory Cowan, the Mrs Brown's Boysactor, accompanied his real mother, Esther Cowan, to the opening of Calendar Girls on Monday evening at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. He said Esther is a bit like Mrs Brown. "I'm 52, and my mother will still tell me what to do and acts like I'm six or seven." He'll be spending St Patrick's Day in Edinburgh, where he is due to perform in Good Mourning Mrs Brownat the Edinburgh Playhouse.

The show played the Empire Theatre in Liverpool last December, and Cowan said that next December the new show, Mrs Brown Rides Again, will move to the larger Liverpool Echo Arena. “Our six nights sold out quicker than Paul McCartney’s one night.”

Some members of the new TV3 series Southside Housewives,which is currently being filmed, were there. Lisa Murphy, Jo Jordan and Roz Flanagan were joined by Roz's daughter Vicky Flanagan. Murphy, who was wearing Manoush, couldn't stay for the show, so she escorted the girls to the foyer as the television camera followed them. She posed for photographs with the other southside housewives, and once the cameras were switched off she left to join her partner, Gerald Kean, for dinner. She told me he had business associates over from China and they had decided to dine at Furama, in Donnybrook.

She is enjoying the filming. “The girls are fantastic, and I just met Roz for the first time tonight.”

Teena Gates, the head of news with 98fm, has just published a book, One Foot in Front of the Other: From 23 Stone to Me, about her struggle to lose weight. She's looking forward to visiting Youghal, Co Cork, for a book signing on April 7th. She is also taking part in the Munster Four Peaks Challenge for the Hope Foundation.

The marketing manager of Calendar Girls,Philip Lee, told me the cast – who are staying at the Maldron Hotel and in an apartment block on South Dock – "absolutely love Ireland". This evening is the last chance to catch the show at the Grand Canal Theatre.

Who we spottedWeatherman Deric Hartigan; Larry Gogan

What we heard"Can I have my photo taken with you?" by lots and lots of Rory Cowan fans

Prose and Con

As he launched Memories of Con Howardin the United Arts Club on Wednesday evening Sean Donlon, a former ambassador to the US, recalled Seamus Heaney's suggestion that every year on the anniversary of former diplomat Con Howard's death "the nation should declare two minutes of pandemonium".

There was certainly pandemonium outside the drawingroom of the club. Those who arrived late could not get into the room.

Then the crowd started to fill the stairs.

The artist Carmel Mooney – an honorary member of the club – offered her chair to Fr Tom Stack, who was sitting on the ground. Mooney grew up in the medieval Rothe House in Kilkenny, and, although now firmly planted in Ballsbridge, she has not forgotten her roots.

The former librarian of Trinity College, Monica Henchy, is one of the contributors to the book. She was accompanied by her daughter Deirdre Henchy and her grandson Conor Mulvagh, who is doing a PhD in history at UCD.

Mulvagh’s interest in history, John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party was sparked by his grandmother. Henchy used to live in Aughavannagh Hunting Lodge, in south Co Wicklow. Formerly a barracks, built after the 1798 Rebellion, it once belonged to Charles Stewart Parnell and was later owned by Redmond.

Mary Caulfield, a former chairman of the club, edited the book and signed copies.

Who we spottedAuthor John Banville; Thomas Ryan PPRHA and president of the arts club; Dr Bríd O'Doherty, whose father Joseph was a member of the first Dáil; author Ulick O'Connor, who also spoke; Con Howard's daughter, Hilary Nic Íomhair, from Castledermot and his niece, Mary Linnane, from Corofin; Niall Stokes of Hot Press; Jenny Slevin Wiliams, who recently finished a portrait of Prof Peter Gatenby, formerly of TCD.

A taste of Stradbally in Dublin – and a tasty line-up for the Picnic

The launch party for EP12 – that’s Electric Picnic 2012 – kicked off at 6pm on Thursday at the Market Bar in Dublin, and Tom Cosby was back in his car, travelling down to his stately pile, Stradbally Hall, by 7pm. Invited guests enjoyed the hospitality well into the night, however.

It was a little like A Taste of Dublin inside the door (which is being opened by Jamie Oliver on June 14th) as Natasha’s Living Food displayed its raw chocolate and sweets on a table just inside the entrance. Dylan McGrath gave Natasha Czopor’s chocolates the thumbs-up. The celebrity chef and proprietor of Rustic Stone restaurant told me he’s working on a project and “in the middle of inventing other concepts which would not compete with Rustic Stone”. He confirmed that he’s looking at sites.

Acts including The Cure, Christy Moore, Bell X1, Ed Sheeran, Sigur Rós and Elbow are set to perform from August 31st to September 2nd in Stradbally, Co Laois. Hugo Jellett is looking forward to managing the fringe element at the Salty Dog Stage again this year. “It’s a slightly renegade aspect to the festival which soaks up the late-night revellers until about 4am.”

Event manager Ronan Healy of Catapult Event Production and Design was getting ready for the Irish Hairdressing Championships, which take place in Citywest tomorrow.

David Popplewell, a former youth development officer with the IRFU and now a sales executive with Heineken, is looking forward to seeing Orbital at the Picnic. He was enjoying the launch with Mel Larkin, who is also looking forward to enjoying a few days in Laois.

That’d be  the cooking Guinnesses

Charlotte Horton and her half-brother Alexander Greene – a descendant of the Guinness family – made a whistle-stop tour of the country over the past few days with their pop-up Castello di Potentino food experience. They served up Tuscan food and wine before heading back to their castle in Tuscany, which is also a working farm and vineyard.

On Wednesday they popped up at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery on Dawson Street, Dublin; on Thursday they popped up at the Hunt Museum in Limerick; and yesterday evening saw them make an appearance at the Science Gallery on Pearse Street, Dublin.

Alexander’s father (and Charlotte’s stepfather), Graham Greene – a nephew of the novelist – worked previously for Guinness Mahon here before going on to become, among other things, chairman of the British Museum. Graham’s maternal grandfather was Sam Guinness of the “banking” Guinnesses. It used to be said that the Guinness family could serve either draught or an overdraft. The banking side was founded by “uncle” Arthur’s younger brother.

Celebrating  the legacy of an august architect

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan opened an exhibition of drawings to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin at the Irish Architectural Archive, on Merrion Square, on Thursday evening. “We owe a debt of gratitude to Pugin,” the Minister said, referring to the fact that the architect built St Mary’s Cathedral in the minister’s home county of Kerry.

However, a leading expert on Pugin, Dr Roderick O’Donnell – who has written a new book on Pugin to accompany the exhibition – told me that, in his view, “Killarney Cathedral was wrecked in the 1970s by Bishop Eamon Casey, who had the building completely ripped out.”

Prof Alistair Rowan, who lectured in the history of art at UCD and then UCC, was there with his wife, Ann Martha Rowan. The chairman of the archive, Michael Webb, was accompanied by his wife, Melissa, who is the chairwoman of Trinity Association and Trust.

Who we spottedHistorian Dr John Maiben Gilmartin; Graham Hickey of Dublin Civic Trust; Simon Williams of the Trinity Foundation; antiques dealer Roxane Moorhead; conservation architect Kevin Blackwood

What we drankWine