Seán Kinsella (1931 – 20 May 2013) was an Irish

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

, regarded as Ireland's first celebrity chef, who owned and operated the Mirabeau restaurant in

Sandycove Sandycove () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is southeast of Dún Laoghaire and Glasthule, and northwest of Dalkey. It is a popular seaside resort and is well known for its bathing place, the Forty Foot, which in the past was reserved for me ...

, Dublin, during the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Kinsella was born in 1931 in

Cooraclare Cooraclare () is a village near Kilrush, in County Clare, Ireland, and a Catholic parish by the same name. Location The village of Cooraclare is in the parish of Cooraclare (Kilmacduane) in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is from Kil ...

, County Clare, but moved to Dublin as a child, and grew up on

Clonliffe Clonliffe () is an area on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland, between Ballybough and Drumcondra in the Dublin 3 postal district. Location Clonliffe Road, previously known as Fortick's Lane, is a wide thoroughfare that forms the central arter ...

Road in north Dublin. He left school early, and by age 14 was working in the kitchens of Dublin's

Gresham Hotel Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin, formerly The Gresham Hotel, is a historic Star (classification)#Hotel ratings, four-star hotel on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a Dublin institution and landmark building which ...

. He later worked in Jammets, a leading Dublin restaurant, and from 1953 to 1972 worked as executive chef on P&O Cruises vessels, mainly the SS Oronsay. In 1972 he met his wife Audrey in New York. Later that year the couple returned to Ireland and bought the existing Mirabeau restaurant, on the coast road at Sandycove on Dublin Bay. Under Kinsella, the restaurant acquired a high reputation, attracting a clientele of wealthy local and international celebrities. It distinguished itself by not showing prices on the menu (apart from the host's menu), presenting the ingredients before cooking for the guests' approval, serving generous portions, and allowing guests to stay as long as they wanted. The restaurant won many international awards, including the Wedgwood Award as one of the world's top 50 restaurants in 1981, and Kinsella himself received an honorary doctorate from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in the United States. Kinsella lived a flamboyant lifestyle, displaying his Rolls-Royce car and mixing in the highest levels of the Irish social scene, though he never drank alcohol. Kinsella regularly took part in charity catering events, such as cooking Christmas dinners for the homeless at Dublin's Mansion House. In 1984, financial difficulties with the tax authorities resulted in the closure of the Mirabeau, and the Kinsella family, who had been living on the premises, had to leave. The restaurant was bought by investors, and Michel Flamme became the chef. He suffered from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, and died on 20 May 2013, aged 81. The site of the restaurant is now occupied by an apartment block.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Sean Irish chefs 1931 births 2013 deaths People from County Clare