Born in Wexford in 1878, Eileen GRAY was brought up in comfortable circumstances in Brownswood House. At the age of 20 she went to London to study art, and on to Paris two years later. So far as is known, it does not appear that she visited Ireland again during her long life. She became a designer of furniture and screens and some other decorative pieces and later in her life she built a house, acting as an architect. In 1975, a year before her death, some of her furniture was reproduced commercially. All of her work is now considered to be of very great importance, particularly her chairs, tables and sofas and those very few pieces outside of museum collections are in the private homes of the leading European designers. She guarded her privacy with determination and only recently has her importance been recognized. A photo of Eileen Gray taken in 1913 with her lovely face peeking out through a sea of peacock feathers can be found in the Jan-Feb 2000 issue of "Ireland of the Welcomes" as well as a fairly recent book, "Eileen Gray," by Francois Baudot, published by Thames and Hudson, (ISBN 0-500-01853-7).