Previewing Lainey’s press book with her work.

We enjoyed tea time in Lainey’s gorgeous conservatory!

Some of Lainey’s designs in her studio.

My treasured piece. 

The lake on the Guinness Estate that looks like a glass of Guinness!

Luggala – the house on the Guinness Estate.

LOFT PONCHO // GRAY TEE // TALBOTS DENIM // LACE UP FLATS

GIVENCHY BAG VIA BAG BORROW OR STEAL // FEATHER NECKLACE

Day 2 was my absolute favorite from our time in Ireland with The Retreat. We woke up and had a morning yoga session at the Powerscourt Hotel followed by another delicious breakfast. Then we headed off, along with the rain, for a dream whirlwind of a day..

Our first stop was the stunning home and studio of Irish designer Lainey Keogh. I wasn’t familiar with Lainey’s work before our trip, but to put it into perspective, it would be like DVF hosting you in her private home for lunch and girl talk. Lainey is an Irish (genius) designer of knitwear, who held her first major runway show during London Fashion Week back in 1997. (The likes of Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen walked in her show.) Her designs have appeared all across fashion magazines, from Vogue, Dior designs (John Galliano used her textiles in a 1998 Dior collection), and even an Irish postage stamp. Our afternoon was spent in her gorgeous home and studio, trying on the luxurious cashmere pieces, sipping tea and listening to Lainey chat about her career, and sharing sweet laughs with this Irish gem. I of course went home with one of her pieces (you’ll see it soon!) which you can buy at select boutiques in the US. It was one of the most incredible afternoons of my life and one I’ll cherish forever – it’s hard to put into words how much I enjoyed this afternoon!

After Lainey’s, we headed over clad in her very own rain boots and all to the home studio of artist Rocco Tulio where he shared his love and passion for art and showed us some of his designs. His work is currently being shown in the National Gallery in Ireland! Rocco has such an eye and talent for unique pieces. I was especially impressed with his work with wax.

If you follow me on instagram, you may remember my mentioning our special afternoon at the Guinness Estate! Some very special friends of Grania’s were able to schedule an afternoon champagne celebration and tour of the Guinness Estate in Wicklow, hosted by Garech Browne himself. Garech is the current resident of Luggala, heir to the Guinness fortune, and even founder of the Claddagh Records company. Garech was so gracious to have us into his private home – he gave us a tour of the entire house (photos weren’t allowed) and shared special moments of history and art from Luggala. The likes of Michael Jackson and Mick Jaggar have even stayed at Luggala in the past!

We topped off this incredible day with the most divine dinner at a cozy local restaurant called the Wicklow Heather. If you happen to be in the Wicklow area, I highly recommend this spot! The artists from the day joined us, and we shared stories and laughs about our passions, careers, and lives over ridiculous amounts of food, tasty wine, and delectable desserts.

The amount of creativity and excitement I found in this day is indescribable. I’m finding it hard to write just a blog post about it all.. really, you can only experience it for yourself to understand. For more information on the next Retreat: Ireland and to learn how you can make these destinations part of your memories, visit the full website.

For more The Retreat: Ireland coverage, catch my recaps from Day 1 and our Powerscourt Dinner.

Photos by Jessica Meade

SHOP THE LOOK

I picked up this lightweight poncho right before our trip and it was the perfect piece to wear. It’s a great transitional piece for summer into fall! I paired it with these new black skinny jeans from Talbots (which are out of this world comfortable) and some lace up flats. For this trip, I mostly wore flats since we’d be on our feet the majority of the time and in and out of areas with rocks and bumpy terrain.