Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Right Honourable The Lord Dunsany
Plunkett in 2021
Born	(1983-03-09) 9 March 1983 (age 42) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	Irish
Education	Headfort School The King's Hospital Institut Le Rosey
Alma mater	Kingston University
Occupation	Film director, property owner, rewilding advocate
Years active	2009–present
Title	21st Baron of Dunsany
Predecessor	Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany
Partner(s)	Laura Dillon (fiancée)
Children	1 daughter, 1 stepdaughter
Parent(s)	Edward J. C. Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany Maria Alice de Marsillac (née Villela de Carvalho)

Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany (born 9 March 1983) is an Irish filmmaker, landowner, and a big supporter of rewilding. Rewilding means helping nature return to its wild state. He holds an old title called a "peerage" and lives at Dunsany Castle. This castle is one of the oldest homes in Ireland where people have lived for a very long time.

Randal became the Baron of Dunsany after his father passed away in 2011. He has directed many short films and worked on other movie projects. He also uses his castle estate for filming and editing movies. In 2018–2019, he made his first full-length movie, The Green Sea, which came out in 2021. Since 2014, Randal has been a strong voice for rewilding. He has turned about half of his family's land in County Meath into Ireland's largest private nature reserve.

Early Life and School Days

Randal Plunkett was born on March 8, 1983, in New York City. His parents lived there and worked in design. His father, Edward Plunkett, was the 20th Baron of Dunsany, an artist and designer. His mother, Maria Alice de Marsillac Plunkett, was an architect from Brazil. Randal has a younger brother, Oliver, and two older half-siblings, Joana and Daniel. They all grew up together.

Randal lived with his family in London and at Dunsany Castle. For primary school, he went to a local school and Headfort School near Kells. He then attended The King's Hospital in Dublin. For his later high school years, he studied at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland and a college prep center in Oxford, England. There, he studied classic subjects, English literature, and sociology. He credits one of his teachers there for inspiring his interest in film.

After high school, Randal studied Film Studies at Kingston University in London. He returned to Ireland to help care for his father, who was ill. During this time, he thought about a career in sports science. But his parents encouraged him to go back to film. He took a special course in Digital Video at the SAE Institute in Amsterdam. He later studied more at the SAE branch in London, where he met a future filmmaking friend, Stefano Battarola.

Becoming the Baron of Dunsany

Randal Plunkett became the Baron of Dunsany on May 24, 2011, after his father passed away. He still lives at Dunsany Castle, which is on a large estate of over 1,500 acres. The castle is near Dunshaughlin and Kilmessan, about 30 kilometers north of Dublin. Even though some of the land was sold off a long time ago, it's still a very big property. Randal's younger brother, Oliver, who designs games, is next in line to inherit the title.

Filmmaking Career

Randal Plunkett started making films around 2009. He produced and directed several short films that were shown at different film festivals. His first film as a director was a thriller called Kiss Kiss (2010), which was set in London.

After that, he came back to Ireland. He produced a low-budget film called Guerrilla (2010), which was filmed on the Dunsany lands. This movie was about Ireland under martial law in the future. Next, he made a horror film called Prey (2011). His fourth short film, Walt (2011), had some parts based on his own life. Randal has used his castle estate, including old ruined buildings, as filming locations for many of his movies.

Out There and Production Work

Randal received money from private sources for his next film, a horror movie called Out There. He wrote the script with his brother Oliver. Out There won "Best Industry Short" at the Limerick Film Festival and "Best Short Movie" at a festival in Germany. It was also chosen to be shown at the famous Cannes Film Festival.

In 2010, Randal started his own film company, Dunsany Productions, at Dunsany Castle. He has worked on more than 40 film projects in Ireland. He has done many different jobs in film production and post-production (editing and finishing films) at his facilities at Dunsany. He always wanted to make his own longer movies.

The Green Sea Feature Film

Randal Plunkett's first full-length movie, a drama called The Green Sea, was filmed in different places like Mullingar, Dublin, and Brittas Bay. About half of the scenes were filmed in Mullingar. Some scenes were also filmed at Dunsany Castle, where one building was painted black for the movie. The film was made in 2018–2019 but was released in mid-2021 because of delays from Covid.

Randal was the director, scriptwriter, and executive producer for The Green Sea. He also helped edit the film. He has said that parts of the movie were inspired by his own life. The film received a good review from The Guardian newspaper. The Green Sea and Randal's work won several awards, including:

• "Best Feature Film" at the Paris Play Film Festival (April 2021)
• "Best Indie Feature Film" and "Best Feature Script" at the Florence Film Awards (April 2021)
• "Best Production" and "Best Editing" at the New York Movie Awards (April 2021)

Rewilding the Dunsany Estate

Randal Plunkett is a strong supporter and doer of rewilding. Rewilding means letting nature take back control of an area. He became a vegan in 2014, which means he doesn't eat animal products. Around the same time, he learned about rewilding.

First, he changed the Dunsany Estate to organic farming, which means not using chemical pesticides. Then, he set aside 750 acres of the estate as a nature preserve. This area includes hundreds of acres of forest. On the remaining land, he only grows certain crops like wheat and beans.

The Dunsany Nature Reserve is the largest private nature reserve in Ireland. As of 2022, it is the only rewilding project in Ireland recognized by the European Rewilding Network. Many animals have returned to the estate, and the variety of plants and animals has grown. Randal has also banned hunting on his land, which he says has caused some problems for him.

Small groups can visit the reserve by arranging it beforehand. However, Randal does not plan to build paths, signs, or visitor centers like a café. The rewilding project does not get money from the government or private groups. But in 2020, about 14,000 euro was given by the government for important work on the castle and its walled garden.

Personal Life

Randal Plunkett's father passed away in 2011 after a long illness. His mother passed away in 2020. They are both buried on the Dunsany estate.

Randal is engaged to Laura Dillon, who is an occupational therapist. They announced their engagement in November 2020. They have a daughter, who is the heir to the castle and estate. Randal has said that his daughter will inherit the property. However, as of 2022, the title of Baron would still pass to a male relative. This is because of old rules that usually give titles to males. Randal hopes this rule might change in the future. Randal is Catholic.

Sources

• Dunsany Productions website