Personality Profile

By VIVIENNE KENRICK

Mary Kilgarriff says she grew up in a service-minded family in Ireland. "When I moved to Japan in 1990, I was struck by the absence here of the type of community service that I took for granted.

I approached the Irish ambassador at that time, Jim Sharkey, and his wife, Sattie, and with their support began the Emerald Ball. I was the first chairperson of that first non-Japanese event in Japan to have as its mission the sponsorship of community projects," she said.

The 11th annual Emerald Ball will take place March 7 at the Westin Hotel, Tokyo, and Mary is again chairwoman. "I am proud to chair what has become a prestigious event," she said. "I am increasingly involved in helping to expand the role and the visibility of The Ireland Fund in Japan, and to forge links between Japan ad the Ireland Funds internationally."

Mary grew up in the west of Ireland, where her father was the headmaster of the local primary school, and chairman of the county council. She said: "I remember my home being the gathering place for all kinds of people, from national and local politicians making their stops during election years, to town leaders discussing community issues. My home also drew local residents, from small farmers to business owners, who wanted my father's support. He also served on several national committees, and the family often accompanied him to conferences in Ireland and across Europe. That was how I developed my love of travel. My sisters and I as exchange students spent every high school summer in France."

Graduated from University College Dublin, Mary decided upon a career in publishing. She joined Doubleday in New York, but within six months her life took an unexpected and decisive turn. Eileen Ford of the Ford Model Agency spotted her on the street.

Perhaps the surprise was that Mary had not been spotted before, nor taken her own decision to become a model. Launched with the Ford Model Agency, she spent the next five years on the catwalk and before the cameras. She had found her niche in fashion.

Mary and a friend, a like-minded and high-spirited Danish model, were hired by NBC TV Boston to report on the European collections. The two young women founded a production company to film the collections. Marie Claire magazine hired the company to produce a semiannual video magazine, Marie Claire Video Mode. As the company developed into a full-fledged marketing company, the niche that Mary had found for herself in fashion widened to take in beauty and luxury businesses.

She moved to Japan to take charge of new business developments for the Hearst Corp. She undertook the vice presidency of Worldwide Communications for the Ralph Lauren brands at L'Oreal. Last year she helped St. John, the U.S. fashion house, redesign its presence in Japan. Mary lives and works in both New York and Tokyo. She deals efficiently with the minutiae of across-the-globe living whilst occasionally lamenting "having the dress I want to wear in one country and the shoes in the other."

Mary recalls that, after the first Emerald Ball, its organizers were invited to join the international Ireland Funds organization. She explains: "The Ireland Fund of Japan provides a framework for a range of activities undertaken by Irish expatriates and people of Irish descent within their communities in Japan as well as in Ireland.

The goals of the IFJ include community outreach, conservation and environmental projects, and arts and cultural exchanges. Many of the causes are small and local in nature." Some of IFJ's unsung efforts are applied to helping with shelter for women facing domestic violence, and with daily food for the homeless. One unglamorous activity cleans beaches. Also coming within IFJ's orbit are more popular theatrical, architectural and archaeological enterprises, tree-planting and publishing projects.

IFJ is grateful to sponsors and the general public who have been loyal since the first Emerald Ball. This year's black-tie ball features cocktails and dinner, traditional Irish music and traditional Japanese music, swing music of The Big Band, and new sound built on a strong Celtic foundation of the Blasta group.

The Japan Times: March 1, 2003
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