Guinness heirs fathered JP Donleavy's children

12 April 2012

A best-selling author famed for his sexually-charged prose is at the centre of his own infidelity scandal, it emerged today.

JP Donleavy's two children from his second marriage are not his and were in fact fathered by two heirs of the Guinness dynasty, in what has been a closely guarded secret for more than 30 years.

His second wife, actress Mary Wilson Price, had affairs with Kieran Guinness and his brother Finn and became pregnant by each while married to The Ginger Man novelist. Kieran is the father of Rebecca, 32, while Finn is the father of Rory, 30.

The author has known for decades but never publicly admitted it and lists the children as his in his entry in Who's Who.

Kieran, 62, said: "I've no means of knowing whether he knew he wasn't their father when they were born, I've sometimes wondered.

"I don't consider any of it a secret but one doesn't want to upset anyone. He is a close friend and I'm fond of him." DNA tests were carried out on the children in 1988 when Donleavy and Price divorced. Kieran added: "I don't know what happened in testing. It was 30 years ago."

After their affair, Price fell in love with his brother Finn, now 66, and they married in 1989.

Rebecca and Rory have never spoken publicly about their parentage.

Donleavy is a virtual recluse on a 180-acre estate in Co Westmeath.

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