Dominick Browne, the fourth Lord Oranmore and Browne, who has died at the age of 100, enjoyed the twin distinctions of being the longest serving members of the House of Lords, until his eviction as part of the recent reforms, and to have attended the chamber for 72 years without once making a speech.

Born in Dublin in 1901 the young Dominick was heir to the Irish peerages of Oranmore and Browne of Carrabrowne Castle, County Galway, and Castle MacGarrett, County Mayo. His early years were divided between the esates in Ireland and the family home in England at Mereworth Castle in Kent.

He was educated at Eton and Oxford before spending a brief spell in the Grenadier Guards.

The first of several tragedies to befall the family occurred in 1927 when his parents died as the result of air crash. In 1930 he sold Mereworth Castle and lived mainly at Castle MacGarrett, near Claremorris.

His first marriage ended in divorce in 1936 caused by his affair with heiress Oonagh Guinness. With sisters Aileen and Maureen, she made up the trio known as the Golden Guinness Girls. With large doe-like eyes, shiny hair, pale arms, social position and, of course, money, the Girls were the true-life prototypes for the ''It'' crowd of the twenties.

Oonagh became the next Lady Oranmore and Browne, and was famous for throwing ''raffish weekends'' at Luggala, her Gothic pile in Wicklow. A Magritte masterpiece hung above the fireplace in the drawing room, looking a little dull after the maid cleaned it with some Vim. Oonagh's many guests were ferried around in break-neck style in her silver Rolls-Royce, although the passengers were likely to be found crouched in the back, hanging on for dear life. Sam, the chauffeur, had a small drinking problem. One guest summed up the journey as ''like going from Sodom to Gomorrah''.

This marriage, too, ended in divorce in 1950 and the following year Oranmore and Browne secretly married Constance Vera Stevens, the actress Sally Gray who had been trained as a dancer by Fred Astaire and starred in several films in the forties. But with a large staff to maintain, things became increasingly difficult at Castle MacGarrett.

Oranmore and Browne tried some imaginative methods to make the place pay, one of which involved moving pigs into the castle.The land was compulsorily acquired for redistribution by the Irish land commission and the house became an old people's home run by nuns. He moved to live permanently in London.

Tragedy struck again in 1966 when Tara, his second son by Oonagh Guinness, and a friend of the John Lennon, was killed in a car accident in Chelsea. The accident is believed to have been the inspiration behind A Day in the Life from the Beatles Sgt Pepper album.

Last October he celebrated his 100th birthday with his family and close friends at the Ritz Hotel. He died at his home in Eaton Place

He is survived by his wife, Constance, by two sons and one daughter of his first marriage and by the eldest son of his marriage to Oonagh Guinness. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Dominick.

Lord Oranmore and Browne; born October 21, 1901, died August 7, 2002.