The Decline and Fall of the Dukes of Leinster

Old Drogheda Society

Event: launch of  The Decline and Fall of the Dukes of Leinster, 1872–1948 Love, War, Debt and Madness by Terence Dooley.

Date: Thursday 5th June @7:00pm.

Venue: The Carton Suite, Carton House, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.

Host: by Conor Mallaghan.

 

In a 70-year period, the dukes of Leinster fell from being Ireland's premier aristocratic family, close friends of the British monarchy, secure within the world's most powerful empire, to relative obscurity in an independent Irish Free State (Irish Republic after 1949) that did not recognize titles. And while in 1872, when this work opens, the 3rd duke of Leinster resided in some grandeur in the Palladian Carton House, the 7th duke would die impoverished in a one-room bedsit flat in St George's Drive, Westminster, London, just over a century later in 1976. The story moves from the small town of Maynooth, Co. Kildare, to London, to Continental Europe, to an asylum in Edinburgh, to the US, before completing the circle and ending back in Maynooth in the 1940s. The narrative of decline and fall unfolds against such historical watersheds as the Land War of the 1880s; the simultaneous rise of the Home Rule movement; the breakup of Irish landed estates after 1903; the Great War of 1914–18; the revolutionary turmoil of 1916–23; and the 1920s global economic depression. The impact of such public has featured prominently in the historiography of the decline of the Irish landed class, both north and south. However, little attempt has been made to combine that history with private lives and experiences. This book sets out to rectify this. In the process, it reveals the tragic personal story of Hermione, 5th duchess of Leinster, and her three sons, gathered from sources heretofore unused by historians of the Leinsters. Terence Dooley is associate professor and director of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, NUIM. He is the author of several books on country houses and the land question in 19th- and 20th-century Ireland; his most recent is an edited volume with Christopher Ridgway, The Irish country house: its past, present and future (2011). Available Now 304pp colour ills 978-1-84682-533-0 €24.95 Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097

Bank Holiday Weekend - What's On

Old Drogheda Society

What’s On in the area for Bank Holiday Weekend

 

Thursday May 29^th

Boyne Walking Festival –Drogheda Steps Challenge

Meet at Hanratty’s, Scarlet Street, 7pm

Flavours of the Boyne Valley – Scholars Hotel

An Evening celebrating local food in Conjunction with the Boyne Valley Food Series 

Table Quiz in McHugh’s The Venue

In aid if Global Brigades Ireland 9pm

 

Friday May 30^th

Boyne Walking Festival – Boyne Greenway Walk

Meet at St Dominics Park,6pm

SSC Airtricity League of Ireland – Drogheda Utd v Limerick

United Park 7.45pm

 

Saturday May 31^st

Boyne Walking Festival – Boyne to Coast Walk

Register at St Fechin’s GAA Club, Beaulieu at 9.30am

East of Ireland Amateur Golf Open Championships Day 1

County Louth Golf Club, Baltray

Lunchtime Concert in the Tholsel

Violin Duo, Tadhg Murphy & Istvan Brnacz 1.15pm

Kids Kast The Rhythm of the Night

TLT Theatre, Drogheda 7pm    

 

Sunday June 1^st

Boyne Walking Festival – New Mellifont Loop Walk

Register at Collon Community Hall at 10am

East of Ireland Amateur Golf Open Championships Day 2

County Louth Golf Club, Baltray

Living History Demonstrations

Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre, Oldbridge 11am – 4.45pm

Open Day in Listoke Gardens

In aid of Clogherhead Lifeboat Service 1pm –5pm

Kids Kast The Rhythm of the Night

TLT Theatre, Drogheda 7pm    

 

Monday June 2^nd

East of Ireland Amateur Golf Open Championships Finals

County Louth Golf Club, Baltray

Country Music Night with Declan Nerney

Ardboyne Hotel, Navan 9pm

 

Please note that there is NO Living History Demonstration in Oldbridge on Saturday and the D Day Festival at the new Irish Military War Museum in Starinagh, Collon has been postponed until later this year.

 

 There are late bar extensions until 2am on Saturday and Sunday for details of what's happening in the local pubs see

http://drogheda.ie/whats-on/drogheda-gig-guide.html 

 

 Full `details on www.drogheda.ie    Drogheda Tourist Office is open Friday 30th, Saturday 31st and Monday Jine 2nd 9.30am - 5.30pm

 

Drogheda Museum Millmount is open Saturday 9.30am - 5.30pm and on Sunday and Monday 2pm - 5pm ( Last Tours 60 minutes before closing)  

 

Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage

Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097