Lady Eleanor Palmer ''née'' Ambrose (1718/20–1818) was a celebrated beauty and Catholic heiress. Her father, Michael, was well-educated but disbarred from several professions by his religion. He became a

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and made his fortune. He resided at Mount Ambrose,

Swords, County Dublin Swords ( or ) in County Dublin, the county town of the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government area of Fingal, is a large suburban town on the east coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated ten kilometres north of D ...

. Eleanor was described as "beautiful, witty, intellectual and a fevent

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

" who "managed to penetrate Dublin society, despite the fact that she was a Catholic. Indeed, she became a darling of the Viceregal Court, and during the Viceroyalty of

Lord Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfi ...

, she and her sister Clara were the prominent socialites of the Castle set. Chesterfield was attracted to her, and she soon accompanied him to all official ceremonies. Influenced by her opinions, Chesterfield is reported to have told George II that ''poverty not Popery was to be feared in Ireland'', he had found ''only one dangerous papist, the brightness of whose eyes and charms, and whose conversation were indeed dangerous'', and her name was Eleanor Ambrose". However, Eleanor ensured the relationship stayed platonic. In 1752 she married Roger Palmer of Castle Lackin,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

(created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

1777) and had issue. She died at her house on

Henry Street, Dublin Henry Street () is located on Dublin's Northside and is one of the two principal shopping streets of Dublin (the other being Grafton Street). Location Henry Street runs from the Spire of Dublin and the General Post Office on O'Connell Street ...

, in 1816, "retaining to the last a vehement hatred of the wrongs under which her Catholic fellow-countrymen laboured." A song written about her story by Aido Lawlor - from Rush North Co Dublin - was recorded by the singer

Aoife Scott Aoife Scott is an Irish singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland. She was a finalist in the Liet International song contest for minority languages in 2011. Career Scott's first album was released in 2016 and entitled ''Carry The Day''. Scott has p ...

on her 2016 album Carry the Day.

References

External links

* http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000301263 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose, Eleanor 18th-century births 1816 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people 18th-century Irish women People from Swords, County Dublin 19th-century Irish women Wives of baronets

See also

References

External links