Peg Plunkett | |
|---|---|
 Miss Plunkett | |
| Born | c. 1727 Westmeath, Ireland |
| Died | 1797 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Other names | Margaret Leeson |
| Known for | keeping a brothel |
Peg Plunkett, born Margaret Plunkett (c. 1727–1797) was an Irish courtesan, brothel keeper and memoirist, who went by the alias Margaret Leeson.
Early Life
editMargaret Plunkett was born in Killagh in County Westmeath in Ireland [1] around 1727. (Her date of birth is not accepted by all who have written about her: Francis Leeson believed she was born about 1736 and Julie Peakman, the author of Peg Plunkett: memoirs of a whore, prefers a birth date of about 1742.[2])
She was one of eight of her mother's 22 children who survived childhood. After her mother's death, she was sent to live with relatives in Co. Cavan. On her return, her father was not well enough to look after the estate and it was taken over by her eldest brother Christopher. Shortly after this, at the age of 15, she left for Dublin with her sister, fleeing her brother's alleged abuse but was eventually ordered to return home. She went on to have a brief stay with her sister and brother in law in Tullamore, but was sent home once again after being caught attempting to elope with a neighbour. After one more failed attempt to escape to Dublin, her father managed to gather money from his own tenants and send her to Dublin once again to live with her sister, where she remained for much of her later life.[3]
Entry into Sex Work
editNow settled in Dublin she met a friend of her brother in law's Mr Dardis, who promised to marry her. Upon becoming pregnant with his child, he set her up with a house and thus she removed herself from her families protections. [4] After giving birth to their child, she cut ties with Dardis. It is not confirmed whether her sisters were aware of the pregnancy, however they rejected her requests for help and she was forced to fend for herself and from here began her reliance on the support of men.[5].
She went on to become mistress to Thomas Caulfield to whom she bore a son. This child later died suddenly and it is unsure at this point what had happened to her first child. After the death of their son Caulfield ceased his financial support of Plunkett due to his disaproval of her new courtesan lifestyle. [6]
After this she met Mr Leeson whom she did not marry but she did adopt his surname.[5] Plunkett never revealed the identity of this man but he is believed to have been Joseph Leeson, 2nd Earl of Milltown.[7] Mr Leeson also disaproved of her lifestyle and attempted to keep her away from the other men she was seeing, which worked for a time, but after they moved into their residence in Ranelagh Plunkett went back to her old ways and began to allow her other courters, a Mr Lawless and Mr Jackson into her house while Mr Leeson was out.Upon learning of her infidelity, Mr Leeson promptly cut her off. [8]
Plunkett wasted no time in moving in with her lover Mr Lawless and for the next five and a half years, lived a quiet life with him, bearing five more children before eventually seperating when Lawless' financial situation forced him to emigrate to America. [9]
Peg went on to open her first brothel sometime in the mid 1770s with a friend, Sally Hayes, in Drogheda Street [10] in Dublin and they began to enjoy their independent lifestyle together.
Plunkett was successful in court against Richard Crosbie, the leader of a notorious gang known as the Pinking Dindies.[5] This group of upper-class youths and failed students carried swords with which they used to mug the unfortunate. They were known for taking the "booty" from prostitutes and brothels and they continued in this practice, despite the law, for many years.[11] Crosbie was sent to jail for an attack on Plunkett that ended a pregnancy and caused another of her children to die; it was said that Crosbie could have faced a murder charge.[12]
After this the business moved between various addresses but finally occupied premises in Pitt Street (now Balfe Street, near Grafton Street). [10]
Memoirs
editPlunkett took her exploiters to the courts on more than one occasion and gained a reputation for being litigious (ref). She was said to enjoy local support because her business attracted customers to other nearby businesses.[13]
Plunkett retired after thirty years, c.1793 - 1794 to Blackrock. She was said to have had a secret pension from the Irish government at one point.[14]?
As her income reduced she began to write her memoirs. The first two volumes were published in 1795. They brought some success, although this money ran out quickly [15] and she was arrested and sent to a Sponging-house Upon her release she began working on her next volume, but this would not be published until after her death.
It is presumed that the motive was to profit by threatening to name her former lovers.[13]
Legacy
editPeg Plunkett died on the 22nd March 1797 and her obituary was published in the Dublin Evening Post on 17 May.[12] It is likely she had contracted syphilis and been given a mercury treatment by an apothecary. [16]
Besides her three-volume autobiography there is a contemporary biography of her and a radio documentary.[17] Her original memoirs have also been re-published in edited form.[18]
References
edit- ^ Leeson, Margaret (1795). Memoirs of Mrs. Margaret Leeson Written By Herself and Interspersed with Several Interesting and Amusing Anecdotes of Some of the Most Striking Characters of Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Printed for the Authoress and Sold by the Principal Booksellers. p. 8.
- ^ Peakman, Julie (2015) Peg Plunkett: memoirs of a whore. London: Quercus ISBN 978-1-78206-773-3; pp. 5-6
- ^ Leeson 1795, p. 7-16.
- ^ Peakman 2015, p. 30.
- ^ a b c The rise and fall of Peg Plunkett, 18th-century courtesan and consummate memoirist, Women's Museum of Ireland, Retrieved 8 July 2015
- ^ Peakman 2015, p. 40-43.
- ^ Peakman 2015, p. 46.
- ^ Peakman 2015, p. 52-54.
- ^ Leeson 1795, p. 44.
- ^ a b Ó. Gráda, Diarmuid (2007). "Pursuing the Frail Abbess: The Location of Brothels in Georgian Dublin". Dublin Historical Record. 60 (1): 57. ISSN 0012-6861.
- ^ Irish varieties, for the last fifty years: written from recollections, J. D. Herbert, 1836
- ^ a b Jackson, Joe (27 June 2015). "Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of an Irish Whore review". Irish Times.
- ^ a b The rise and fall of Peg Plunkett, 18th-century courtesan and consummate memoirist, Sarah Dunant, 2 July 2015, The New Statesman, Retrieved 8 July 2015
- ^ Reviews of Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore, Stuff.co.nz, Retrieved July 2015
- ^ Peakman 2015, p. 177.
- ^ Lyons, Mary, ed. (1995). The memoirs of Mrs Leeson in three volumes (1. publ. ed.). Dublin: The Lilliput Press. ISBN 9781874675525.
- ^ Radio: Scandalous tales from the past point back to the present, Lyric FM, Retrieved 9 July 2015. The radio documentary says that she died as the result of a multiple rape.
- ^ Lyons 1995, p. 267.
External links
edit- Memoirs of Mrs. Margaret Leeson
- The Scandal of Mrs Leeson 2014 documentary on Peg Plunkett broadcast by RTÉ lyric fm