The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831), were two upper-class Irish women who lived together as a couple. Their relationship scandalised and fascinated their contemporaries. The pair moved to a Gothic house in Llangollen, North Wales, in 1780 after leaving Ireland to escape the social pressures of conventional marriages. Over the years, numerous distinguished visitors called upon them. Guests included Byron, Shelley, Wellington and Wordsworth, the latter of whom wrote a sonnet about them.
Llangollen is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with the easternmost point of the Dee Valley Way being within the town. It had a population of 3,658 at the 2011 census.
John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, PC, known as Viscount Duncannon from 1793 to 1844, was a British Whig politician. He was notably Home Secretary in 1834 and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1846 and 1847, the first years of the Great Famine.
George Ponsonby, was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.
Mary Tighe was an Irish poet.
Inistioge is a small village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Historically, its name has been spelt as Ennistioge, Ennisteage, and in other ways. The village is situated on the River Nore, 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Kilkenny.
Walter Butler (1703–1783), also known as Walter Butler of Kilcash, and Walter Butler of Garryricken, was the de jure16th Earl of Ormond and 9th Earl of Ossory. He did not assume these titles, as he thought them forfeit as a result of the attainder of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde. In the peerage of Ireland, the titles were successfully claimed in 1791 by his son John, the 17th Earl.
Plas Newydd is a historic house in the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, and was the home of the Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, for nearly 50 years. Today, it is run as a museum by Denbighshire County Council.
Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough, was a British politician and peer. He was the son of William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon, and Mary Moore. He was an active politician from 1705 to 1757 in Great Britain and Ireland. He represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. He inherited his father's viscountcy in 1724 and was made Earl of Bessborough in the Peerage of Ireland in 1739. He is buried in Fiddown, County Kilkenny, Ireland.
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough was a British politician and public servant. He was an Irish and English peer and member of the House of Lords. He served in both the Irish and the British House of Commons, before entering the House of Lords, and held office as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, and as Postmaster General of the United Kingdom. He was also a Privy Counsellor, Chief Secretary for Ireland and Earl of Bessborough.
Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby was an Irish Member of Parliament.
The High Sheriff of Wicklow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wicklow, Ireland from Wicklow's formation in 1606 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Wicklow County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Wicklow unless stated otherwise.
The High Sheriff of County Kilkenny was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kilkenny, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kilkenny County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However, the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Kilkenny unless stated otherwise.
Marianne-Caroline Hamilton was an Irish artist and memoirist. Her memoirs, Reminiscences of Marianne-Caroline Hamilton (1777–1861), were published in 2010.
William Frederick Fownes Tighe, PC, JP was Lord Lieutenant of Kilkenny from 1847 to 1878.
Butler House is an 18th-century Georgian Dower house located in Kilkenny, Ireland. It is currently working as a 4-star hotel and conference centre.
Thomas Kelly was an Irish evangelical, known as a Church of Ireland cleric to 1803, hymn writer and founder of the Kellyites.
Mary Carryl was an Irish-born loyal servant and friend of the celebrated Ladies of Llangollen. She served them up to her death; and when the Ladies died, they shared the same grave.
St Collen's Church is a parish church in the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. The first church on the site was founded by Collen in the 6th century. Nothing of this building remains. A new church was built in the 13th century, in the Early English Gothic style. This was developed in the succeeding centuries, and then almost completely rebuilt in the 19th century. The architect of the Victorian reconstruction was Samuel Pountney Smith, who retained little of the earlier church, with the exception of the tower. The churchyard contains the grave of the Ladies of Llangollen, Eleanor Charlotte Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, and their servant Mary Carryl, who lived at the nearby Plas Newydd. In November 2021 the first blessing of a gay partnership in a Church in Wales church was held at St Collen's. The church is an active parish church in the Diocese of St Asaph. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building.
Sir William Fownes, 2nd Baronet was an Anglo-Irish politician.
