Tag Archives: Genoa
by Jim Doyle	1 Comment
Birth of Marguerite Gardiner,Novelist & Journalist
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington, Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess, is born near Clonmel, County Tipperary on September 1, 1789. She becomes acquainted with Lord Byron in Genoa and writes a book about him.
Born Margaret Power, she is a daughter of Edmund Power and Ellen Sheehy, small landowners. She is "haphazardly educated by her own reading and by her mother's friend Ann Dwyer." Her childhood is blighted by her father's character and poverty, and her early womanhood made wretched by a compulsory marriage at the age of fifteen to Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer, an English officer whose drunken habits finally bring him as a debtor to the King's Bench Prison, where he dies by falling out of a window in October 1817. She had left him after three months of marriage.
Marguerite later moves to Hampshire, England to live for five years with the family of Thomas Jenkins, a sympathetic and literary sea captain. Jenkins introduces her to the Irishman Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington, a widower with four children and seven years her senior. They marry at St. Mary's, Bryanston Square, Marylebone, on February 16, 1818, only four months after the death of her first husband.
Of rare beauty, charm and wit, Lady Blessington is no less distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes she shares with her second husband, which results in encumbering his estates with debt. On August 25, 1822 they set out for a continental tour with Marguerite's youngest sister, the 21-year-old Mary Anne, and servants. On the way they meet Count Alfred D'Orsay, who had first become an intimate of Lady Blessington in London in 1821, in Avignon on November 20, 1822, before settling at Genoa for four months from March 31, 1823. There they meet Lord Byron on several occasions, giving Lady Blessington material for her Conversations with Lord Byron.
After that they settle for the most part in Naples, where she meets the Irish writer Richard Robert Madden, who is to become her biographer. They also spend time in Florence with their friend Walter Savage Landor, author of Imaginary Conversations which she greatly admires.
It is in Italy, on December 1, 1827, that Count D'Orsay marries Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter by his former wife. The Blessingtons and the newly-wed couple move to Paris towards the end of 1828, taking up residence in the Hôtel Maréchal Ney, where the Earl suddenly dies at the age of 46 of an apoplectic stroke in 1829. D'Orsay and Harriet then accompanied Lady Blessington to England, but the couple separates soon afterwards amidst much acrimony. D'Orsay continues to live with Lady Blessington until her death. Their home, first at Seymour Place, and afterwards Gore House, Kensington, now the site of the Royal Albert Hall, become a centre of attraction for all that is distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion. Benjamin Disraeli writes Venetia whilst staying there, and it is at her home that Hans Christian Andersen first meets Charles Dickens.
After her husband's death Lady Blessington supplements her diminished income by contributing to various periodicals as well as by writing novels. She is for some years editor of The Book of Beauty and The Keepsake, popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she publishes her Conversations with Lord Byron. Her Idler in Italy (1839–1840), and Idler in France (1841) are popular for their personal gossip and anecdotes, descriptions of nature and sentiment.
Early in 1849, Count D'Orsay leaves Gore House to escape his creditors. Subsequently the furniture and decorations are sold in a public sale successfully discharging Lady Blessington's debts. She joins the Count in Paris, where she dies on June 4, 1849 of a burst heart. On examination it is discovered that her heart is three times normal size.
(Pictured: Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1822)
Categories: Irish History, Journalism, Literature & Poetry | Tags: 1st Earl of Blessington, Alfred D'Orsay, Apoplexy, Avignon, Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens, Charles John Gardiner, Clonmel, Countess of Blessington, County Tipperary, England, Florence, Genoa, Gore House, Grand Tour, Hampshire, Hans Christian Andersen, Imaginary Conversations, Italy, Journalist, Kensington, King's Bench Prison, London, Lord Byron, Marguerite Gardiner, Marylebone, Naples, Novelist, Paris, Richard Robert Madden, Royal Albert Hall, St. Mary's Bryanston Square, The Keepsake, Venetia, Walter Savage Landor | Permalink.
Birth of Soprano Catherine Hayes
Catherine Hayes, world-famous Irish soprano of the Victorian era, is born in Limerick, County Limerick, on October 25, 1818. According to London's Daily Express, "Hayes was the 'Madonna' of her day; she was the 19th-century operatic equivalent of the world's most famous pop star."
Hayes is born into abject poverty. After five years of vocal study in Paris and Milan she makes her debut at the Italian Opera in Marseilles, in Vincenzo Bellini's I Puritani in May 1845, followed by performances of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Gioachino Rossini's Mosé in Egitto.
Her debut at La Scala in Milan quickly followed in 1845 with phenomenal success. Shortly thereafter the young Giuseppe Verdi becomes interested in her for one of his new operas. Her great success continues in Vienna, as well as in Venice, Florence, Genoa, Rome and other cities in Italy, where she becomes the most sought after Lucia di Lammermoor.
Early in 1849, Hayes accepts a contract to sing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London where she makes her debut in Linda di Chamounix in April. In June 1849, she receives an invitation to sing at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria and 500 guests. After an evening of Italian music, when the Queen requests an encore, Hayes with a smile sings the beautiful Irish rebel song "Kathleen Mavourneen."
During Ireland's Great Famine in November 1849, her emotional return to her native country results in rave notices for her performance in Lucia di Lammermoor and other operas and concerts in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. Her success is now almost complete.
In 1851 Hayes goes to the United States, where Jenny Lind is creating such a wave of success. Hayes gives concerts in New York City, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans and forty-five other places including the river towns along the Mississippi River, with equal success. She meets presidents, statesmen and business leaders along the way. She is also destined to meet her future lover and husband in America, Jenny Lind's former manager. Her travels take her to the "gold rush" in the San Francisco area in the 1850s, where her presence creates a furor, singing for the miners and the elite of San Francisco. The great showman P.T. Barnum sponsors her tour.
She sings in opera and concerts in Peru and Chile, then travels to Hawaii where she gives a concert before continuing on to Australia. Hayes is the first great European opera star to visit Australia. She is mentioned in most Australian history books about early culture in the young colony. She also travels to Calcutta, India where she performs for the British Military and then on to Singapore and Batavia (Java) before returning to Australia for more opera and concerts.
Hayes returns to England in August 1856, after an absence of five years. On October 8, 1857, at St. George's, Hanover Square, she marries William Avery Bushnell. He soon falls into ill-health and dies at Biarritz, France, on July 2, 1858. After her husband's death she takes part in concerts in London and the country towns.
Catherine Hayes dies in the house of a friend, Henry Lee, at Roccles, Upper Sydenham, Kent, on August 11, 1861, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
Categories: Arts & Music, Irish History | Tags: Australia, Boston, British Armed Forces, Buckingham Palace, Calcutta, Catherine Hayes, Charleston, Chile, Cork, County Limerick, Covent Garden, Daily Express, Dublin, Florence, Gaetano Donizetti, Genoa, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Famine, Hawaii, I Puritani, India, Irish Rebel Song, Italy, Java, Jenny Lind, Kathleen Mavourneen, La Scala, Limerick, Linda di Chamounix, London, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madonna, Milan, Mississippi River, Mosè in Egitto, New Orleans, New York City, P.T. Barnum, Paris, Peru, Philadelphia, Queen Victoria, Rome, Royal Opera House, San Francisco, Savannah, Singapore, Soprano, Toronto, United States, Venice, Victorian Era, Vienna, Vincenzo Bellini, Washington D.C. | Permalink.
Birth of the Liberator, Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell, Irish political leader often referred to as The Liberator or The Emancipator, is born on August 6, 1775, at Carhan near Cahersiveen, County Kerry, to the O'Connells of Derrynane, a once-wealthy Roman Catholic family, that has been dispossessed of its lands.
Raised by his uncle, Daniel learns the Irish language and Irish lore in Kerry. O'Connell does part of his schooling in France during the revolution. On May 19, 1798, O'Connell is called to the Irish Bar and becomes a barrister. Four days later, the United Irishmen stage their rebellion which is put down by the British with great bloodshed. O'Connell does not support the rebellion. He believes that the Irish need to assert themselves politically rather than by force. The violent excesses he witnesses in France, the slaughter of the 1798 Rising, and finally his own killing of a man in a duel in 1815 leads him to renounce violence forever.
Moving into politics, O'Connell founds the Catholic Association in 1823, creating one of the first massive political movements in Europe or the Americas. The Catholic Association embraces other aims to better Irish Catholics, such as electoral reform, reform of the Church of Ireland, tenants' rights, and economic development.
When he is elected to Parliament in 1828, he is unable to take his seat as members of parliament have to take the Oath of Supremacy, which is incompatible with Catholicism. Fear of the reaction of his millions of followers leads to the passage of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. O'Connell works for Home Rule for Ireland for the rest of his days but never achieves it. The British ban his mass Repeal of the Union rallies in 1843 and jail him for a time. The movement loses momentum at that point and the long years of hard work wear "The Liberator" down.
O'Connell dies at the age of 71 of cerebral softening on May15, 1847, in Genoa, Italy, while on a pilgrimage to Rome. His time in prison seriously weakens him and the appallingly cold weather he has to endure on his journey is likely the final blow. According to his dying wish, his heart is buried in Rome at Sant'Agata dei Goti, then the chapel of the Irish College, and the remainder of his body in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, beneath a round tower.
Categories: Irish History, Politics & Government | Tags: Bar Council of Ireland, Barrister, Cahersiveen, Catholic Association, Cerebral Softening, Church of Ireland, County Kerry, Daniel O'Connell, Dublin, France, Genoa, Glasnevin Cemetery, Home Rule, Irish Catholic, Irish Rebellion of 1798, Italy, Oath of Supremacy, Parliament of the United Kingdom, Repeal Association, Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, Rome, Sant'Agata dei Goti, Society of United Irishmen | Permalink.
Death of Daniel O'Connell in Genoa, Italy
Daniel O'Connell, lawyer who becomes the first great 19th-century Irish nationalist leader and is known as "The Liberator," dies in Genoa, Italy on May 15, 1847. Throughout his life, he campaigns for Catholic emancipation, including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament and the repeal of the Act of Union which combines Great Britain and Ireland.
Compelled to leave the Roman Catholic college at Douai, France, when the French Revolution breaks out, O'Connell goes to London to study law, and in 1798 he is called to the Irish bar. His forensic skill enables him to use the courts as nationalist forums. Although he has joined the Society of United Irishmen, a revolutionary society, as early as 1797, he refuses to participate in the Irish Rebellion of the following year. When the Act of Union takes effect on January 1, 1801 and abolishes the Irish Parliament, he insists that the British Parliament repeal the anti-Catholic laws in order to justify its claim to represent the people of Ireland. From 1813 he opposes various Catholic relief proposals because the government, with the acquiescence of the papacy, has the right to veto nominations to Catholic bishoprics in Great Britain and Ireland. Although permanent political organizations of Catholics are illegal, O'Connell sets up a nationwide series of mass meetings to petition for Catholic emancipation.
On May 12, 1823, O'Connell and Richard Lalor Sheil found the Catholic Association, which quickly attracts the support of the Irish priesthood and of lawyers and other educated Catholic laymen and which eventually comprises so many members that the government can not suppress it. In 1826, when it is reorganized as the New Catholic Association, it causes the defeat of several parliamentary candidates sponsored by large landowners. In County Clare in July 1828, O'Connell himself, although as a Catholic ineligible to sit in the House of Commons, defeats a man who tries to support both the British government and Catholic emancipation. This result impresses on the British prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the need for making a major concession to the Irish Catholics. Following the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, O'Connell, after going through the formality of an uncontested reelection, takes his seat at Westminster.
In April 1835, he helps to overthrow Sir Robert Peel's Conservative ministry. In the same year, he enters into the "Lichfield House compact," whereby he promises the Whig Party leaders a period of "perfect calm" in Ireland while the government enacts reform measures. O'Connell and his Irish adherents, known collectively as "O'Connell's tail," then aid in keeping the weak Whig administration of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, in office from 1835 to 1841. By 1839, however, O'Connell realizes that the Whigs will do little more than the Conservatives for Ireland, and in 1840 he founds the Repeal Association to dissolve the Anglo-Irish legislative union. A series of mass meetings in all parts of Ireland culminate in O'Connell's arrest for seditious conspiracy, but he is released on appeal in September 1844 after three months' imprisonment. Afterward his health fails rapidly and the nationalist leadership falls to the radical Young Ireland group.
O'Connell dies at the age of 71 of cerebral softening in 1847 in Genoa, Italy, while on a pilgrimage to Rome. His time in prison has seriously weakened him, and the appallingly cold weather he has to endure on his journey is probably the final blow. According to his dying wish, his heart is buried at Sant'Agata dei Goti, then the chapel of the Irish College, in Rome and the remainder of his body in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, beneath a round tower.
Categories: Irish History, Politics & Government, Religion | Tags: Act of Union, Arthur Wellesley, Catholic Association, Catholic Emancipation, Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, Cerebral Softening, County Clare, Daniel O'Connell, Douai, Dublin, France, French Revolution, Genoa, Glasnevin Cemetery, Great Britain, House of Commons, Irish Parliament, Irish Rebellion of 1798, Italy, London, Parliament of the United Kingdom, Repeal Association, Richard Lalor Sheil, Robert Peel, Rome, Sant'Agata dei Goti, Society of United Irishmen, Whig Party, William Lamb, Young Ireland | Permalink.