Regency Women: The Countess of Barrymore

Oracle and the Daily Advertiser – Tuesday 25 June 1805

Henry Barry (1770-1823), the 8th (and final) Earl of Barrymore , was the younger brother of Richard Barry (7th Earl of Barrymore), and was more commonly known as ‘Cripplegate’ for his clubbed foot. In 1795 in Cork, Ireland he married Anne Coghlan, a remarkable beauty.  Barrymore had been stationed there as Lieutenant Colonel of the South Cork Militia.

He married a beautiful girl Anne Coghlan whose equally beautiful sister married the Duc de Castries an old émigré 1 and this union proved useful to the Earl when he fled ruined to the continent for his brother in law made him a small allowance upon which he subsisted until his death in the winter of 1823 This allowance was continued during the remaining eight years of her life to his wife who made some amends for her husband's vices by devoting herself to ameli orating the condition of the poor of Paris Benjamin, L. S. (1908). The beaux of the Regency. London: Hutchinson & Company.

The footnote to the above excerpt tells us:

1 Mrs Connor the widow of an agent employed here Lismore had three nieces born and brought up in the lowest sphere of Irish life They lived in a rude cabin on the rocky coast between Ardmore and Grange where they used to serve food and whisky to the smugglers and frequenters of the paternal roof The beauty of the two eldest was remarkable and one became Countess of Barrymore the other Duchesse de Castries The Duke was an old émigré whose poverty she shared in London She was rather gay but always devoted to him and when the Bourbons returned to Paris she found herself grande dame in the Hôtel de Castries Hon F Leveson Gower Bygone Years

So, essentially the Countess had been of the lower classes and brought up in a rustic setting serving at a tavern.

By accounts in the newspapers, before her husband had to flee to France, she was a consummate hostess loving the glittering London life, a good ball or masquerade, hosting select suppers and card parties, and showcasing her beauty. Alas, no portrait of the Countess has survived, so we can only rely on reports of her beauty. She ran with the Princes set, appearing with his group in Brighton in Ausut 1806, accompanying Mr Mellish and three other ladies inside his barouche pulled by four greys (Limerick Gazette – Friday 01 August 1806). Listed frequently in the early 1800s among the whos who of the ton, her meteroic rise was followed by a crashing end when the Earl had to leave England. Luckily, they found respite with her sister and her husband, the Duc de Castries. The Earl died in December 1823 at the age of 53 from apoplexy, leaving no issue.  Anne passed away in Paris in May 1832 (https://www.thepeerage.com/).

Here is an image reported to be the Duchesse de Castries (1820):

Henry Barry’s duel: The Naked Duel: Cocked and Loaded – Kat Devitt


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