Beauchamp Bagenal (1741 – 1 May 1802) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rake, buck, duelist, and politician. He was born in County Carlow in 1741, son of Walter Bagenal, and his second wife Eleanor Beauchamp, and inherited the family estates aged 11. Bagenal gained a reputation as a hell-raiser and serial heartbreaker, and was reportedly described as the handsomest man in Ireland.Donaldson, William. Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages pp. 38–9, Phoenix, London, 2002 According to Jonah Barrington, on his

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

, Bagenal:

fought a prince, jilted a princess, intoxicated the
Doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...
of Venice, carried off a duchess from
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, scaled the walls of a convent in Lisbon and fought a duel in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,cited in Donaldson, in, William. Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages, Phoenix, London, 2002

The jilted Princess referred to above was

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

, afterwards married to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

At his home, Dunleckney,

Muine Bheag Bagenalstown ( ), officially named Muine Bheag (), is a small town on the River Barrow in County Carlow, Ireland. History and name The town grew within the townland of Moneybeg, from Irish ''Muine Bheag'' or ''Muinebheag'' (meaning "small th ...

, County Carlow, he earned the nickname "King" Bagenal based on his lavish entertaining and the autocratic manner with which he ran what was virtually a court. Meals were "primarily drinking bouts. At table, he kept a brace of

duelling pistols A duelling pistol is a type of pistol that was manufactured in matching pairs to be used in a duel, when duels were customary. Duelling pistols are often single-shot flintlock or percussion black-powder pistols which fire a lead ball. Not all f ...

handy, one for tapping the barrel of claret, the other for dealing with any of his guests who failed to drink enough to send him reeling from the table. Dinner was followed by compulsory all night revels." Bagenal was less violent than his later reputation. There is no proof that he shot all, or even many, of his guests. He fought as few as a dozen duels, a derisory number compared to the great duellists of his day. One of the twelve was against his own cousin,

Bagenal Harvey Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey (died 28 June 1798) was a barrister and a commander of the United Irishmen in the Battle of New Ross during the 1798 Rebellion. He was the eldest son of Francis Harvey of Bargy Castle, Wexford, who was one of the six ...

. Harvey fired first, but missed, to Bagenal's delight. "You damn you villain? Do you know you had like to kill your own godfather? Go back to Dunleckney, you dog, and have a good breakfast ready for us. I only wanted to see if you were stout." A number of other anecdotes of Bagenal's wildness and

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

exist online. Bagenal was

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, and therefore, when fighting had to lean against a tombstone. He represented

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

from 1761 to 1768. He sat then as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Carlow County between 1768 and 1776 and again between 1778 and 1783. By his wife Maria, he had three children; he had at least one illegitimate child, Sarah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagenal, Beauchamp 1741 births 1802 deaths 18th-century Irish politicians 19th-century Irish politicians Irish duellists Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Politicians from County Carlow Irish people with disabilities Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Carlow constituencies