Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork and Orrery (21 May 1746 – 30 May 1840) was an Anglo-Irish literary hostess.

Life

Born Mary Monckton, probably at

Serlby Hall Serlby Hall is a grade I listed 18th century mansion and estate in Nottinghamshire, England, located 7 miles north-east of Worksop. It is constructed of red brick and ashlar with a hipped slate roof. It is built in two storeys with a nine bay f ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, the family seat, she was a daughter of

John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway John Monckton (1695 – 15 July 1751) of Serlby, Nottinghamshire, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1751. He was elevated to the Irish peerage as the first Viscount Galway in 1727. Ear ...

by his second wife, Jane Westenra of Rathleagh, Queen's County, Ireland. Boswell places Mary Monckton among the

bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including E ...

clubs, and writes: The playwright

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

was a close friend and regular visitor: in the 1780 general election he stood jointly in the Whig interest with Mary's brother

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

and was elected 2nd Member for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. In 1786, she became the second wife of Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery. Politically, there was never any doubt of her sympathies: although brother Edward wavered, Mary still signed herself "a True Whig" into old age. Several of the historical novels of

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...

refer to the fame of her literary parties, and the crucial role which wit and good conversation played there: a character remarks that the highest praise a hostess can dream of is to be called "a second Lady Cork". She died in London on 30 May 1840. She was ninety-four. She was buried in

Brewood Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton c ...

parish church, Staffordshire, close to the estates of her brother, Edward Monckton.

Sources

;Attribution * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cork And Orrery, Mary Boyle, Countess Of Daughters of viscounts Irish countesses 1746 births 1840 deaths

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

British salon-holders