Peg Plunkett (1727–1797) was an Irish brothel keeper in Dublin who wrote her memoirs in three volumes.

Life

Margaret Plunkett was born in the Irish county of

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

around 1727. (Her date of birth is not accepted by all who have written about her: Francis Leeson believed she was born about 1736 and Julie Peakman, the author of ''Peg Plunkett: memoirs of a whore'', prefers a birth date of about 1742.) She was one of eight of her mother's 22 children who survived childhood. Because of her mother's death and brother's abuse she moved to Dublin. In Dublin the teenage Plunkett became pregnant and she was kept by the child's father until the child died. This was the first of six of her children who died. At this point she lost everything and took again to being unmarried and relying on the support of men. Amongst these was a Mr Leeson whom Plunkett did not marry but she did adopt his surname. Plunkett never revealed the identity of this man but he is believed to have been

Joseph Leeson, 2nd Earl of Milltown Joseph Leeson, 2nd Earl of Milltown (1730 – 27 November 1801), styled Viscount Russborough between 1763 and 1783, was an Irish peer. Life Leeson was the son of Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown, by Cecilia, daughter of Francis Leigh, of Rat ...

. Plunkett became head of her own household when she started her first brothel with a friend, Sally Hayes, in Drogheda Street in Dublin. Plunkett was successful in court against

Richard Crosbie Richard Crosbie (1755–1824) was the first Irishman to make a manned flight. He flew in a hydrogen air balloon from Ranelagh, on Dublin's southside to Clontarf, on Dublin's northside on 19 January 1785 at the age of 30. His aerial achievement ...

, the leader of a notorious gang known as the ''Pinking Dindies''. This group of upper-class youths and failed students carried swords with which they used to mug the unfortunate. They were known for taking the "booty" from prostitutes and brothels and they continued in this practice, despite the law, for many years. Crosbie was sent to jail for an attack on Plunkett that ended a pregnancy and caused another of her children to die; it was said that Crosbie could have faced a murder charge. The business had other addresses but finally occupied premises in

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...

(now Balfe Street, near

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowest p ...

). Plunkett took her exploiters to the courts on more than one occasion and she was said to enjoy local support because her business attracted customers to other nearby businesses.The rise and fall of Peg Plunkett, 18th-century courtesan and consummate memoirist
Sarah Dunant, 2 July 2015, The New Statesman, Retrieved 8 July 2015 Plunkett retired after thirty years to

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

. She was said to have had a secret pension from the Irish government at one point.Reviews of Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore
Stuff.co.nz, Retrieved July 2015 As her income reduced she began to write her memoirs. It is presumed that the motive was to profit by threatening to name her former lovers. She died aged 70 in 1797The rise and fall of Peg Plunkett, 18th-century courtesan and consummate memoirist
Women's Museum of Ireland, Retrieved 8 July 2015 and her obituary was published in the Dublin Evening Post on 17 May.

Legacy

Besides her three-volume autobiography there is a contemporary biography of her and a radio documentary.Radio: Scandalous tales from the past point back to the present
Lyric FM, Retrieved 9 July 2015. The radio documentary says that she died as the result of a multiple rape. Her original memoirs have also been re-published in edited form.

References

External links

''The Scandal of Mrs Leeson''
2014 documentary on Peg Plunkett broadcast by

RTÉ lyric fm RTÉ Lyric FM (stylised as RTÉ lyric fm) is an Irish classical-music and arts radio station, owned and operated by RTÉ. The station, which is based in Limerick, was launched in 1999 and is available on FM throughout Ireland (in some areas a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunkett, Peg 1727 births 1797 deaths People from County Westmeath Irish courtesans Irish memoirists Irish brothel owners and madams 18th-century Irish businesswomen Irish women memoirists