Sir Hercules Robert Langrishe (27 June 1859 - 23 October 1943) was an Irish Baronet, High Sheriff of Kilkenny. soldier and sailor, and a keen huntsman and yachtsman.

The only son of Sir James Langrishe, 4th Baronet and Adela de Blois Eccles, daughter of Thomas de Blois Eccles of Charlemont, Staffordshire. He had five sisters, but two died in infancy. The other three, Adela, Beatrice and

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

, achieved some success as tennis players, as to a lesser extent did Hercules He was educated at

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

In 1887 he married Helen, daughter of Rt Hon. Fitzwilliam Hume-Dick of Humewood, Co. Wicklow. They had two sons, Hercules Ralph (1888-1917) and Terence Hume(1895-1973. He succeeded to the Baronetcy in 1910, on the death of his father, becoming the 5th of the

Langrishe baronets The Langrishe Baronetcy, of Knocktopher Abbey in the County of Kilkenny, is a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created on 19 February 1777 for Sir Hercules Langrishe, who represented Knocktopher in the Irish House of Commons. The fam ...

. His elder son, who was a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, died in a flying accident on 16 February 1917. His younger son, therefore, succeeded to the title, as 6th Baronet.

Military

He served in the 3rd Battalion of the Oxford Light Infantry, rising to the rank of Major. He served with the Royal Navy, having been in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, becoming a Commander.

Public Service

He was a

King's Messenger The Corps of King's Messengers (or Corps of Queen's Messengers during the reign of a female monarch) are couriers employed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They hand-carry secret and important documents to Br ...

, carrying dispatches to Russia during the First World War. He was

High Sheriff of County Kilkenny The High Sheriff of County Kilkenny was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kilkenny, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kilkenny County S ...

in 1891.

Yachting

He owned 3 yachts * Samoena - a 94 ton sailing yacht, for which he commissioned Charles E Nicholson to build a 20ft cutter. * Iernia - an 11 ton an L&SA 5-rater designed by

William Fife William Fife Jr. (15 June 1857 – 11 August 1944), also known as William Fife III, was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders. In his time, William Fife designed around 600 yachts, including two contende ...

, built by Camper and Nicholson in 1891, which was not a success. * Dacia - an 11 ton L&SA 5-rater designed by Charles E Nicholson and built by Camper and Nicholsons in 1892, and was much more successful, winning, over a period of 6 weeks, every one of the 14 races she entered. He was a member of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

, elected in 1887, and won the Queen's cup with Samoena in 1888. While dining at the Squadron, in its clubhouse -

Cowes Castle Cowes Castle, also known as West Cowes Castle, is a Device Fort in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Originally built by Henry VIII in 1539 to protect England against the threat of invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, it comprised a ci ...

one night, Lord Crawford pointed to a star, observing that one day it may run into the earth. Sir Hercules Langrishe replied “If it does, I hope we will be on the starboard tack”.

Recreations and Clubs

In addition to Yachting his recreations included hunting and shooting. He was a

Master of Foxhounds Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

. He was a member of the

Kildare Street Club The Kildare Street Club is a historical member's club in Dublin, Ireland, at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy. The Club remained in Kildare Street between 1782 and 1977, when it merged with the Dublin University Club to become ...

and the Marlborough Club.

Notes

References

Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland 1859 births 1943 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Langrishe, Hercules