Bunbury turns focus on 1847 in new book

THE year 1847 is the inspiration behind popular author and Tullow resident Turtle Bunbury’s latest book.

Simply called ‘1847’, the book tells the story of an eclectic bunch of characters who got up to all sorts in that year.

Among them is John Joshua Proby of Glenart Castle, the eldest son and heir of Admiral Granville Leveson Proby, a veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar, who would one day become the third Earl of Carysfort. In 1847, ‘Johnny’ Proby went on a tour of Italy and Sicily with Edward Lear, the father of ‘Nonsense Poetry’ who was best known for his Limericks. Proby revealed little of his aristocratic identity to Lear and explained that he had moved to Rome to study art, having been afflicted with a particularly noxious strain of malaria. When Lear discovered the truth, they had a bust-up but they later became friends.

The book also touches on one of John Joshua Proby’s closest neighbours, Lady Harriet Howard, daughter of the third Earl of Wicklow, who in 1847 collaborated with the hymn-writer Cecil Frances Humphreys to produce a book of hymns entitled The Lord of the Forest and His Vassals. Lady Harriet died of tuberculosis within weeks of its publication while Cecil Frances went on to write a number of well-known hymns, including ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’.

The book also refers to the thousands of tenants from Lord Fitzwilliam’s 80,000acre estate at Coolattin who were given financial help to emigrate.

‘1847’ is published by Gill Books and is on sale now, priced at €24.99.