Meet the Family

The house: Edgeworthstown House

The ancestral home of the Edgeworth’s, which dates from the late 18th century is now a nursing home. In 1619, Francis Edgeworth was granted some 600 acres of land near Mostrim by King James I. In 1719, Francis’s great grandson Richard took over the estate and built Edgeworthstown House in the 1720’s. The house was occupied by members of the family until 1935 when it was purchased by Mr Bernard Noonan who donated the house and 50 acres to the Sisters of Mercy. The sisters converted the house for use as a nursing home. The Walled Garden has been restored and is a fine example of the “Big House Garden”. This house played host to many historical figures including Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, William Herschel and Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

THE REFORMER: Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744 – 1817)

Born in Bath, England, in 1782 RLE decided to move to Edgeworthstown and take control of his estate. He was married four times with 22 children. His last wife, whom he married in 1798 was Frances Beaufort. He was considered a reforming landlord, he immersed himself in the development of his estate, the education of his family and the reforming of society. He was a founding member of the Royal Irish Academy, he was appointed as a Commissioner of Education in 1806, he was also appointed a Commissioner on the Bogs of Ireland.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION: L’Abbé Edgeworth (1745- 1807)

Born Henry Essex Edgeworth in Edgeworthstown in 1745. His father, a Church of Ireland rector in the Parish of Edgeworthstown, took the exceptional step of breaking from his class, his culture and his education and embraced Catholicism. The scandal was immense and shortly after the family, including young Henry, left for Toulouse in France where he was welcomed into the Catholic community. The young Henry, went on to be educated by the Jesuits, and, after his ordination, the new L’Abbé was appointed to the diocese of Paris where he ministered not least to the city’s poor. He was later to be appointed Vicar-General of the Diocese. His good deeds came to the attention of the Royal Family whom he befriended. On the eve of the execution of Louis XV1, L’Abbé was summoned, he heard the king’s final confession, said his final mass and remained with the king throughout the night. The following morning, January 21st, he accompanied the king to the guillotine where he administered the last rites. He escaped, went into hiding and later joined the Royal family in exile and remained loyal until his death in 1807 in Mitau, now Jeljava in Latvia.

THE STAR GAZER: Kenneth Essex Edgeworth (1880-1972)

Among the great grandsons of Sir John Edgeworth (1638-1696), were cousins Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817), and the Rev. Essex Edgeworth (17451807). In turn, the grandson of the latter was Kenneth Essex Edgeworth (18801972). Kenneth was an astronomer and is subject of an ongoing campaign to rename the ‘Kuiper Belt’ in our solar system the ‘Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt’. Dr Alan Stern, Principal Investigator, NASA’s New Horizons Mission to Pluto said of Edgeworth;

“Kenneth Edgeworth’s contribution to astronomy are many, but one I wish to focus on is his reasoned speculation about the context of Pluto, which led to Edgeworth conceptualising the Kuiper Belt well before Gerard Kuiper did himself. In my view, Edgeworth’s insight and eventual discovery of the solar system’s third zone form a highly significant contribution to astronomy and planetary science of the 20th century.

Other Family Connections

Maria’s sister Anna married the famous English scientist Thomas Beddoes, her half-sister Honora married Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort who invented the wind scale. Lucy Jane married Rev. Thomas Romney Robinson, the famous astronomer based at Armagh Observatory and finally Richard Lovell’s fourth wife was Frances Beaufort - sister to Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort.