Plans to raise Lola Montez profile
A controversial liberal reformer, countess, dancer and courtesan who brought down a king and caused riots in Munich in the 19 th century came from Sligo but very little is known about her in her native county.
The profile of Lola Montez is hoped to be raised through a new initiative.
Described as the “Madonna” of the Victorian age and credited with inventing the cult of celebrity, Lola Montez was a feminist before her time.
She has been the subject of numerous films, books and plays, and her memory is still celebrated as far away as Australia and San Francisco – where the house she lived in during the Gold Rush has been preserved as a Californian historical landmark – but there is little recognition for her in her home county and country.
Entrepreneur brothers, Fergal and Kevin Quinn, are on a mission to raise the profile of the Sligo woman.
Having renamed their nightclub after Lola Montez, they are calling for people who might have memorabilia about her to get in touch with them with the view of creating a feature around the Sligo native who was the talk of the courts of Europe in the 1840s.
Born Eliza Gilbert in Grange on February 17, 1821, she was raised in India by Hindu women after her mother left and her father died when she was two. She became a femme fatale who danced for the Tsar of Russia, had affairs with the composer Franz Liszt and author Alexandre Dumas and caused the abdication of a King, before becoming an entertainer in the gold fields of California and Australia.
“For a girl born in Grange her story, which is infamous around the world, is one that deserves to be told and celebrated in her home county. Our long-term goal would be a permanent tourism feature that recounts her extraordinary story,” Fergal Quinn said. “In the West of Ireland, we need to make the most of what we have. That obviously includes our beautiful scenery along the Wild Atlantic Way, and the considerable achievements and legacy of people like Countess Markievicz and W.B. Yeats, but it also includes marking the significance of this remarkable historical figure.”
A fiercely independent woman, Lola Montez defied standards, conventional morals and the restrictions 19 th century society placed on women to lead a full and fascinating life across three continents.
In the process she wrote books and delivered lectures and was made the Countess of Landsfeld by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She was also the first woman in the world to be photographed with a cigarette and inspired the phrase ‘whatever Lola wants, Lola gets’.
King Ludwig was so enamoured of his mistress that he allowed her to exercise considerable political influence in Bavaria. However, her behaviour and campaigns for liberal reforms divided the kingdom and led to him being forced to abdicate.
Montez has a road named after her in Rome; a mountain, a number of roads and two lakes named after her in the United States and even a dam in South Africa bears her name and her exploits are still celebrated in Australia to this day.
Kevin Quinn says the brothers themselves didn’t know a lot about who Lola was until they stumbled across her name when trying to decide on a new name when they were re-branding their nightclub in early 2016. “Only then, did we dig further into who she was and what she stood for and we couldn’t believe she was from Sligo. Despite a seemingly slightly shady and chequered side to her persona, what we loved was her fiercely independent nature and the wild and exciting life story she had. We felt that her brand personality was something that may appeal to our target market,” says Kevin.
To get in touch about your Lola memorabilia, contact Fergal@lolamontez.ie