Peg Plunkett courtesan

FINDING PEG

Peg Plunkett lived and worked in Georgian Dublin. She ran the finest brothel in town.

I have received Arts Council funding to explore Peg's life: discovering why she chose this line of business and the obstacles she overcame to become such a success.

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Sep 10, 20232 min read

How do you like your Peg?

In all good stories, the main character will receive guidance kindly given by friendly helpers. Think Fairy Godmothers or shoe-making...

Jul 22, 20236 min read

the final embrace

After her release from the sponging house, Peg set about writing a third volume of her memoirs. She was extremely organised, consulting...

Jun 24, 20235 min read

debt of gratitude

In 1985, Universal Pictures released a film called 'Brewster's Millions'. The story featured a baseball player challenged to spend $30...

Jun 10, 20233 min read

winds of change

A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A REST A change of heart can lead to a change of direction and a change of scene. In 1795 Peg did just that and...

Jun 4, 20237 min read

not quite Mallory Towers...

B O A R D E R S Fans of Enid Blyton may remember her popular boarding school series, Mallory Towers. The series followed a bunch of...

May 28, 20236 min read

a night's lodging, a girl and a bottle

Note: There is sexual content in this post which may not be suitable for some readers. It's probably about time we got down to the...

Apr 22, 20235 min read

So you want to open a brothel...

You will need: a premises in which to operate a selection of pre-coitus entertainments person(s) to carry out the services clients to...

Apr 10, 20233 min read

fifty shades of titillation

Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Not a penny was there in it, Only ribbon round it. A childhood nursery rhyme, often...

Feb 26, 20233 min read

weaving past and present

SOURCES When I first started researching historical stories I received some advice from Sarah Foster, an expert in visual culture and the...

Feb 5, 20234 min read

in the night garden

LET'S START WITH SOME WORDS ON PEG'S STORY.... For a modest entry fee, Georgian Dubliners could escape the noise and squalor of the...

Jan 31, 20233 min read

rough riding

In 1776, a letter written to the Hibernian Journal complained that there were seventy-four brothels in Dublin. Even then, it was felt...

Jan 8, 20233 min read

lost

What do you do when you lose your way? Do you plough on regardless? Do you change course? Or do you just stay still and worry that it was...

Nov 5, 20222 min read

show time

Some years ago, I found a small book in a charity shop. It was called How to Find Fulfilling Work. I was searching for just such advice....

Oct 14, 20223 min read

on the right track

I have been tipping away at my lovely Peg project since the beginning of the year. Some weeks I have been diligent, others less so. One...

Sep 16, 20225 min read

love hurts

Peg was about 20 when her daughter was born. She was charmed by her child and in love with Dardis, Life should have been good. However,...

Aug 26, 20223 min read

Diddley-eye-di

When I started my Peg project a young man got in touch. A fellow creative, his advice and encouragement have been great. One thing he...

Jul 25, 20223 min read

hopeful

So our little Peg has lost her virginity... ....actually let’s back track for a moment to give her situation some further context. After...

Jun 19, 20224 min read

setting a course

One of the questions on my daughters’s first-year, Christmas history test was ‘What is a dowry?’ Never a history buff she had no idea,...

May 29, 20223 min read

big magic

I love a list. It's both a map of where to go, an outline of the steps to take and a binding contract. Once an item is placed on a list,...

May 16, 20222 min read

introducing our plucky heroine

Have you heard of Moll Hackabout? An innocent lass who came to London to seek her fortune in the early eighteenth century? She hoped to...

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