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 work as a seamstress and become a wife and mother. Instead, she fell into a world of vice and prostitution. She was arrested, spent time in prison and eventually died of syphilis..... all by the time she reached age 23. Or how about Peg Plunkett? An innocent lass, set to marry, came to Dublin and fell into vice and prostitution. She too spent

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, but she made a stab. She replied that it was something to do with boats. Although her answer was not even vaguely correct, she might have been on to something by linking an ability to stay buoyant with financial security. The more I look into Peg’s life, the more I believe her decisions were governed by the need for money and a desire for auto

So our little Peg has lost her virginity... ....actually let’s back track for a moment to give her situation some further context. After her mother died her life changed for the worse. She doesn’t mention her age when this happened, but I would put her in her early teens. For the next few years, her brother was physically and mentally abusive and her father stood by and allowed it to happen. On one occasion, she stayed overnight with a neighbouring family without asking her b

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 suggested was to create a sound track for Peg's life to help immerse myself in her world. I immediately dismissed the idea. Music is not my thing. Music leaves me unsure. That question "what music do you like?" always leaves me feeling very, very inadequate. Which is odd. My dad was a jazz drummer. My brother is equally musical. My daughter tau

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, her estrangement from her family made her miserable. For better or worse she decided to leave Dardis and to cast herself on her family's mercy asking them to accept her back into their fold. Sadly, her attempts proved fruitless. I again went to my sister Smith, ...... and implored her with tears to take me once more into her house.... She was

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 of the problems I'm facing is that I am agonising over the illustration style. I find myself thinking of the film The Glen Miller Story In the story, James Stewart searches for a particular sound. He can sense it. He can nearly glimpse it. But it is not until mid-way through the movie, when he asks the clarinet and the saxophone to play the

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. I was at a bit of a crossroads. I had given up working full-time as a graphic designer in Dublin to become a stay at home mum, receiving social welfare, in the wilds of West Cork. I wished to re-start my career but wanted it to work for me. One of the exercises the book suggested was to create a Map of Choices. This map is designed to help

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 all a foolhardy idea in the first place? I lost my sense of direction around November last year, a situation for which I blame the Arts Council funding. Imposter syndrome grabbed my viciously by the heart and I lost confidence in what I had done and what I was planning to do. In fact, I realised I didn't know what I was doing at all. I knew

In 1776, a letter written to the Hibernian Journal complained that there were seventy-four brothels in Dublin. Even then, it was felt that this figure was substantially underestimated. Between the Castle and the Liffey, the backstreets were bursting with bawdy houses, City life created clients: college students; 'celibate' apprentices; inky clerks, soldiers and Lords - all teeming with testosterone searching for a slut to squeeze. The women came to the trade from a variety

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 streets and enjoy an evening of al fresco entertainment. Pleasure gardens first became popular in London with Vauxhall opening in 1732. Other cities followed suit and by 1775 Dublin had two: The Rotunda and Ranelagh. The Gardens featured manicured walks, light refreshments, musical entertainment and darker corners for romantic trysts. A magical a

SOURCES When I first started researching historical stories I received some advice from Sarah Foster , an expert in visual culture and the Georgian era. She began by discussing primary and secondary sources but quickly stopped, shocked by the baffled expression on my face. I had no idea what she was talking about and she had no idea how I could be researching history without knowing the difference between the two. If, like me, anyone is unsure about the distinction, a primary

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 accompanied by a Kate Greenway, cutesy illustration. I recently discovered that Kitty Fisher was a famous eightenth-century courtesan. Sex work may seem an unlikely subject matter for children's ears but many nursery rhymes started life as ribald, adult ballads: their message understood in their day, but now merely chanting songs with pleasi

You will need: a premises in which to operate a selection of pre-coitus entertainments person(s) to carry out the services clients to avail - and pay for - the various ministrations. Let's have a look at how Peg operated her business. PREMISES Peg tells us of three bawdy houses that she ran over the years. Her first was in Drogheda Street (now lower O'Connell Street). Her second was in Wood Street (near St Patrick's Cathedral). Her third, and finest establishment, was in Pit

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 nitty-gritty and talked about sex. Let's have a look at some of Peg's clients; the services they enjoyed; and, how much they payed for their pleasures. Peg's house was open for entertainment every evening. Officers arrived from the Royal Barracks and Dublin Castle. Local businessmen mingled with Lords of the realm. Peg tells us "I was visited by n

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 teenage girls in the 1940s negotiating life lessons, lacrosse matches, midnight feasts and practical jokes on French teachers who were invariably called Madame. Peg called the women who worked in her brothels, her boarders. They lived in, so technically they were boarding with her, but there was cunning linguistics at play here also. Many brothe

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 decided to give up whoring. She tells us that on her return from her Killarney jaunt she discovered that Miss Gore and Miss Philips, the two 'boarders' she left in charge of Pitt Street, had run amok throwing loud, wild parties, disturbing the neighbours and selling her furniture to fund the revelries. She felt tired at the thought of sortin

In 1985, Universal Pictures released a film called ' Brewster's Millions '. The story featured a baseball player challenged to spend $30 million in thirty days - the kicker being that he couldn't end up with any material possessions or gains from his spending at the end of the time period. The movie studio cast Richard Prior in the role but they could have equally chosen Peg. When we last met her, she had amassed £1,100 (around €200,000 in today's money). To be fair to Peg a

After her release from the sponging house, Peg set about writing a third volume of her memoirs. She was extremely organised, consulting the eighteenth century's equivalent of the Golden Pages, contacting all those who might be interested in her book before was even printed. I was determined to send my proposals everywhere; and accordingly thro' the medium of the Penny-post, enclosed them to every creature whose name I found in Wilson's Directory and Watson's Almanack; and fr