tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post5123172558489052054..comments2024-03-28T14:38:09.470+00:00Comments on Patrick Comerford: Curraghchase and the search for the elusive Lady Clara Vere de VerePatrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-38162750930259488752022-11-19T22:09:31.956+00:002022-11-19T22:09:31.956+00:00"Lady Clara Vere de Vere" was published ..."Lady Clara Vere de Vere" was published in 1842, six years prior to Tennyson's visit to Curragh Chase in 1848. Why is it VERY LIKELY that Caroline inspired the poem?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-82910569378597753342020-01-12T14:29:47.174+00:002020-01-12T14:29:47.174+00:00It's great reading this, as I have a very clos...It's great reading this, as I have a very close connection with Curragh Chase. My great-great-great grandfather Thomas Madigan worked for the de Veres for many years on their estate as a gate keeper and "under woodranger". I have written testimony about both Thomas and my great-great-great grandmother, Catherine (McKnight) Madigan from both Sir Steven and Father Flanagan (mentioned above by Julian). I'd like to know more about Curragh Chase and what my great-great-great grandparents' lives were like.brian.d.madigan@outlook.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-67271891415767554332019-06-11T22:19:07.892+01:002019-06-11T22:19:07.892+01:00Thank you for these beautiful photographs and inte...Thank you for these beautiful photographs and interesting summary of Aubrey Thomas de Vere and his family. In Hallam Tennyson's memoir of his father (published in 1897), then 83-year-old Aubrey contributed a rather lengthy recollection of Tennyson's Spring 1848 5-week visit to Curragh Chase. It is a wealth of information regarding Curragh Chase and can be found in Vol. 1 pp. 287-292. The 3rd Baronet, Sir Vere Edmond de Vere, was "lord of the manor," and he entertained his younger brother's illustrious guest with his own piano recitals (Mozart and Beethoven). In addition, Sir Vere's wife Mary Lucy Standish (a granddaughter of the Earl of Limerick) sang duets with her sister, the beautiful Caroline Adela Catherine Valencia Standish. When Caroline got married shortly after Tennyson returned to England from Ireland, the poet expressed his regret. I would say it was VERY LIKELY that Tennyson composed "Lady Clara Vere de Vere with Caroline Standish in mind. Tennyson came from a solidly middle-class background of brilliant attorneys and real estate developers in Lincolnshire, whereas Caroline was probably at too high a social scale for Tennyson to aspire to. Indeed, Tennyson's future wife was "the girl next door" whose own father was a Lincolnshire attorney. Caroline's husband, Paul Henry St.John-Mildmay, on the other hand, was a first cousin to inheritors of the baronetcy of St. John-Mildmay. <br /><br />Tennyson to Aubrey de Vere post-1848 visit: "Love to your brother and his wife, your mother and sister. I don't know, but I feel quite sorry that Caroline (Standish) is married. She did so well unmarried, and looked so pure and maidenly that I feel it quite a pity that she should have changed her state" (Hallam Tennyson, 1897, p. 1:283). Through Aubrey's mother, the de Veres and the Standish women were all related to the Knights of Kerry. Aubrey's sister Ellen was married to William Smith O'Brien's younger brother Robert O'Brien.C. Nealy Juddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02985167068045535258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-42771964773167115682018-04-13T17:31:04.526+01:002018-04-13T17:31:04.526+01:00A very accurate summary of a complex family. If I ...A very accurate summary of a complex family. If I were Tennyson, I would not have been able to resist the lilt of 'Lady Clara Vere de Vere'! Sir Stephen and Aubrey had several sisters, none called Clara; they are listed on the memorial cross. One sister, Ellen, married Robert O Brien, hence the descent of his estates to their sons. I understand that Sir Stephen became a Roman Catholic when he was in Quebec with his emigrating tenants, and his brothers Sir Vere and Aubrey also became Roman Catholics in 1851. In that decade Sir Stephen was proselytising in Connaught, in support of the Catholic system of national schools. Sir Stephen's good friend and confidante was Father Flanagan, parish priest of Adare and later Archdeacon and Dean of Limerick.Julian Reynoldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04328866272542633228noreply@blogger.com