[Ep 1/3] Ireland's Last Aristocrat - The Life of Olive Packenham Mahon
Irish History Podcast
Fin Dwyer
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2022
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Olive Packenham Mahon was born into wealth and privilege in 1894, but the legacy of a secret funeral and the spectre of war and revolution defined her life.
She was no ordinary aristocrat - Olive was the last of her kind...
A special thanks to Oisin O'Driscoll, Martin Fagan & Tony Aspel and all the team at Strokestown Park House for their time.
Olive Packenham Mahon's home Strokestown Park House is open to the public. You can find out more at https://strokestownpark.ie/.
Sound by Kate Dunlea.
Artwork by Keith Hynes
Additional narrations by Aidan Crowe and Therese Murray.
There is a bonus episode with exclusive content from Strokestown available later in the week for show patrons at
Patreon - patreon.com/Irishpodcast
Acast+ - https://plus.acast.com/s/irishhistory
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, just a quick heads up before you dive into the episode. |
| 0:03.6 | My new book, Alita Legacy, a history of Ireland in 18 murders is coming out on September |
| 0:08.4 | the 14th. |
| 0:09.5 | You can still pre-order your copy today, or if you're going to be in Dublin next week, |
| 0:13.8 | it will be great to see you at the launch. |
| 0:15.8 | It's on at 6pm on Thursday, September the 14th in Hodges figures. |
| 0:20.8 | That's 6pm on September the 14th in Hodges figures on Dawson Street in the city center. |
| 0:26.2 | Swing in on your way home from work, it'll be a great event. |
| 0:28.8 | Sure I'll see you there. |
| 0:39.4 | Life never quite lived up to Olive Parkingham Mann's expectations. |
| 0:44.4 | She had been the definition of someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth. |
| 0:49.0 | Not only was she the ARS to an estate of 27,000 acres of land, but her family home, |
| 0:55.7 | the 60-roomed, Strokes Town Parkhouse, was one of the finest in the west of Ireland. |
| 1:01.8 | She grew up surrounded by wealth and privilege, weighted on by servants who took care of her |
| 1:06.7 | every need. |
| 1:08.0 | As a teenager, she was presented to the king at Buckingham Palace, and her wedding |
| 1:13.0 | in the last weeks before Europe went to war in 1914 was the talk of London society. |
| 1:19.2 | However, by the late 20th century, her expectation that she would live a life of privilege |
| 1:25.0 | were well and truly dashed. |
| 1:27.2 | She had managed to hang on to her family home, Strokes Town Parkhouse, but it loves. |
| 1:33.3 | Indeed the house itself was crumbling, and most of it was scarcely habitable. |
| 1:38.1 | She had retreated to a handful of rooms, a bed had been moved to what was once the drawing |
... |
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