Emily Lawless was born on 17 June 1845 at Lyons Castle in Co. Kildare, to Edward, 3rd Baron Cloncurry, and Elizabeth, née Kirwan. She was brought up in a privileged milieu that was culturally and politically Unionist and Protestant. However, these allegiances were of relatively recent origin on both sides of the family, and Lawless’s ideological inheritance was of greater complexity than has often been represented by critics. Her paternal great-grandfather, Nicholas, renounced his family’s Roman Catholicism and conformed to the Established (Anglican) Church in 1773. He was created a baronet in 1776 and a peer of Ireland in 1789 by the title of lord Cloncurry, and it was he who purchased the estate (of 6,000 acres) in Co. Kildare (O�…
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Citation: Smith, Catherine . "Emily Lawless". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 February 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2640, accessed 07 October 2024.]