skip to main content

THE LYRIC FEATURE

WK35 Lyric Feature Presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh at the Westbury Image Name: WK35 Lyric Feature Presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh at the Westbury
Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh Image Name: Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh

Clever, witty and beautiful, Mrs Margaret Leeson was 18th century Ireland’s premier madam who scandalised society by publishing her memoirs in 1795. From her beginnings as Peg Plunkett from Westmeath, to her reinvention as Mrs Margaret Leeson who counted Lord Lieutenants, lawyers and journalists among her clientele, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh traces Mrs Leeson’s life using extracts from the memoirs read by award-winning actress Sorcha Cusack. Baroque music sets the tone, as we discover a Dublin obsessed with celebrity culture and money. Mrs Leeson’s rise was followed by a hard fall. Blathnaid visits the Westbury Hotel where Mrs Leeson’s infamous brothel once stood, Number 29 ESB Georgian House Museum and Smock Alley Theatre. She learns about life in a complex and dangerous Dublin as she tries to discover where reality ends and fictions begins in Mrs Leeson’s witty memoirs.

Smooth Operations Productions (Ireland) for RTÉ lyric fm, funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland from the Television Licence Fee.

Producer for Smooth Operations Productions (Ireland) : Ruth Fitzsimons