Lady Morgan & Lola Montez – An Imagined Conversation

You are invited to eavesdrop on an imagined conversation between two wild Irish girls of the North West – Lady Morgan (aka Sydney Owenson 1718-1859) and Lola Montez (aka Elizabeth Gilbert 1821 -1861).

Sydney Owenson was a noted novelist and harpist who spent her formative years in Sligo. As a young woman she performed on the North West’s garrison towns circuit, including Ballyshannon where the last fatal duel in the town was fought in her honour.

She became Lady Morgan on her marriage to Sir Thomas Morgan of London and her novels, including The Wild Irish Girl and O’Donnell: A National Tale, with their strong nationalist and feminist leanings, attracted controversy and admiration in equal measure.

Elizabeth Gilbert, from Grange, fled Ireland at an early age. Re-inventing herself as Lola Montez, Spanish dancer, she performed all over Europe attracting the attentions of a string of admirers including composer Franz Liszt and the King of Bavaria who made her a Countess. The ultimate femme fatale, her infamous Spider Dance scandalized three continents before she retired to the East Coast of America to deliver a moral lecture tour, before her untimely death at the age of 39 years.

In this presentation by Dark Daughter Productions, the part of Lady Morgan is played by Marianne Fahy and Lola Montez is played by Maura Logue. Lady Morgan and Lola Montez premiered to a capacity audience at the Hawkswell Theatre earlier this year, as part of the Bealtaine Festival.