Georgia Hardstark

I bet you are. Are? Question mark? Press play, I hope. Yeah. You know you started it. Yeah. You started it. Yeah. We're going to finish it.

I mean, not to immediately get in your face, listener, but we have spoiled you over the years of doing these 25 fucking minute intros just to entertain ourselves.

I mean, not to immediately get in your face, listener, but we have spoiled you over the years of doing these 25 fucking minute intros just to entertain ourselves.

But most podcasts just start. But sometimes we need to do just a podcast. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's what we're going to do today. And I... We'll tell you right now a story that I think you're going to like. It's about a badass 18th century sex worker from Dublin, Ireland, who challenged both gender norms and social norms at a time when doing so was completely unheard of.

But most podcasts just start. But sometimes we need to do just a podcast. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's what we're going to do today. And I... We'll tell you right now a story that I think you're going to like. It's about a badass 18th century sex worker from Dublin, Ireland, who challenged both gender norms and social norms at a time when doing so was completely unheard of.

This is the story of Irish courtesan Peg Plunkett. Peg, yes. Get ready. Main sources used for today's story are an article published on a WordPress blog called F. Yeah History by a writer named Natasha Tidd. And the article is called The Brilliant and Ballsy Life of Ireland's Favorite Courtesan, Peg Plunkett.

This is the story of Irish courtesan Peg Plunkett. Peg, yes. Get ready. Main sources used for today's story are an article published on a WordPress blog called F. Yeah History by a writer named Natasha Tidd. And the article is called The Brilliant and Ballsy Life of Ireland's Favorite Courtesan, Peg Plunkett.

And also another source is an article from the Women's Museum of Ireland website entitled Peg Plunkett, Brothel Madam. And that article was written by Karen Moynihan. And the rest of our sources are in our show notes. All right. So Margaret Plunkett, who goes by the nickname Peg, plays it close to the chest about the details of her life overall.

And also another source is an article from the Women's Museum of Ireland website entitled Peg Plunkett, Brothel Madam. And that article was written by Karen Moynihan. And the rest of our sources are in our show notes. All right. So Margaret Plunkett, who goes by the nickname Peg, plays it close to the chest about the details of her life overall.

So basically, there's a real good ending that I won't spoil, but she is the reason we know so much about her life. But of course, she doesn't basically tell anybody her exact date of birth or exactly how old she is, anything like that. She controls the narrative. In a very empowering and mysterious way in terms of her age. So we don't know the exact year of her birth.

So basically, there's a real good ending that I won't spoil, but she is the reason we know so much about her life. But of course, she doesn't basically tell anybody her exact date of birth or exactly how old she is, anything like that. She controls the narrative. In a very empowering and mysterious way in terms of her age. So we don't know the exact year of her birth.

It's believed to be sometime between 1727 and 1742. But her memoirs do give some insight into her upbringing. She was born to a pair of first cousins. She's one of eight surviving children out of... 22. Holy shit. Yeah. That's how we like to do it, the Irish. Eight out of 22. And eight surviving, which is like the grief of losing more than half of your children is just like... Yeah.

It's believed to be sometime between 1727 and 1742. But her memoirs do give some insight into her upbringing. She was born to a pair of first cousins. She's one of eight surviving children out of... 22. Holy shit. Yeah. That's how we like to do it, the Irish. Eight out of 22. And eight surviving, which is like the grief of losing more than half of your children is just like... Yeah.

How did people do it back then? So... Peg grows up as a witty, fun-loving girl in Westmeath in the Irish countryside. It's the time of famine, but her father is a wealthy landowner, so Peg actually gets to enjoy a nice life and gets a good education.

How did people do it back then? So... Peg grows up as a witty, fun-loving girl in Westmeath in the Irish countryside. It's the time of famine, but her father is a wealthy landowner, so Peg actually gets to enjoy a nice life and gets a good education.

She is expected, of course, to find a suitable husband, was a stable job, move out of the family home, and then with her husband, raise some children and build a her own family. Not a particularly exciting plan to Peg. She's not necessarily all that into it, but she has watched her two older sisters follow this path. It doesn't seem that bad.

She is expected, of course, to find a suitable husband, was a stable job, move out of the family home, and then with her husband, raise some children and build a her own family. Not a particularly exciting plan to Peg. She's not necessarily all that into it, but she has watched her two older sisters follow this path. It doesn't seem that bad.

So she accepts the trajectory basically because she doesn't have any other choice. That's what it was for women. But all that changes after a fever infects her family. Peg manages to avoid infection, so her father sends her to live with an uncle until everyone hopefully recovers. But by the time she returns, the illness has taken both her mother and her older brother.

So she accepts the trajectory basically because she doesn't have any other choice. That's what it was for women. But all that changes after a fever infects her family. Peg manages to avoid infection, so her father sends her to live with an uncle until everyone hopefully recovers. But by the time she returns, the illness has taken both her mother and her older brother.

And her grief-stricken father is left in shambles. He is too emotionally and mentally unwell to care for his family, so he appoints his next oldest son, Christopher, to become the head of the household. But where Peg's father was a kind and respectable man, Christopher is a power-hungry monster.