The Members of the Irish Hellfire Club
Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse (c.1702–1741)
Richard Parsons, the 1st Earl of Rosse, was arguably the highest status of the Irish Hellfire Club members. He was born into nobility as the son of Richard Parsons, the 1st Viscount Rosse, and Elizabeth Hamilton, the niece of the Duchess of Marlborough. In August 1717, he took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. Richard Parsons became the 1st Earl of Rosse in 1718, but he had little interest in politics and public affairs, instead preferring amusements and society. He became the first Grand Master of the Irish Grand Lodge of Freemasons in 1725. His commemorative medal is in the collections of Birr Castle, County Offaly. His character and legacy was described more than a century after his death;
‘A nobleman could not, in so censorious a place as Dublin, lead a life of rackets, brawls, and midnight confusion, without being a general topic for reproach, and having fifty thousand faults invented to complete the number of those he had: nay, some asserted, that he dealt with the Devil; established a Hell-Fire Club at the Eagle Tavern on Cork Hill; and that one Worsdale, a mighty innocent, facetious painter, who was indeed only the agent of his gallantry, was a party concerned. Be it as it will, his Lordship’s character was torn to pieces everywhere, except at the Groom Porter’s, where he was a man of honour; and at the taverns, where none surpassed him in generosity.’ (1).
Richard Parsons was further described as having
‘an infinite fund of wit, great spirits and liberal heart, was fond of all the vices which the beau-monde call pleasures, and by those means first impaired his fortune as much as he possibly could do; and finally, his health beyond repair.’ (2).
Parsons was known for his practical jokes that he particularly liked to inflict upon the religious. He used to reportedly received his neighbour, the noted clergyman and moralist Dr Madden, completely stark naked. By the age of 39, the years of excess caught up with him. It is reported that on his deathbed, he received a letter that was simply addressed to‘My Lord’. The letter was sent by his neighbour, the Reverend Dr Madden. It contained an account of all of the Parsons’ misdemeanours in his life
“whoring, gaming, drinking, rioting, turning the day into night, blaspheming his maker, and in short, all manner of wickedness”.
The letter urged him to repent his sins. Instead of yielding or confessing, the Parsons saw a final chance for a jape. He had the letter put into fresh binding and ordered it to be immediately delivered to Robert FitzGerald, the famously straight-laced and pious Earl of Kildare. FitzGerald was reported to have been enraged when he received this baffling attack on his character. By the time FitzGerald had confronted Madden and realised who had played the trick, Richard Parsons had died, enjoying one last laugh at the expense of the sombre society that he so delighted in shocking in life (3, 4).