The Last of the Luttrells

Henry Lawes, the last of the Luttrells of Luttrellstown, decamped for his English estates at Painshill in Surrey, where he died in 1821. An amusing anecdote about him is worth relating: In the Dublin Post of 2 May 1.811 the death of Henry Lawes Luttrell was reported. Luttrell, being very much alive, contacted the newspaper in foul temper, demanding a retraction: The issue of 5 May 1811 corrected their earlier death notice, confirming that Luttrell was alive and well under the heading `Public Disappointment'. His brother John, who succeeded him, died in 1829, at which point the title became extinct.

Thus ends the 450-year association of the Luttrell family with Clonsilla. Some of this association was good, some was bad, although towards the end of the line there were some odious characters. Perhaps Henry Lawes Luttrell should have the final word. When his father, Simon, challenged him to a duel; he declined on the grounds that: `It was not given by a gentleman.'

(Excerpt from Candle in the Window by Jim Lacey)