Episode 24 – Assembly Room Graiguenamanagh

Abduction clubs were all the rage in the mid 1700s. The clubs were formed by the second sons of small landowners who were disillusioned by the fact that they would inherit nothing of their family fortunes. They set their sights on wealthy heiresses and would abduct these ladies and force marriage on them in order to inherit their wealth. A famous abduction took place at the Graiguenamanagh Assembly Room in April 1779. Owen Doyle from the local historical society fills us in on the story which is marked by a plaque commemorating the event