Object: Countess of Moira Portrait

In 2022 the museum acquired this portrait of Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1731-1808).  This acquisition was made possible through generous support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council.

Elizabeth Hastings (1731-1808)

The Countess of Moira was married to the 1st Earl of Moira, John Rawdon, the great-grandson of Sir George Rawdon.  The couple lived at their estate at Montalto, Ballynahinch, Moira Castle, Moira, and Moira House Dublin.  A noted socialite, Lady Moira’s salon in Dublin was visited by almost every well-known writer, poet, revolutionary and politician in late 18th-century Dublin, from Maria Edgeworth to John Wesley and Theobald Wolf Tone. An antiquarian, she published one of the first studies of a bog body found at Slieve Croob, on the Rawdon estate, in 1785.

The portraits can be seen on display for the first time in 350 years as part of our exhibition, ‘Rawdon: an Irish Family Dynasty’.

Portrait of Elizabeth Hastings. ILCLM Collection. Image copyright of Dreweatts Auction 2022
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