A strange brew of a man: The MP for Meath who believed he was a teapot

Robert Hume tells of the eccentric MP for Athboy, Co. Meath – born 300 years ago this month – who thought he was a teapot, and was afraid his spout might break off.

Many people have had delusions of grandeur: Cork’s Edward Kenealy claimed he was the Twelfth Messenger of God, and Anna Anderson was convinced she was Anastasia, Tsar Nicholas II’s youngest daughter. As for all those professing to be Napoleon Bonaparte, let’s not go there.