Clodagh Finn: Forget Daniel Defoe, let’s talk about Lady Ranelagh

A plaque dedicated to Lady Ranelagh at Lismore Castle. She was a medical practitioner, and a woman of science whose opinion on a range of subjects was widely sought in 17th-century London.

Now that we are looking to the past for its lessons, let us recall the life of a Cork-born woman of ‘extraordinary talent’ and what she had to say about living through challenging times, writes Clodagh Finn

A plaque dedicated to Lady Ranelagh (inset) at Lismore Castle. She was a medical practitioner, and a woman of science whose opinion on a range of subjects was widely sought in 17th-century London.