Type: Article
Le Juen, Yves. ‘The Abbé MacGeoghegan Dies’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 13 (1998), pp 135-148.
This article examines the papers relating to the demise of the Abbé James MacGeoghegan, conserved in the Archives Nationales in Paris amongst other Ancien Régime ‘Successions en déshérence’. The papers provide valuable information regarding the personal effects of MacGeoghegan, and show that, in the period before his death in 1764, he could no longer afford the lavish lifestyle he had enjoyed earlier when he had developed a taste for fine wine and food, and had purchased, on credit, a gold watch worth nearly half of his yearly stipend. The papers also shed light on MacGeoghegan’s social standing, showing that he consorted with the French aristocracy and with high officials. Upon his death, MacGeoghegan’s money and effects were forfeited to the Crown, which caused panic among his creditors, some of whom went unpaid. The article includes a semi-technical analysis of the contents of the Succession papers and appendix of persons named therein.