George Noble Plunkett

Who was George Noble Plunkett?

George Noble Plunkett or Count Plunkett was a biographer and Irish nationalist, and father of Joseph Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916.

Born in Dublin, Plunkett was the son of Patrick Joseph Plunkett, a builder, and Elizabeth Noble. The family income allowed Plunkett to attend school in Nice, France, Clongowes Wood College and the University of Dublin. At Dublin he studied Renaissance and medieval art among other topics, ultimately graduating in 1884. Plunkett spent much time abroad and throughout Italy. In 1884 he was created a Papal Count by Pope Leo XIII for donating money and property to the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, a Roman Catholic nursing order. He was a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

That year he married Josephine Cranny and they had seven children: Philomena, Joseph, Moya, Geraldine, George Oliver, Fiona and John. From 1907 to 1916 he was curator of the National Museum in Dublin.