The Last Salon of Lady Wilde, 'Speranza of the Nation'

A fundraiser for Bloomsday 2009

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." (Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest)

First performance

When:	Friday 20 Feb 2009, at 7.30pm for 8pm
Where:	At Di and Syd Silber's home, Albert Park.

Second performance

When:	Sunday 22 Feb 2009, at 3pm
Where:	Brian Boru Room, Celtic Club, 320 Queen Street, Melbourne

We joined Lady Jane Francesca Agnes Wilde and sundry literary celebrities of the period, including Lady Gregory, Kipling and Bram Stoker, at Lady Wilde’s last salon. A celebrated patriot and indefatigable nationalist, folklorist and patron of the arts, Lady Wilde (self-styled ‘Speranza of the Nation’ to her compatriots and doting mother of Oscar) for decades ran salons in her house at 1 Merrion Square, Dublin, and later in London.

We found out about this amazing woman and her husband, the ‘Da Vinci of Ireland’: surgeon, medical scientist, archaeologist, folklorist, archivist to the nation, philanderer and Dublin eccentric. This salon also featured some curious and little known sidelights on their son, Oscar, and Lady Wilde’s role in his downfall.

The salon was brought to vivid life by Rod Baker (composer, musician, tenor), Anna Teresa Scheer (museum guide and songstress for Bloomsday 2008), Deirdre Gillespie, Bill Johnston and others.