Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick ( 1625–1678 ) was the seventh daughter of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork and his second wife Catherine Fenton.[1] She was born in Youghal in 1625, and after her mother's death raised by relatives in Mallow, before becoming a Maid of Honour to Henrietta Maria. She married the Earl of Warwick in 1641, but the marriage only lasted 5 years due to his early death. [2] Rich is well known for her great love for literature and writing, which included many of the current events in Ireland during the seventeenth century as well as her own domestic issues.
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She was noted for exceptional stubbornness and independence: her father called her " my unruly daughter" and was entirely unable to control her. He arranged a marriage for her with James Hamilton, later 1st Earl of Clanbrassil, but Mary , who was only thirteen, refused to marry on the grounds of her aversion to him, and no threat or argument would change her mind.[4] Two years later she secretly made a love marriage with Charles Rich, 4th Earl of Warwick, who at that time was a penniless younger son. Her father relented sufficiently to provide a dowry.
Even though Mary may have been known as Robert Boyle's "unruly daughter," she still expressed great respect and gratitude for him in her writings. The following is a small portion taken out of one of her diary entries explaining how her heart is
| “ | gratefully affected for God's good and strange provi-
dence in raising my family, by my father, from a mean and low beginning, to be one of the greatest men of fortune in Ireland. |
” |
Although she relied on her independence, Mary was known as a good woman with Puritan values. Her life illustrates the remarkable journey of a female Irish woman who was committed to her life and virtues in the seventeenth century. Mary's experiences, which she usually kept record of in her autobiography, letters, and diary generally upheld her code of ethics.
Charles unexpectedly inherited the Earldom in 1659, and thereafter Mary lived mainly at Leigh's Priory near Felstead, where she helped to raise her husband's three nieces. As the years passed she became increasingly devout, spending much of her day in prayer and meditation. Leigh's Priory became a resort for bishops and clergy. Her diaries record her religious fervour; they also reflect bitter quarrels with her husband, whose temper was ruined by chronic ill-health, and the tragic deaths of their son and daughter. They were however reconciled before his death in 1673 and he left her all his property, an unusual decision for the time.[6] Mary died five years later, and by her own wish was buried " with no pomp."
Mary Rich kept a diary for the remaining eleven years of her life, in which she recorded her day to day affairs and other occurrences throughout the period (1660's) After the Early of Warwick's death in 1673, Mary went under extreme grief as expressed by the following entry in her diary (as recorded in Illustrious Irishwomen):
| “ | This greatest trial of my life did for a long time disorder my frail house of clay,
and made me have thoughts that my dissolution was near; which thoughts were not at all terrible or affrighting to me, but very pleasant and delightful. |
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The above excerpt exemplifies Mary's passionate feelings for her husband and her life. By writing that she felt she was having "thoughts that [her] dissolution was near," corresponded to the assumption that she felt her life was incomplete with the death of her husband but perhaps suggested that she wanted to be in a better place, rather than continuing to live an empty life. She also suggested that the death of her husband was "the greatest trial of [her] life," showing that she had deep and committed feelings towards him, which in turn allowed her to write about events such as this in her diary.
Its historical value is considerable, as supplying precise dates for many events, both public and domestic, of the period immediately after the Restoration. Viewed as a human document only, it is equally interesting, affording as it does an insight into the mind of a woman of a type so foreign to that we are accustomed to connect with the decadent years of the later Stuarts.[7]
In addition to her dairy, Mary Rich also wrote many letters to various correspondents. According to Illustrious Irishwomen, the people that she wrote letters to were often distinguished in the art of literature.
Lastly, she also wrote about her Occasional Meditations. Rich in domestic detail, vivid analogies, and homely comparisons, the Countess of Warwick’s occasional mediations are a memorable expression of a deeply religious woman who achieved a distinctive sense of self as she strove to make her life one with God. This first edition is a testament of her accomplishment.[8]
The following is a sample piece from Mary Rich's diary:
| “ | O, we do all offend !
There's not a day of wedded life, if we Count at its close the little, bitter sum Of thoughts and words and looks unkind and froward, Silence that chides, and woundings of the eye, But prostrate at each other's feet we should Each night forgiveness ask. |
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Her writing is somewhat complicated to comprehend, but from her work, the reader can gather that her words are passionate. From her diary entries, it can be concluded that Mary was a deeply religious woman who held Christian ideals. The last line of the following entry indicates that people should ask for forgiveness of their sins daily in order to live a more prosperous life.