Author: Reynolds, G.
Biography:
REYNOLDS, George Nugent (1770?-1802: ODNB)
The only son of George Nugent Reynolds, a landowner, and his wife Jane, he was born at the family estate in Letterfyan or Letterfine, County Leitrim, Ireland. In 1786 his father was killed by an attorney, Robert Keon, during preparations for a duel; Keon was later charged with murder and executed. Reynolds published ballads and songs in periodicals and wrote a musical, Bantry Bay, with William Reeve which was successfully produced at Covent Garden in 1797. At about the same time, he joined the yeomanry and served in the commission for peace in Leitrim until he was removed from office by Lord Clare over questions of his loyalty. Reynolds’s insulting reply to Clare was published in newspapers and helped to make his name. In 1801 he moved to England to study law and was travelling to visit his cousin, the Marquis of Buckingham, when he died of a lung infection on 6 Feb. 1802. His birth year is usually given as 1770 or 1771 but his age at the time of death is given in contemporary notices as 34. His two sisters inherited his estates in Leitrim. Several of his poems, including “Kathleen O’More,” became very popular. “Exiles of Erin” was attributed to him by his family but was written by Thomas Campbell (q.v.). (ODNB 2 Sept. 2021; O’Donoghue; Oxford Journal 13 Feb. 1802; Saunders’s Newsletter 24 Feb. 1802)
Other Names:
- G. Reynolds