Langrishe of Knocktopher
Possibly the most colourful Langrishe of all was Hercules Langrishe the 5th Baronet. He was known as Herky to his friends. He was born in 1859 and during his lifetime the death knell of the large estates was sounded.
A dashing, handsome young man, Herky was enthusiastic about all his pursuits and on the one day in 1879 he won a tennis tournament and a prestigious bicycle race. His sister Mary was Irish Lawn Tennis Ladies Champion on three occasions in the 1880s. Herky’s other pursuits included horse riding at which he was quite adept, winning two races on the one day in the Kilkenny Hunt point to point meeting in the early 1880s and yachting. He also had a passion for motor cars and was one of the first men in Ireland to own one. But like many of his ilk his first love was horses. He was later to become the Master of the Kilkenny Hunt.
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