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{{Short description|Irish peer and landowner}}
{{other|Randal Plunkett (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
'''Randal Arthur Henry Plunkett, 19th Baron of Dunsany''' (25 August 1906 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish peer. An only child, he was the son of author and playwright [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany]] and Lady Beatrice Child Villiers, daughter of [[Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey]].

==Family background and seat==
The family seat of the Lords Dunsany is at [[Dunsany Castle]], Dunsany, [[County Meath]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. The original Dunsany and nearby Killeen Castles were built by [[cusack|Geoffrey de Cusack]] who was a tenant of Sir [[Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath|Hugh de Lacy]], an early [[Cambro-Norman]] who arrived in Ireland with [[Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Strongbow]], sometime between his arrival in Ireland in 1172 and the year 1181. Sir Hugh was given most of [[County Meath]]. The Plunketts of Dunsany and Killeen are descended from Geoffrey de Cusack and Matilda (née le Petit sister of William le Petit of [[Dunboyne]] Castle). The castle was built on an area of land believed to have been the site of an earlier ''Dún'' or fort, which may give its name to the locality. Both castles came to the Plunkett family through the marriage in the early 15th century of Sir Christopher Plunkett (Deputy Governor of Ireland in 1432) to Lady Joan de Cusack. It is claimed that the castle is the longest-occupied home and one of the oldest surviving continuously inhabited buildings in Ireland.

==Early life==
Randal Plunkett was born in Dublin on 25 August 1906 and was educated at [[Eton College]], Eton, Berkshire, England. In 1957 he succeeded to the family title on the death of his father the 18th [[Lord Dunsany]].

==Army career==
Plunkett joined the [[British Army]] in 1926, with the 16th/5th Lancers. He made a transfer to the [[British Indian Army]] some years later, and over a career of nearly 20 years served in the [[Guides Cavalry]] and the [[Indian Armoured Corps]]. He fought on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North-West Frontier]] in 1930 in the [[Guides Cavalry]] regiment of the [[British Indian Army]], and was decorated for this service, and promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant-Colonel]]. He also served on the North West Frontier during [[World War II]], and in the summer of 1941 led a squadron by the [[Khojak Pass]] in what is now Pakistan. He was also deployed to Central Asia, working to preempt southward advances by German forces. He was later redeployed to northern Africa, to the Western Desert theatre, fighting at [[El Alamein]]. He retired from military service in 1947, the year the British Indian Army was stood down, having been decorated (Medal and Clasp).<ref name="Obit_IT_990222">{{cite news |title=Lord Dunsany |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lord-dunsany-1.155542 |access-date=28 November 2021 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=22 February 1999}}</ref>

==Personal life==
On 23 August 1938 Plunkett married Vera de Sà Sottomaior (d.1986), the youngest daughter of Dr. Genesio de Sà Sottomaior of [[Sao Paulo, Brazil]], and formerly wife of [[John Pablo Bryce#Marriage and issue|Ivar Bryce]]. Just over one year later the couple had their only child [[Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany|Edward John Carlos Plunkett]], who would later succeed his father as 20th Lord Dunsany in 1999. However, the couple were divorced in 1947 and on 8 October 1947 Randal Plunkett married Sheila Victoria Katrin Philipps (1912–1999), daughter of [[Philipps Baronets|Sir Henry Philipps]], 2nd Baronet, of [[Picton Castle]] in [[Pembroke, Pembrokeshire|Pembroke]]. From this marriage Beatrice Mary Plunkett was born on 15 July 1948.

Plunkett was an active player of polo while in the army, and was later Master of the Hunt for the Tara Harriers. He assumed management of [[Dunsany Castle and Demesne]] after leaving the army, with his father retiring to Kent. He and his wife stayed annually with [[Henry McIlhenny]] at [[Glenveagh]] in [[County Donegal]], where he stalked deer and fished.<ref name="Obit_IT_990222" />

Randal Dunsany died in 1999 after a long illness. He was buried on one of the mounds in front of Dunsany Castle.<ref name="Obit_IT_990222" /> He was survived by both of his children. He had two grandchildren by Edward and Maria Alice Plunkett, both boys, to whom he left a personal bequest, while Beatrice Plunkett (styled "The Hon."), based in London and Wales, did not marry.<ref name="Obit_IT_990222" />

==Achievements==
Dunsany led the establishment of the [[Order of Saint Lazarus|Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem]] in Ireland.<ref name="StLazarusOrd_Home">{{cite web |title=The Military & Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem |url=http://www.stlazarus.ie/ |website=The Military & Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref> On 21 September 1962 the official inauguration of the [[Order of Saint Lazarus|Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem]] Bailiwick (later to be Grand Priory) of Ireland took place at Dunsany Castle and Dunsany was invested as the first Chancellor of the order in Ireland. Dunsany and his wife funded the decoration of the Chapel of St Stephen at [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin]] as the order's chapel in Ireland.<ref name="OrdStLazarus_Chapel">{{cite web |title=Chapel |url=http://www.stlazarus.ie/ST%20Laz%20Irl/Chapel/ |website=The Military & Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref>

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{{succession box|title=[[Baron of Dunsany]]|before=[[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany|Edward Plunkett]]|after=[[Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany|Edward Plunkett]]|years=1957–1999}}
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==References==
===Sources===
*Burke, Bernard (1862). A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 4th edition. London: Harrison, p. 327.
*Mosley, Charles, editor. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. London.
*Lee, G. A. (1996) Leper Hospitals in Medieval Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press, p. 72.

===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.dunsany.net Official Site of Dunsany Castle and Plunkett Family]
*[http://www.stlazarus.ie Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem Grand Priory of Ireland]
*[http://www.thepeerage.com/p9125.htm#i91242 thePeerage.com Retrieved 6 January 2010]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunsany, Randal Arthur Henry Plunkett, 19th Baron Of}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Barons of Dunsany]]

Randal Plunkett, 19th Baron of Dunsany - Revision history

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