We record with deep sadness the death last Sunday, 22 January, of our author Valerie Pakenham, whose magnificent edition of Maria Edgeworth’s Letters from Ireland Lilliput published in 2018.  

Valerie was a scrupulous and spirited scholar, immersed in the history of her adopted Westmeath, where she presided over Tullynally Castle Gardens, her unruly family and cherished husband Thomas (himself an unsurpassed chronicler of empire and arboriculture).  

She is hugely missed by us all and her funeral service will be held at St Michael’s Church of Ireland in Castlepollard at 11am on Monday the 29th.

Antony Farrell