Jerusalem Whalley
Mr. Whalley was elected for Newcastle, 1785, before he was of age, which was not unusual in Ireland, and sat for it to 1790, and for Enniscorthy from 1797 to June, 1800. He acquired the sobriquet of Jerusalem Whalley in consequence of a bet, said to have been 20,000l., that he would walk (except where a sea-passage was unavoidable) to Jerusalem and back within twelve months. He started September 22, 1788, and returned June 1, 1789.
Lord Cloncurry describes Whalley as a perfect specimen of the Irish gentleman of the olden time. Gallant, reckless, and profuse, he made no account of money, limb, or life, when a feat was to be won, or a daring deed to be attempted. He spent a fine fortune in pursuits not more profitable than his expedition to play ball at Jerusalem; and rendered himself a cripple for life by jumping from the drawing-room window of Daly’s club-house, in College Green, Dublin, on to the roof of a hackney-coach which was passing.
The lawless behaviour of the yeomanry corps which he commanded obtained for him another and less agreeable appellation, “Bever-chapel Whalley.” His residence in Stephen’s Green was, in 1855, converted into a nunnery. Sir Jonah Barrington states that 4,000l. was paid to Mr. Whalley by Mr. Gould, M.P. for Kilbeggan.
Whalley, “Buck Whalley” as he was sometimes called, is stated to have been the founder of the Hell-fire Club. Having a taste for the fine arts, and means to gratify it, he accumulated a large number of valuable paintings in his mansion at Stephen’s Green, Dublin, of which the following account has appeared in the Dublin University Magazine:—“In the centre of the south side of St. Stephen’s Green stands a noble building, with a large stone lion reposing over the entrance, and finding his legs and tail encroached on by grass and weeds. This mansion belonged to the great Buck Whalley, and witnessed many a noble feast and mad carouse during the viceroyalty of the Duke of Buckingham. At last, when all the pleasures that could be procured on Irish land were tried, and found to result in satiety and disgust, and his tailor and wine-merchant began to disturb him, he sought new excitement in his wager that he would have a game of ball against the walls of Jerusalem; and he succeeded, as already stated. A bard, who contributed to a collection of political squibs, entitled, Both Sides of the Gutter, sang the going forth of the expedition: it is entitled, Whalley’s Embarkation, to the tune of ‘Rutland Gigg.’”