Portrait of Lady Mary Boyle, half-length, and her son Charles

This portrait is one of the earliest images of a mother breast-feeding her child in British art and despite the obvious references to the Virgin Mary - a play on the sitter's name - is a tender image of motherhood. Lady Mary Boyle was the daughter of Murrough O'Brien, the 1st Earl of Inchiquin, and thus a daughter of one of the very few native Irish houses to claim direct descent from Brian Boru. Lady Mary married firstly the Hon. Lt. Col. Henry Boyle of Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, the second son of the great Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery. Lady Mary had four sons, of whom the second and eldest surviving was Henry Boyle, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, created Earl of Shannon in 1756. The baby shown here is Charles, her third son, who pursued a career in the Navy and was promoted Captain in 1711. Colonel Boyle died on active service with the Duke of Marlborough in 1693, and Lady Mary married Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes MP, and later, at his death, Colonel John Irwin.