Abie Philbin Bowman and Kate O’Malley learn about the Irish who shaped Romanov Russia: including the musketeer Peter de Lacy, who led a daring amphibious assault on Stockholm, and commanded the Russian forces who captured the Crimea (from the Ottoman Turks).

They also hear about the Wilmot sisters from Cork who formed an exceptional bond with one of the leading lights of the European Enlightenment, Princess Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova.

The Princess effectively adopted the younger sister, Martha, as her daughter and the two composed, and translated Dashkova’s life story in French and then English. We also learn about the letters sent home by Catherine Wilmot’s maid, Eleanor Cavanagh, who provides a servant’s eye view of Russia’s serfs and palaces.