Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell (née Jennings, previously Hamilton; – 1731), also called La Belle Jennings, was a maid of honour to the Duchess of York and, like her sister Sarah, a famous beauty at the Restoration court. She married first George Hamilton and then Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell. She was vicereine in Dublin Castle while Tyrconnell was viceroy (lord deputy) of Ireland for James II. She lived through difficult times after the death of her second husband, who was attainted as a Jacobite, but recovered some of his wealth and died a devout Catholic despite having been raised as a Protestant. Birth and origins Frances was born about 1649 at Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England, as the third of the nine children, four sons and five daughters of Richard Jennings and his wife Frances Thornhurst. Her father was a landowner and a Member of Parliament, and so had been her grandfather. Both sat for the Borough of St Albans. Her father sided with the Parliament during the English Civil War. Her mother was a daughter of Sir Gifford Thornhurst, the first and last Baronet Thornhurst of Agnes Court, and Susan Temple. Frances's parents had married in 1643. Of the nine children only Frances and her sister Sarah are noteworthy. Sarah would become Duchess of Marlborogh. The spelling of her maiden name varies widely. All the three following forms were used during her lifetime: Jennings, Jenings, Jenyns. Restoration court Frances Jennings was about 11 when the Restoration (1660) brought the end of the Commonwealth and put Charles II on the throne. In 1664, aged about 15, Jennings was appointed maid of honour to Anne Hyde, the Duchess of York. Anne was the first wife of the James, Duke of York, the younger brother of the King and future King James II. Frances's beauty earned her the nickname "La Belle Jennings." Macaulay describes her as “beautiful Fanny Jennings, the loveliest coquette in the brilliant Whitehall of the Restoration". She figures in the Mémoires du comte de Grammont (Memoirs for short), written by Anthony Hamilton, younger brother of her future husband George Hamilton, which describes the life at the Restoration court. The three oldest of the six Hamilton brothers, James, George, and Anthony, belonged to the inner circle around the King at Whitehall, as they were fashionable young men and had been in exile with him. An incident in which Jennings disguised herself