Most Exclusive Secret Societies In History

There are a few locations still associated with the Hellfire Club, like West Wycombe Park, the George and Vulture pub in London, and Mountpelier Hill outside Dublin. We know they were the meeting places of a group called the Hellfire Club, but thanks to notoriously tight-lipped members, there's as much folklore about the group as there is actual history.

English clubs were restrained but elite, and chapters were founded by Philip Wharton (later made a duke), and Francis Dashwood. According to The Daily Beast, their craziness involved a lot of drinking (mostly claret and port) and drugs (mostly laudanum and opium). There was plenty of sleeping around, card-playing, and backgammon, but if you wanted serious hellfire, you needed to go to Ireland.

Most of the rumors are pretty dark, and they were accused of practicing Satanism, holding demonic orgies, and according to the Irish Times, they were even said to invite the devil himself to their regular card games. Founded in the mid-18th century, the chapter met mostly at Cork Hill's Eagle tavern, and the aristocratic members got up to the usual shenanigans like getting too friendly with daughters. Some antics were less friendly. One club member, Henry, the fourth Baron of Barry of Santry, forced a bedridden servant to down a bottle of brandy then set him on fire. He was burned alive, and Henry bought the silence of those who knew. The rich have always had different ways to solve problems.

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