Thomas Parnell

PARNELL, Thomas. b. Dublin, 1679 (baptized 14 September); d. Chester, 24 October 1718. He was educated at Trinity College (BA 1697, MA 1700), and was then ordained (deacon 1700, priest 1704). He became Archdeacon of Clogher (1706). He was a friend of Swift, but following the death of his wife in 1711 he became increasingly attached to London: he is said to have helped Alexander Pope with his translations of Homer. He returned to Ireland in 1714, and became rector of Finglas, near Dublin, in 1716, resigning his post as Archdeacon. He died on his way back to Ireland after a reunion with his London friends, and was buried at Chester. Parnell was a well known poet in his day. He is particularly...