JONATHAN SWIFT
1667- 1745
AUTHOR AND CLERIC

Swift was born at 7 Hoey's Court, Dublin, on 30 November 1667, and may have been fathered by Sir John Temple, master of the rolls. Educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin, he became private secretary to Sir William Temple (Sir John's son) at Moor Park, Surrey, in 1689.

Returning to Ireland in 1694, he took holy orders, and in 1695 became curate of Kilroot, Co Antrim. In 1696, he returned to Moor Park, where he tutored Esther Johnson, the beloved 'Stella' of his writings and possibly Temple's child.

Temple died in 1699, and Swift was appointed chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley, lord justice of Ireland, and also became vicar of Laracor, Co Meath. After Berkeley's recall in 1701, Swift spent much time in England, acquiring a reputation as wit and pamphleteer through such works as A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books (1704). He also edited the Tory journal, The Examiner. His Journal to Stella, relating the gossip and politics of London society, was written during 1710-13. He also met and infatuated the young EstherVanhomrigh, the 'Vanessa' of his long poem Cadenus and Vanessa (1713).

In 1713, Swift became dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and turned his savage pen to English misrule. In 1720, he advocated 'Burn everything that comes from England exccpt the coal'. In his anonymous Drapier's Letters (1724), he opposed 'Wood's halfpence', a corrupt currency. A Modest Proposal (1729) suggested feeding impoverished children to the rich. His major satire, Gulliver's Travels (1726), has ironically survived as a children's classic.

Swift's last years were unhappy. Suffering from Meniere's disease, he described himself as 'Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone'. He died on 19 October 1745, leaving £8,000 to build St Patrick's Hospital for the insane.

Visit
St Patrick's Cathedral, Patrick Street, Dublin, where Swift is buried, and nearby Marsh's Library.
See
St Patrick's Hospital, Bow St, Dublin: Busts in Trinity College and National Gallery, Dublin.
Plaque on wall of Dublin Castle recalls Swift's birthplace, now demolished.
Read
Bernard Tucker, Jonathan Swift (1983).

From the Appletree Press title: Famous Irish Lives.
Also from Appletree: Irish Museums and Heritage Centres.