Cæsar Litton Falkiner ‎

“ His father, John Gilbert (d. 1833) , was an English protestant of Devonshire origin, who early in the century had established himself in Dublin in the Spanish wine trade, and for many years held the post of consul at Dublin for Portugal and Algarve; his mother Eleanor, daughter of Henry Costello of Dublin, was an Irish-woman and a Roman catholic. From his father Gilbert derived great powers of industry and accuracy; from his mother, who brought him up in the Roman catholic faith, he inherited the strong Irish feeling and religious devotion which marked him through life. ”

“ Notwithstanding that his attention to politics was at first rather spasmodic, Gregory was soon looked on as among the promising young men of his day in the House of Commons. He was popular with all parties and attracted the attention and regard of men so different as Peel, Disraeli, and O'Connell. ”

“ In the stormy controversies provoked by Gladstone's measure of disestablishment and disendowment, as well as in the difficult task of remodelling the constitution of the church when disestablishment had been consummated, the primate earned the reputation of an ecclesiastical statesman. In the discussions on the Irish church which preceded the more acute stages of the agitation, Beresford was among those who favoured the timely adoption of a measure of reform ”

“ In 1888 Ball issued 'Historical Review of the Legislative Systems operative in Ireland from the Invasion of Henry the Second to the Union.' Here he sought 'to trace the succession of these systems to each other, the forms they respectively assumed, and their distinctive peculiarities, and at the same time to consider the controversies connected with the claim made by the English parliament to legislate for Ireland' (Author's preface) . The fair and balanced temper in which the author dealt with contentious topics was recognised by men of every shade of opinion. ”

“ Reichel as his deputy in the chair of ecclesiastical history in the university of Dublin; and in 1883, on the termination of his principal's period of office, Stokes was appointed his successor. The appointment was brilliantly justified, and it soon appeared that in selecting a professor the university had produced an historian. The fruit of his labours was quickly manifest in his 'Ireland and the Celtic Church,' published in 1886, which achieved an immediate success. ”

“ Archer’s extremely modest and retiring disposition was a constant bar to the enlargement of his reputation. A distrust of his abilities caused him to decline in 1872 the professorship of botany at the Royal College of Science for Ireland. In 1876, however, his friends procured his appointment as librarian to the Royal Dublin Society; and on the acquisition in 1877 of the society’s library by the state Archer became librarian of the National Library of Ireland. ”

“ The early years of Plunket's ministerial life brought him into close contact with the evangelising movement in Connemara and Mayo, and fostered that sympathy with struggling protestant communities which was to be so strongly evinced during his episcopal career in his relation to the reformers in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. He became an active member of the Irish Church Missions Society, travelling through every district of West Connaught in aid of its work, and frequently visiting England to solicit financial support for the movement. ”

“ In educational matters Beresford was a strong advocate of the system of united secular and separate religious education, and in this respect reversed, on his accession to the primacy, the policy pursued by his predecessor. ”

“ In 1863 Ball was elected a bencher of the King's Inns, and in 1865 was made queen's advocate in Ireland. In the same year he first appeared in the arena of politics, coming forward at the general election of 1865 as a candidate for the university of Dublin in the character of an independent churchman. The agitation against the Irish establishment had already commenced; and Ball, foreseeing the fierceness of the storm, counselled legislation for ecclesiastical reform. ”

“ He was an ardent supporter of the opening of public museums on Sundays, took a keen interest in popularising the study of the arts, and for several years was regarded as the principal authority in the House of Commons on matters of this sort. In 1867 he was appointed a trustee of the National Gallery, on the recommendation of Disraeli, whose regard, in spite of political disagreement, Gregory always retained. ”

“ GREGORY, WILLIAM (1766–1840) , Irish under-secretary, was the youngest of three sons of Robert Gregory, a member of a family sprung from an offshoot of the Gregorys of Styvechale Hall, Coventry, who came to Ireland with Cromwell and settled in Tipperary. His father, Robert Gregory (1727–1810) , himself a man of some mark, was chairman of the East India Company for many years till 1783, and member of parliament for Maidstone from 1768 to 1774, and for Rochester from 1774 to 1784 ”

“ Eight years later— in 1862 — on the death of his cousin, Lord John George Beresford [q. v.] , Beresford was elevated to the Irish primacy, and was enthroned in Armagh Cathedral. With the archbishopric he also held the bishopric of Clogher, which was re-united to the see of Armagh by virtue of 3rd and 4th William IV, cap. 37, but which in the disestablished church of Ireland has been revived as an independent see. By virtue of his office Beresford was prelate of the order of St. Patrick, and a member of the Irish privy council. ”

“ But he possessed, in addition to marked administrative capacity and practical sagacity in affairs, that sort of silent and reserved power which enables some men to exercise all the authority of a leader without appearing to lead. His influence in the general synod of the church of Ireland was at all times remarkable. Gregg was married in 1863 to Elinor, daughter of John Hugh Bainbridge of Frankfield House, Cork, by whom he had two children, both of whom survived him—John William Gregg, Causestown House, Athbry, co. ”

“ His tenure of this see lasted for exactly eight years, and during that period Plunket spent much time in Dublin, and devoted great attention to the question of religious education in the Irish national schools. The institution for providing trained teachers in connection with the church of Ireland, long known as the Kildare Place Schools, had fallen to a low standard of efficiency, and threatened to collapse for lack of funds. ”

“ In 1894 he determined that the time for conferring consecration on Senor Cabrera, the leader of the movement in Spain, had arrived, and on communicating his resolution to the Irish bishops to visit Spain in company with two other members of their body, the majority of his brother prelates declined to oppose his action. He accordingly left Ireland in the autumn of 1894, accompanied by the bishops of Clogher and Down, and on 23 Sept. ”

“ FitzPatrick's labours in his special field of study constitute a serious addition to historical knowledge. If he was deficient in good taste, he was usually fair, and never sought to suppress the fresh facts that he discovered because they did not happen to fit his theory. ”

“ But by virtue of the eminence of his position, both hereditary and acquired, and by reason of the remarkable powers of work which reinforced his intense earnestness, and by the charm of a really engaging personality, he was able to accomplish much that abler men might have failed to achieve. ”

“ Gregory died there on 13 April 1840. He married in 1789 Lady Anne Trench (d. 1833) , daughter of William Power Keating, first earl of Clancarty; by her he left issue two sons, Robert, father of Sir William Henry Gregory [q. v. Suppl.] , and William, rector of Fiddown.
'Though not at all a brilliant man, Gregory possessed many high qualities excellent judgment, sound sense, attention to business, and great clearness and accuracy in his transaction of it. ... Few people have been more popular in Ireland during so long a period of great power. ”

“ He continued the active pursuit of his profession till his death, and was constantly employed in his later years on various works of importance in and out of Ireland, notably the University Physiological Laboratory and Anthropological Museum at Oxford, the McArthur Hall, Belfast, and the Church of Ireland Training College, Dublin. ”

“ Prior to this he had become a member of the Royal Irish Academy, to whose ‘Proceedings’ he was a diligent contributor. From 1875 to 1880 he acted as secretary for foreign correspondence to the Academy, and in 1879 was awarded its Cunningham gold medal in recognition of his scientific attainments. ”

“ She had previously visited the Isles of Aran and other remote parts of Ireland still rich in archæological remains, in company with her father, Petrie, and Lord Dunraven. Dunraven, dying before he could complete his projected work, left a substantial bequest to defray the expenses of the publication of his 'Notes' by Miss Stokes. ”

“ In 1839 he was appointed archdeacon of Ardagh, and remained in this position until, on the death of Bishop Leslie, who had succeeded his father in the see, he was appointed bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. ”

“ He early displayed a taste for recondite and somewhat morbid investigation into the secret history of eminent personages. In 1855 appeared his first book, 'The Life, Times, and Contemporaries of Lord Cloncurry;' the style was 'puerile, involved, and turgid,' revealing a defect which the author never overcame. ”

“ STOKES, MARGARET M'NAIR (1832–1900) , Irish archæologist, eldest daughter of William Stokes, M.D. [q. v.] , and Mary, daughter of John Black of Glasgow, was born at York Street, Dublin, in March 1832. Sir William Stokes [q. v. Suppl.] was her brother. At her father's house she was thrown in early girlhood into daily intimacy with James Henthorn Todd [q. v.] , George Petrie [q. v.] , William Reeves (1815–1892) [q. v.] , Sir Samuel Ferguson [q. v.] , Edwin R. W. Quin, third earl of Dunraven [q. v.] ”

“ After this financial breakdown Gregory finally quitted the turf; but he retained his interest in racing matters to the close of his life, Not long before his death he contributed to Mr. Lawley's 'Racing Life of Lord George Bentinck' (1892) a number of interesting reminiscences of his career on the turf ”

“ DEANE, Sir THOMAS NEWENHAM (1828–1899) , architect, was born at Dundanion, near Cork, on 15 June 1828. He was the son of Sir Thomas Deane (1792–1871) [q. v.] by his second wife, Eliza, daughter of Robert O'Callaghan Newenham, and granddaughter of Sir Edward Newenham [q. v.] ”

“ Down to 1865 he ranked as a liberal-conservative, but after the death of Lord Palmerston, to whose views his own approximated more closely than to those of any other statesman, he formally joined the liberal party ”

“ Here he quickly acquired a high reputation for administrative ability, as well as for the qualities of sound judgment, moderation, and good sense by which he was subsequently distinguished in the episcopal office. ”

“ The next few years were fruitful in editorial labours less elaborate, but scarcely less valuable. Among other productions may be enumerated 'Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language, chiefly collected and drawn by G. Petrie,' 1871-8, and an English edition of Didron's 'Christian Iconography' (2 vols. 1886) . ”

“ Patrick's, Newry. In 1868 he was nominated first vicar of the newly constituted charge of All Saints, Newtown Park, co. Dublin, which he held till his death. In 1893 he was elected by the chapter of St. ”