Michael Boyle | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Armagh Primate of All Ireland | |
 | |
| Church | Church of Ireland |
| Archdiocese | Armagh |
| Appointed | 21 January 1679 |
| In office | 1679–1702 |
| Predecessor | James Margetson |
| Successor | Narcissus Marsh |
| Previous posts | Dean of Cloyne Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Archbishop of Dublin |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 27 January 1661 by John Bramhall |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1609 |
| Died | (1702-12-10)10 December 1702 (aged 92–93) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
Michael Boyle, the younger (c. 1609 – 10 December 1702) was aChurch of Ireland bishop who served asArchbishop of Dublin from 1663 to 1679 andArchbishop of Armagh from 1679 to his death. He also served asLord Chancellor of Ireland, the last time a bishop was appointed to that office.
Boyle was born circa 1609,[1] the eldest son ofRichard Boyle,Archbishop of Tuam and Martha Wright. His uncle wasMichael Boyle (bishop of Waterford and Lismore). It was through the descendants of his first cousin once removedRichard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork that the Boyle name became ennobled over the centuries with multiple peerages, includingEarl of Cork,Earl of Orrery andEarl of Shannon.[2]
Boyle was educated atTrinity College Dublin, where he proceeded M.A.,[3] and on 4 November 1637 was incorporated M.A. of Oxford.[4] In 1637 he obtained a rectory in the diocese ofCloyne, received the degree of D.D., and becameDean of Cloyne in 1640. During thewar in Ireland acted as chaplain-general to the English army in Munster.[1]
In 1650, the Protestantroyalists in Ireland employed Boyle, in conjunction with Sir Robert Sterling and Colonel John Daniel, to negotiate on their behalf withOliver Cromwell. TheMarquess of Ormonde resented the conduct of Boyle in conveying Cromwell's passport to him, which he rejected.[5]
At theRestoration, Boyle became a member of thePrivy Council of Ireland, and was appointedBishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. In addition to the episcopal revenues, he continued to receive for a time the profits of six parishes in his diocese, on the ground of being unable to find clergymen for them. For Boyle's services in England in connection with the IrishAct of Settlement 1662, theIrish House of Lords at Dublin ordered a special memorial of thanks to be entered in their journals in 1662. Boyle was translated toArchbishop of Dublin in 1663, and appointedLord Chancellor of Ireland in 1665.[1] Though the appointment of a cleric as Lord Chancellor had previously been common, Boyle's was the last such appointment and it appears he was offered the position only because no professional lawyer of repute could be found to take it: the aged and ineffective SirMaurice Eustace had remained in office as Chancellor until his death simply because of the difficulty in finding a suitable replacement.[6] In the event Boyle proved to be a hard-working and incorruptible Chancellor, who earned the regard of successive Lord Lieutenants. While he undoubtedly used his influence to advance the career of his son-in-law,Sir William Davys, who was appointedLord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1680, such use of patronage was an accepted part of seventeenth-century politics.
In 1675 Boyle was promoted from the see of Dublin to that of Armagh.[1][7]
On the accession ofJames II, Boyle was briefly continued in office as Lord Chancellor, and appointed for the third time asLord Justice, in conjunction with theEarl of Granard, and held that post untilHenry, Earl of Clarendon, arrived asLord Lieutenant of Ireland in December 1685. Clarendon had formed a very high opinion of Boyle, and is said to have objected to his dismissal from the Chancellorship, despite his lack of legal training, and his increasing infirmities, of both body and mind.[1]
In 1667, Boyle, then serving as theArchbishop of Dublin, bought the oldNorman Lordship of theThree Castles in west Wicklow (as well as an estate inMonkstown, Cork) for £1,000.[8] Both estates had previously belonged to the Cheevers, aCounty Meath Anglo-Norman family.
Boyle chose to live in his newly acquired Wicklow estate and was granted a royal charter to establish a new town there on agreenfield site, which he named Blessington – orBlesinton as it was more commonly referred to during the 1600-1800s.[8] Planned to occupy the ancient townland ofMunfine, the town was granted borough status and was to "extend into the said county of Wicklow every way from the middle of the said town two hundred or more acres in the whole".[8] He started buildingBlessington House in 1673, and at his own expense also erected there a church, which he supplied with plate and bells. In connection with this town, he in 1673 obtained the title ofViscount Blessington for his only surviving son,Murrough Boyle.
In Boyle's last years his faculties are stated to have been much impaired: "his memory gone, deaf and almost blind, a mere wreck of the past". After about 1683 he was unable to personally perform the functions of his office,[9] and he stepped down as Lord Chancellor in 1686. He attended the briefPatriot Parliament called by James II in 1689. He died in Dublin on 10 December 1702, in his ninety-third year, and was interred inSt. Patrick's Cathedral there. Little of the wealth accumulated by Boyle was devoted to religious or charitable uses. Letters and papers of Boyle are extant in the Ormonde archives atKilkenny Castle and in theBodleian Library. Portraits of Archbishop Boyle were engraved by Loggan and others.[1]
He married firstly Margaret Synge, daughter of Rt. Rev.George Synge,Bishop of Cloyne and his first wife Anne Edgeworth: she died in a shipwreck in 1641, along with their infant daughter Martha. He married secondly Mary O'Brien, daughter ofDermod O'Brien, 5th Baron Inchiquin and Ellen FitzGerald. In addition to his son, who was createdLord Blessington, he had six daughters by his second marriage, named Elizabeth, Mary (who died young), Margaret, Eleanor, Martha, and Honora. Elizabeth married Denny Muschamp of Horsely,Surrey, the Muster Master-General for Ireland, and was the grandmother ofJohn Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton. Margaret married Samuel Synge,Dean of Kildare, who was the elder brother ofEdward Synge,Archbishop of Tuam. Eleanor married William Hill of Hillsborough: they were the parents ofMichael Hill (1672-1699). Martha marriedSir William Davys,Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Honora married three times: firstly toThomas Cromwell, 3rd Earl of Ardglass; secondlyFrancis Cuffe MP; and thirdlySir Thomas Burdett, 1st Baronet, of Dunmore.[2]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gilbert, John Thomas (1886). "Boyle, Michael (1609?–1702)". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 6. London:Smith, Elder & Co. p. 113. endnotes:| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1665–1686 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of Dublin 1663–1679 | Succeeded by |
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