Mervyn Archdall (Antiquarian)

Mervyn Archdall (born April 22, 1723 in Dublin , † August 6, 1791 in Slane ) was an Irish clergyman and historian.

Life

Mervyn Archdall was a descendant of John Archdall of Norfolk , who immigrated to Ireland from England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and settled at Castle Archdall in County Fermanagh . After completing his visit to Trinity College Dublin , Archdall made the acquaintance of the historian Walter Harris , the topographer Charles Smith , the author Thomas Prior and the archdeacon of Dublin, Richard Pococke, because of his antiquarian interests . He also developed a zeal for collecting coins, medals and seals. When Pococke became Bishop of Ossory , he appointed Archdall his local chaplain in 1762 and gave him the benefice Attanagh (located partly in Queen's County and partly in County Kilkenny ) and the benefice Cloneamery of Ossory Cathedral, which Archdall in 1764 against the benefice Mayne of the same Cathedral swapped. Archdall was also chaplain to Francis Conyngham, 2nd Baron Conyngham . After marrying his only daughter to a clergyman, he renounced parts of his benefices in the Diocese of Ossory in favor of his son-in-law and was given the parish of Slane in the Diocese of Meath , where he died in 1791 at the age of 68.

Archdall was a member of the Royal Irish Academy .

plant

Since Archdall had noticed that there was no William Dugdales Monasticon Anglicarum (1655-73) corresponding work for Irish church history and James Wares Monasteriologia Hibernica (1654) only offered an outline on the subject, he began collecting with the support of Pocockes of material for such a font. After 40 years of research, however, he had accumulated such a mass of material that he could not have financed their entire publication. So he had to shorten his material before it was published. Even so, his book included Monasticum Hibernicum ; or a History of the Abbies, Priories, and other Religious Houses in Ireland (Dublin 1786) still more than 800 pages. The work also contains memoranda of the founders, abbots and sponsors of the places of worship mentioned in it, as well as a report on the sale of their properties after their secularization . A map of Ireland and 18 boards depicting the habits of the ecclesiastical and military orders discussed serve as illustration . An attached index contains place names, but no personal names. Archdall's work does not come close to Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicarum . 82 errors found therein were corrected in John Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland (4 volumes, 1822). Large parts of the work appear to have been contributed by Edward Ledwich .

Archdall also created a revised, expanded and continued edition of John Lodges Peerage of Ireland (7 volumes, 1789). Archdall needed four years for this work and he limited himself to genealogical research, as he knew little about heraldry according to his own admission . His wife provided him with valuable help in preparing the work by deciphering comments and corrections left by Lodge in shorthand or coded.

literature

• Thompson Cooper:  Archdall, Mervyn . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 2:  Annesley - Baird. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885, pp. 67 - 68 (English).
• Mihail Dafydd Evans: Archdall, Mervyn Hamilton. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Volume 2: Amos-Avory. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861352-0 , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
• Linde Lunney: Archdall, Mervyn. In: Dictionary of Irish Biography. Volume 1, Cambridge 2009