Arthur Smyth (19 February 1706 – 14 December 1771) was

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

from 1766 until his death in 1771.Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). ''Handbook of British Chronology'' (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 391. .

Family

Smyth was the son of Thomas Smyth,

Bishop of Limerick The Bishop of Limerick is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it still continues as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been uni ...

, and Dorothea Burgh (daughter of

Ulysses Burgh Ulysses Burgh (; ; 1632–1692) was an Irish Anglican cleric who was Dean of Emly (1685–1692) and Bishop of Ardagh (1692).“A New History of Ireland” Moody,T.W; Martin,F.X; Byrne,F.J;Cosgrove,A: Oxford, OUP, 1976 Life Burgh was born ...

Bishop of Ardagh The Bishop of Ardagh was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the village of Ardagh, County Longford in the Republic of Ireland. It was used by the Roman Catholic Church until 1756, and intermittently by the Church of Ireland u ...

). His brothers included Charles Smyth, MP for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, and the lawyer George Smyth.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926

Career

Smyth studied at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and completed his studies in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was

Dean of Raphoe The Dean of Raphoe is based at the Cathedral Church of St Eunan, Raphoe, County Donegal, Ulster in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe within the Church of Ireland. The Deanery is currently vacant since January 2021. List of deans *1603 John Albr ...

from 1742 until 1744, then

Dean of Derry The Dean of Derry is based at St Columb's Cathedral, Derry in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe in the Church of Ireland. The current Dean of Derry is Raymond Stewart. He was appointed to the cathedral in December 2016 and inaugurated on 28 March ...

until 1752. He was then raised to the episcopate as

Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh The Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, comprising the southern part of County Galway and a small area of County Roscommon, Ireland. In 1834, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh ...

(1752),

Down and Connor The Diocese of Down and Connor, ( ga, Deoise an Dúin agus Chonaire) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the ...

(1753) and Meath (1765), prior to his nomination as

. He was the first Irish-born Archbishop of Dublin for many years. He was not widely seen as a very spiritual man: critics said that his main interest was the advancement of the careers of his numerous relatives.

References

1707 births Deans of Raphoe Deans of Derry Bishops of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh Bishops of Down and Connor (Church of Ireland) Anglican bishops of Meath Anglican archbishops of Dublin 1771 deaths Members of the Irish House of Lords Irish Anglican archbishops {{Ireland-Anglican-bishop-stub