Charles Brodrick (3 May 1761 – 6 May 1822) was a reforming Irish clergyman and

Archbishop of Cashel The Archbishop of Cashel ( ga, Ard-Easpag Chaiseal Mumhan) was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title ...

in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

Origins and education

Brodrick was the third son of the 3rd Viscount Midleton and Albinia Townshend, sister of

Viscount Sydney Viscount Sydney (an alternative spelling of the surname Sidney) is a title that has been created twice. The title was elevated twice from a barony, and once into an earldom. First creation (1689) The first creation came on 9 April 1689 when He ...

. He was educated, like his maternal uncle, at

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

. His brothers included

George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton (1 November 1754 – 12 August 1836) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1796, when he was raised to the peerage of Great Britain as Baron Brodrick. Origins Brodrick wa ...

and General John Brodrick. In 1787 he was ordained in Cloyne by the Bishop, his father-in-law, Richard Woodward, first

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

(24 August) and then priest (9 December). He was appointed Rector of Dingindonovan (or Dangan) and Prebendary of Killenemer, and established a reputation for himself by choosing to live in his remote parish "at a period when very lax notions prevailed respecting clerical residence". For a brief period in 1789 he was Prebendary of

Donoughmore Donoughmore (spelt ''Donaghmore'' by Ordnance Survey Ireland; Irish: ''Domhnach Mór'') is a civil and Catholic parish in County Cork, Ireland. This rural district lies 25 km west-northwest of Cork city. Donoughmore is part of the Cork Nort ...

, before being appointed in June 1789 the Treasurer of Cloyne, where he served until 1795.W. Maziere Brady, ''Clerical and Parochial Records of Cork, Cloyne and Ross'' (Dublin, 1863) In 1795, Brodrick was consecrated as Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, whence he was translated to Kilmore in 1796. In 1801, following the preferment of Charles Agar to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Brodrick was appointed

Archbishop of Cashel and Emly The Archbishop of Cashel ( ga, Ard-Easpag Chaiseal Mumhan) was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title ...

(and Primate of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

) in his place and remained in that post until his death in 1822, when he was succeeded by

Richard Laurence Richard Laurence (13 May 1760 – 28 December 1838) was an English Hebraist and Anglican churchman. He was made Regius Professor of Hebrew and canon of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1814, and Archbishop of Cashel, Ireland, in 1822. Laurence, youn ...

. From 1811 until 1820, he also took on the administration of the diocese and province of Dublin, as a result of the mental incapacity of the Archbishop,

Euseby Cleaver Euseby Cleaver (8 September 1745 – 10 December 1819) was the Church of Ireland Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin (1789–1809) in Ireland and subsequently Archbishop of Dublin (1809-1819). Life He was of Buckinghamshire origin, the younger son of th ...

Assessment

Brodrick was a committed ecclesiastical reformer. One obituary following his death described him as "a prelate of distinguished piety, and of the most exemplary attention to the duties of his high station, as evinced by his increasing vigilance in enforcing the residence of the clergy, and by his disinterested appointments to the vacant livings" in his diocese.

Family and descendants

On 8 December 1786, Brodrick married Mary, the daughter of Richard Woodward, Bishop of Cloyne. Of their children,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

succeeded eventually as, respectively, the 6th Viscount Midleton and 7th Viscount Midleton (the latter being also

Dean of Exeter The Dean of Exeter is the head of the Chapter of Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, England. The chapter was established by William Briwere, Bishop of Exeter (1224–44) who set up the offices of dean and chancellor of Exeter Cathedral ...

), while Mary married the

Earl of Bandon Earl of Bandon was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Francis Bernard, 1st Viscount Bandon. He had already been created Baron Bandon, of Bandon Bridge in the County of Cork, in 1793, Viscount Bandon, of Bandon Bridge ...

and Albinia married James Ashley Maude.

References

Sources

Nigel Yates, ''The Religious Condition of Ireland, 1770-1850'' (Oxford University Press, 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodrick, Charles 1761 births 1822 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Bishops of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh Anglican bishops of Kilmore Anglican archbishops of Cashel 19th-century Anglican archbishops Younger sons of viscounts Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish Anglican archbishops