Lord John George de la Poer Beresford (22 November 1773 – 18 July 1862) was an Anglican archbishop and Primate.

Background

Born at Tyrone House, Dublin, he was the second surviving son of George de La Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of Henry Monck and maternal granddaughter of Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland. He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1793 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

three years later.

Career

Beresford was ordained a priest in 1797 and began his ecclesiastical career with incumbencies at Clonegal and Newtownlennan. In 1799 he became

Dean of Clogher The Dean of Clogher is a dignitary of the Diocese of Clogher within the Church of Ireland. The title may be held by any licensed incumbent in the diocese, not necessarily the rector of one of the cathedral parishes of Clogher. The Dean, with the C ...

; and was raised to the episcopate as Bishop of Cork and Ross in 1805. He was translated becoming

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bish ...

two years later and was appointed 90th

Bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the o ...

in 1819. Beresford was again translated to become Archbishop of Dublin in the next year and was sworn of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. In 1822, he went on to be the 106th Archbishop of Armagh and therefore also

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in ...

. He became Prelate of the

Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, The 3rd Earl Temple (later cr ...

and Lord Almoner of Ireland. Having been vice-chancellor from 1829, he was appointed the 15th Chancellor of the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

in 1851, a post he held until his death in 1862.

Restoration of St Patrick's Cathedral

Beresford employed

Lewis Nockalls Cottingham Lewis Nockalls Cottingham (1787 – 13 October 1847) was a British architect who pioneered the study of Medieval Gothic architecture. He was a restorer and conservator of existing buildings. He set up a Museum of Medieval Art in Waterloo Road, Lon ...

, one of the most skilled architects at that time, to restore Armagh's St Patrick's Cathedral. Cottingham removed the old stunted spire and shored up the belfry stages while he re-built the piers and arches under it. The arcade walls which had fallen away as much as 21 inches from the perpendicular on the south side and 7 inches on the North side, were straightened by means of heated irons, and the clerestory windows which had long been concealed, were opened out, and filled with tracery. Beresford is unsympathetically represented by Montalembert with whom he had breakfast at Gurteen de la Poer during his tour of Ireland. Beresford died at Woburn, the home of his niece, in the parish of

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee ...

;Arthur H. Grant, ‘Beresford, Lord John George de la Poer (1773–1862)’, rev. Kenneth Milne, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 10 Aug 2015
/ref> and was buried in the cathedral. There is a memorial to him in the south aisle at St Patrick's."Funary Monuments & Memorials in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh" Curl, J.S. pp90-93: Whitstable; Historical Publications; 2013 His immediate successor as Archbishop was his first cousin once removed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, John George de la Poer 1773 births 1862 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) People educated at Eton College 19th-century Anglican archbishops Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deans of Clogher Bishops of Cork and Ross (Church of Ireland) Anglican bishops of Raphoe Bishops of Clogher (Church of Ireland) Anglican archbishops of Armagh Anglican archbishops of Dublin Burials at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland) Chancellors of the University of Dublin Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish Anglican archbishops Younger sons of marquesses John