Sir Alexander MacDonnell, 1st Baronet (1794–1875) was an Irish civil servant, commissioner of national education in Ireland.

Life

MacDonnell, eldest son of the physician and polymath James MacDonnell, was born at

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 1794. He gained a king's scholarship at Westminster School in 1809, and was elected in 1813 to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he held a studentship until 1826. He graduated B.A. 1816, and M.A. 1820, and won four university prizes—those for Latin and English verse and for the Latin and English essays – an accumulation of honours only once before achieved. He was called to the bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, 23 November 1824, went the midland circuit, attended the Leicester and Northampton sessions, and served as a commissioner of inquiry into public charities. Of an exceedingly sensitive temperament, he broke down in pleading a case before a committee of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, and, mortified beyond expression, renounced the bar, returned to Ireland, and accepted the position of chief clerk in the chief secretary's office under Thomas Drummond (1797–1840). In 1839 he was appointed resident commissioner of the board of education, of which he became the presiding genius. While himself an ardent Protestant, he persistently sought to provide for his poorer countrymen the religious instruction of their choice. He was made a privy councillor of Ireland in 1846, resigned his commissionership in December 1871, and was created a baronet 20 January 1872. Study of the classics and history formed the chief solace of his retirement. During his tenure the Irish language went into serious decline as an English language only education system coupled with massive emigration caused irreparable cultural damage. He died at 32 Upper Fitzwilliam Street,

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 ...

, 21 January 1875, and was buried at Kilsharvan, near

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. He married in 1826 Barbara, eldest daughter of Hugh Montgomery of Benvarden,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, and widow of Richard Staples. She died at Kilsharvan, 6 April 1865, leaving no issue.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonnell, Alexander, 1st Baronet 1794 births 1875 deaths Civil servants from Belfast Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Civil servants in Ireland (1801–1922) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland