William Magee (18 March 176618 August 1831) was an Irish academic and

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 ...

clergyman. He taught 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 ...

, serving as Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics (1800–1811), was

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 bis ...

(1819–1822) and then

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 ...

until his death.

Biography

He was born at

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

, Ireland, the third son of farmer John Magee and Jane Glasgow. He was educated at

(BA 1786, MA 1789, BD 1797, DD 1801), where he had been a Scholar (1784), and was elected fellow in 1788. He was appointed Erasmus Smith Professor of Mathematics (and Senior Fellow) in 1800, and in 1813 was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

as a "gentleman of high distinction for mathematical & philosophical knowledge & Author of several works of importance". Thought not a research mathematician, he was a popular teacher at TCD and was well-liked by students. He had been ordained into the Church of Ireland in 1790, and two of his sermons (preached in the college chapel in 1798 and 1799) formed the basis of his "Discourses on the Scriptural Doctrines of Atonement and Sacrifice" (1801), a polemic against Unitarian theology, which was answered by Lant Carpenter. In 1812 he had resigned from TCD to undertake the charge of the livings of Cappagh, County Tyrone, and Killyleagh, County Down. In 1813 he became Dean of Cork. He was well known as a preacher and promoter of the Irish

Second Reformation The Second Reformation was an evangelical campaign from the 1820s onwards, organised by theological conservatives in the Church of Ireland and Church of England. History Evangelical clergymen were known as "Biblicals" or "New Reformers". The Sec ...

, and in 1819 he was consecrated

. In 1822 the Archbishop of Dublin was translated to

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, and Magee succeeded him at

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 ...

. Though in most respects a tolerant man, he steadily opposed the movement for

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

. He gained notoriety for prohibiting the Catholic inhabitants of

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...

from celebrating Mass "as they had theretofore done in their ancient and venerated cathedral of St. Kevin". He died on 18 August 1831 at Stillorgan, near Dublin. He had 16 children, of whom 3 sons and 9 daughters survived him. He was the grandfather of Archbishop

William Connor Magee William Connor Magee (17 December 1821 – 5 May 1891) was an Irish clergyman of the Anglican church, Bishop of Peterborough 1868–1891 and Archbishop of York for a short period in 1891. Life He was born in Cork, Ireland. His father was a ...

of York.

References

* ''Works of the Most Reverend William Magee, D.D.'', 1842.

External links

Library Ireland: William Magee, Archbishop of Dublin

The Works of the Most Reverend William Magee, Volume 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, William 1766 births 1831 deaths People from Enniskillen Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican archbishops of Dublin Anglican bishops of Raphoe Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Irish mathematicians Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Deans of Cork Irish Anglican archbishops