Narcissus Marsh (20 December 1638 – 2 November 1713) was an English clergyman who was successively

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 sec ...

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 tit ...

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 Ireland ...

and

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

. Marsh was born at

Hannington, Wiltshire Hannington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, two miles northwest of Highworth, and now part of the Borough of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Hannington Wick (north of Hannington village) and Swanborough (south, on ...

and was educated at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

. He later became a fellow of

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, in 1658. In 1662 he was ordained, and presented to the living of

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

, which he resigned in the following year. After acting as chaplain to Seth Ward,

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

and then

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

, and Lord Chancellor Clarendon, he was elected principal of St Alban Hall, Oxford, in 1673. In 1679 he was appointed Provost of

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 ...

, where he did much to encourage the study of the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. He helped to found the Dublin Philosophical Society, and contributed to it a paper entitled ''Introductory Essay to the Doctrine of Sounds'' (printed in ''Philosophical Transactions'', No. 156, Oxford, 1684). In 1683 he was consecrated Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, but after the accession of James II he was compelled by the turbulent soldiery to flee to England (1689), when he became Vicar of Gresford, Flintshire, and Canon of St. Asaph. Returning to Ireland in 1691 after the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

, he was made Archbishop of Cashel, and three years later he became Archbishop of Dublin. About this time he founded Marsh's Library in Dublin. Many oriental manuscripts belonging to him are now in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

in Oxford. He became Archbishop of Armagh in 1703. Between 1699 and 1711 he was six times a Lord Justice of Ireland. He died on 2 November 1713. His funeral oration was pronounced by his successor at Dublin, Archbishop King. A more acerbic account is provided by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Du ...

References

* *Raymond Gillespie: ''Scholar Bishop:the recollections and diary of Narcissus Marsh'', Cork University Press, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Narcissus 1638 births 1713 deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford Anglican archbishops of Armagh Anglican archbishops of Cashel Anglican archbishops of Dublin Bishops of Ferns and Leighlin Burials at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Principals of St Alban Hall, Oxford Provosts of Trinity College Dublin 17th-century Anglican archbishops 18th-century Anglican archbishops Translators of the Bible into Irish 17th-century translators