Forgotten Contributions, Bishop William Nicolson (1655-1727), English Born,  Compiler of First Bibliography of Irish History drawing on Gaelic, Latin, French and English sources,dedicated to William Conolly Irish Born Speaker of Irish House of Commons, ‘A Patriot”, ‘A Zealous Antiquary and a learned Historian and Philologist.”  “He fell into many errors in this work, for want of sufficient acquaintance with the Irish manuscripts and language. But notwithstanding that, much thanks are due to him for the extraordinary pains he took to inform himself about the materials which may be had for improving Irish history.” O’Curry speaks of his “valuable Irish Historical Library.”

Conolly was probably, in the early 18th century, the richest man in Ireland.  He was from obscure Catholic origins in Donegal, a Protestant and refused all attempts to grant him titles.

Courtesy Francis G. James, ‘Lords of the Ascendency, The Irish House of Lords and its members 1600-1800, Irish Academic Press, 1995.

A significant number of the members of the Irish House of Lords were Protestant Bishops of the State Church, that of the Church of Ireland.  Irish Sees were lucrative with an income ranging from £2,000 to £8,000 in the 1770s according to Arthur Young.

Courtesy Library Ireland:

Nicolson, William, Archbishop of Cashel, was born in Cumberland in 1655, was in 1702 consecrated Bishop of Derry, and in 1726 advanced to the archbishopric of Cashel, and died of apoplexy, 15th February 1727. He deserves notice as author of the Irish Historical Library, printed in Dublin in 1724, containing a valuable list of authors and records in print and manuscript on subjects relating to the history of Ireland. Cotton styles him “a zealous antiquary and a learned historian and philologist.” Harris’s Ware says: “He fell into many errors in this work, for want of sufficient acquaintance with the Irish manuscripts and language. But notwithstanding that, much thanks are due to him for the extraordinary pains he took to inform himself about the materials which may be had for improving Irish history.” O’Curry speaks of his “valuable Irish Historical Library.”

Sources

196. Irishmen, Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished, Rev. James Wills, D.D. 6 vols. or 12 parts. Dublin, 1840-‘7.

260. O’Curry, Eugene: Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History. Dublin, 1861.

339. Ware, Sir James, Works: Walter Harris. 2 vols. Dublin, 1764.

Forgotten Contributions:

Forgotten Contributions, John Byrne and Young OPW Architects in 1937 Dublin Airport Terminal J J O’Leary Co-Founder of Aer Lingus ‘Grandfather’ of European Low Cost Aviation, Ryanair, GPA, Aircraft leasing

Forgotten Contributions, Belfast in the 1880s the most ‘Irish’ City in Ireland, Bulmer Hobson Quaker and IRB Man, Alice and Seaton Milligan and the birth of the Irish Cultural Revival, Belfast as an Industrial Colossus 1850-1910

Forgotten Heroes: Jack Woodfull, Boilermaker, Inchicore Railway Works, Dublin, Brilliant but Simple Innovation during Emergency/WW2, Innovation, on the Mississippi River Boats, Secret British Government Cabinet Committee headed by Lord Cranbourne restrictions of Supplies to Ireland to Secure Treaty Ports, Comparison with other Neutral Countries Rail Systems in Sweden, Portugal and Argentine, near starvation in Holland, Todd Andrew’s assertion ‘In Ireland no one starved or went without heat to cook a meal’, closure of Schull to Skibbereen Railway, the Foresight of Dr. Thomas McLaughlin and Paddy McGilligan in the Shannon Scheme making Ireland uniquely almost self sufficient in Electricity.