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Life
?1770-?; ed. TCD and Oxford; eldest son of Theophilus Swift [q.v.]; issued The Monks of Trinity, a heroic poem (Dub. 1795); his response to the execution of William Orr involved the reporter Finnerty in a fine; a United Irishman, he wrote a series of letters for The Press over the signature “Marcus”; proscribed in 1798 and later pardoned, he was living in Dublin in 1858. PI
Commentary
Patrick Kennedy, ‘Quintessence of Loyalty’, in Modern Irish Anecdotes (London: Routledge 1872), pp.113ff, giving an account of the Swifts, father and son; Swift fights Lennox for impertinence of challenging Duke of York, and received a ball through the body; on Lennox becoming Viceroy as Duke of Richmond, he gives Swift two balls - i.e., invitations to Castle entertainments. Further, under ‘Married and Single Fellows, TCD’, Kennedy avers that the name Deane was bestowed on its holder in honour of Dean Swift; at the examination persuant on the pamphlet, Jonah Barrington interviews Dr. Jacky Barrett in the attempt to elicit information about fellows’ families and falls foul of a witty rejoinder when he reminds him, in desperation, that he himself had been christened by Barrett, to which Barrett: ‘Oh, indeed, I didn’t know you were a Christian’ [chk. personae]. On being duly imprisoned, Swift is later joined by Dr. Burrowes who himself served six months for a pamphlet gloating at his defeat.
Thomas King Moylan, ‘The Little Green’, Dublin Hist. Record (Sept.-Nov. 1942), pp.152: account of Theophilus who ‘had a second son, Edmond, in Trinity College, where, in the father’s opinion “justice was not being done to the cleverest lad in Europe”’; launched bitter attack on Fellows; took up residence in Newgate as result of charges of libel; assocaited with Dr. Burrows, [sic] who, not satisfied with putting Swift in gaol, published an attack on his defeated opponent, who lost no time in engaging Sir Jonah Barrington to sue Burrows for libel’’ on being giving a room with two beds, one occupied by polite and respectable gentleman, he made th e’best of a bad bargain, agreed, and on being ushered into the room, found that his future room mate was none other than Theophilus. The humour of the situation was too much for both and they became reconciled ...’
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