Johnson, by whom he was regarded kindly and spoken of as one 'who would have been a liberal patron if he had been rich.'
Orrery married in 1728 Lady Harriet Hamilton, third daughter of the Earl of Orkney, and after her death he married, in 1738, Miss Hamilton, of Caledon, in Tyrone. He was made a D.C.L. of Oxford in 1743, and F.R.S. in 1750. He died on 16 Nov. 1762. He wrote some papers in the 'World' and the 'Connoisseur,' and various prologues and fugitive verses. His other works are:
- 'A Translation of the Letters of Pliny the Younger' (2 vols. 4to, 1751).
- 'An Essay on the Life of Pliny.'
- 'Memoirs of Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth,' published from the original manuscript, with preface and notes.
- 'Letters from Italy in 1754 and 1755,' published after his death (with a life) by the Rev. J. Buncombe in 1774.
[Buncombe's Life, as above ; Swift's and Pope's Letters; Nichols's Lit. Illust. ii. 153, 232; Biog. Brit.]
BOYLE, JOHN (1563?–1620), bishop of Roscarberry, Cork, and Cloyne, a native of Kent and elder brother of Richard, first earl of Cork [q. v.], was born about 1563.[1] John Boyle obtained the degree of D.D. at Oxford, and is stated to have been dean of Lichfield in 1610. Through the interest and pecuniary assistance of his brother, the Earl of Cork and other relatives, he was in 1617 appointed to the united sees of Roscarberry, Cork, and Cloyne. His consecration took place in 1618. He died at Cork on 10 July 1620, and was buried at Youghal.
[Ware's Bishops of Ireland, 1739; Fasti Ecclesiæ Hibernicæ, 1851; Brady's Records of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, 1863.]
BOYLE, MICHAEL, the elder (1580?–1635), bishop of Waterford and Lismore, born in London about 1580, was son of Michael Boyle, and brother of Richard Boyle, archbishop of Tuam [q. v.] Michael Boyle entered Merchant Taylors' School, London, in 1587, and proceeded to St. John's College, Oxford, in 1593. He took the degree of B. A. 5 Dec. 1597, of M.A. 25 June 1601, of B.D. 9 July 1607, and of D.D. 2 July 1611. He became a fellow of his college, and no high opinion was entertained there of his probity in matters affecting his own interests. Boyle was appointed vicar of Finden in Northamptonshire. Through the influence of his relative, the Earl of Cork, he obtained the deanery of Lismore in 1614, and was made bishop of Waterford and Lismore in 1619. He held several other appointments in the protestant church, and dying at Waterford on 27 Dec. 1635, was buried in the cathedral there.
[Ware's Bishops of Ireland, 1739; Robinson's Register of Merchant Taylors' School, i. 30; Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses (Bliss), ii. 88; Wood's Fasti (Bliss), i. 275, 292, 321, 344; Elrington's Life of Ussher, 1848; Cotton's Fasti Ecclesiæ Hibernicæ, 1851; Brady's Records of Cork, Cloyne, and Eoss, 1863.]
BOYLE, MICHAEL, the younger (1609?–1702), archbishop of Armagh, eldest son of Richard Boyle, archbishop of Tuam [q.v.], and nephew of the elder Michael [q. v.], was born about 1609. He was apparently educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he proceeded M.A., and on 4 Nov. 1637 was incorporated M.A. of Oxford. In 1637 he obtained a rectory in the diocese of Cloyne, received the degree of D.D., was made dean of Cloyne [(1640)], and during the war in Ireland acted as chaplain-general to the English army in Munster. In 1650 the protestant royalists in Ireland employed Boyle, in conjunction with Sir Robert Sterling and Colonel John Daniel, to negotiate on their behalf with Oliver Cromwell. Ormonde resented the conduct of Boyle in conveying Cromwell's passport to him, which he rejected. Letters of Boyle on these matters have been recently printed in the second volume of the 'Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, 1641-1652.' At the Restoration, Boyle became privy councillor in Ireland, and was appointed bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross. In addition to the episcopal revenues, he continued to receive for a time the profits of six parishes in his diocese, on the ground of being unable to find clergymen for them. For Boyle's services in England in connection with the Act for the Settlement of Ireland, the House of Lords at Dublin ordered a special memorial of thanks to be entered in their journals in 1662. Boyle was translated to the see of Dublin in 1663, and appointed chancellor of Ireland in 1665. In the county of Wicklow he established a town, to which he gave the name of Blessington, and at his own expense erected there a church, which he supplied with plate and bells. In connection with this town he in 1673 obtained the title of Viscount Blessington for his eldest son, Murragh. In 1675 Boyle was promoted from the see of Dublin to that of Armagh. An autograph of Boyle at that time has been reproduced on plate lxxix of 'Facsimiles of National MSS. of Ireland,' part iv. p. 2. On the accession of James II, he was continued in office as lord chancellor, and appointed for the third time as lord justice in Ireland, in conjunction with the Earl of Granard, and held that post until Henry, earl of Clarendon, arrived as lord-lieutenant in December 1685. In Boyle's latter years his faculties are stated to have been much
- ↑ After '1563.' insert 'He was admitted to Corpus Christi, Cambridge, in 1583, and proceeded B.A. in 1586, M.A. in 1590, B.D. in 1598, and D.D. in 1614 (Venn, Alumni Cantab. pt. 1, i. 196).'
