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Rev. MERVYN ARCHDALL,
An exemplary divine and learned antiquary, was descended from John Archdall, of Norsom-Hall, in the county of Norfolk, who came into Ireland in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and settled at Castle Archdall, in the county of Ferinanagh, prior to the year 1692.
The subject of the present memoir was born in Dublin, on the 22nd of April, 1723, and was educated in the university in that city; after which period, his passion for collecting coins, medals, and other antiques, and his research into the monastic history of Ireland, introduced him to the celebrated Walter Harris, the learned editor of Ware's Works; Charles Smith, the author of the Irish County Histories; Thomas Prior (the celebrated patriot), whose relation he married; and, latterly, to Dr. Richard Pocock, Archdeacon of Dublin, who, when he was advanced to the see of Ossory, did not forget the merits of Mr. Archdall, as he bestowed on him the living of Attanah and a prebend, which not only produced him a comfortable support, but enabled him to pursue zealously his Monastic History of Ireland, in which he had already made considerable progress.
It is well known also, that the bishop frequently retired from the incessant noise occasioned by the hurry of visits at his palace in Kilkenny, to Attanah; where he found, in the good sense, learning, and candour of Mr. Archdall, a relaxation rarely to be met with; and there it was that he revised and improved some of his works, and pursued the outline of his Tours through Ireland and Scotland, which Dr. Ledwich informs us are in the British Museum.
Mervyn Archdall, like numberless ingenious men, wanted but the enlivening and maturing warmth of patronage, not only to be highly useful in the different departments of learning, but even to attain eminence in them. The excellent bishop, his patron, whose virtues reflected honour on his exalted station in the church, quitted this tran-
