(1790–1868), poet and biographer; born in Willsgrove, Co. Roscommon, and educated at TCD. He took holy orders in 1822. His Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen (6 vols., 1840–7) was a historical compendium of Irish biography. Collections of his poetry appeared as The Disembodied (1831), Dramatic Sketches (1845), and The Idolatress (1868). Other works are Philosophy of Unbelief (1835) and Moral and Religious Epistles (1848).
From The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature in Oxford Reference.