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| ====== Thomas (Tom) Prior MA ====== | ====== Thomas (Tom) Prior MA ====== |
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| When Tom Prior died, he was lamented very much as a public benefactor. The inscription on his grave read:\\ | When Tom Prior died, Ireland lost a public benefactor. The inscription on his grave read:\\ |
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| 'Sacred to the memory of Thomas Prior Esq., who spent a long life in unwearied endeavours to promote the welfare of his country. Every manufacturer, every branch of husbandry, will declare this truth. Every useful institution will lament its Friend and Benefactor. He died alas! too soon for Ireland. October the 21st, 1751. Aged 70.'((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. His Life, Times and Legacy//, Ireland: Arderin Publishing, 2001, pp.60-61.)) | 'Sacred to the memory of Thomas Prior Esq., who spent a long life in unwearied endeavours to promote the welfare of his country. Every manufacturer, every branch of husbandry, will declare this truth. Every useful institution will lament its Friend and Benefactor. He died alas! too soon for Ireland. October the 21st, 1751. Aged 70.'((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. His Life, Times and Legacy//, Ireland: Arderin Publishing, 2001, pp.60-61.)) |
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| Today, [[wp>Thomas_Prior|Tom Prior]] is honoured in Ireland primarily for his role as the 'prime mover' in founding the (from 1820, Royal) Dublin Society in 1731.((James Meenan and Desmond Clarke, 'The RDS 1731-1981', in James Meenan and Desmond Clarke (eds) //RDS. The Royal Dublin Society 1731-1981//, Gill & Macmillan: Dublin, 1981, p.3.)) The Royal Dublin Society is still active, with a 'philanthropic work programme that spans across science, the arts, agriculture, business and equestrianism'.((Desmond Clarke, //Thomas Prior//; www.rds.ie)) In the most recent booklet about Tom Prior, Teddy Fennelly describes him as the 'inspiration and driving force' behind the Royal Dublin Society's foundation. As Secretary, Tom Prior effectively 'ran the Society' for 20 years, with little 'done or achieved without his advice, help and active cooperation'. He strongly supported its system of cash incentives for agricultural and industrial innovations. The Society also actively spread its ideas through the publication of pamphlets - as they were relatively cheap and easy to distribute, they were the social media of the time. As well as writing his own papers and pamphlets, Tom Prior contributed to numerous other pamphlets published by the Society. The Society's activities were administered by different committees. Tom Prior's influence was such that he was a member of all the committees 'except accounts, and even here he countersigned the accounts fortnightly.' Fennelly further maintains that, of Tom Prior's contemporaries, there were few who 'could surpass his intellect, sincerity and courage and none who could match his compassion and his legacy of practical achievement'. His 'acute social conscience' was complemented by his being 'ever the practical down-to-earth man' when proposing reforms. His practicality was complemented by optimism. Certainly, an anonymous satire (//A Dialogue between Dean Swift and Thomas Prior, Esq., in the Isles of St. Patrick's Church, Dublin, On that memorable Day, October 9th, 1753//) portrayed Jonathon Swift as pessimistically rejecting his friend Tom's 'upbeat analysis of the Irish situation.'((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior.//, pp.vii,x,21,37,44,63.))\\ | Today, [[wp>Thomas_Prior|Tom Prior]] is honoured in Ireland primarily for his role as the 'prime mover' in founding the (from 1820, Royal) Dublin Society in 1731.((James Meenan and Desmond Clarke, 'The RDS 1731-1981', in James Meenan and Desmond Clarke (eds) //RDS. The Royal Dublin Society 1731-1981//, Gill & Macmillan: Dublin, 1981, p.3.)) The Royal Dublin Society is still active, with a 'philanthropic work programme that spans across science, the arts, agriculture, business and equestrianism'.((Desmond Clarke, //Thomas Prior//; www.rds.ie)) In the most recent booklet about Tom Prior, Teddy Fennelly describes him as the 'inspiration and driving force' behind the Royal Dublin Society's foundation. As Secretary, Tom Prior effectively 'ran the Society' for 20 years, with little 'done or achieved without his advice, help and active cooperation'. He strongly supported its system of cash incentives for agricultural and industrial innovations. The Society also actively spread its ideas through the publication of pamphlets - as they were relatively cheap and easy to distribute, they were the social media of the time. As well as writing his own papers and pamphlets, Tom Prior contributed to numerous other pamphlets published by the Society. The Society's activities were administered by different committees. Tom Prior's influence was such that he was a member of all the committees 'except accounts, and even here he countersigned the accounts fortnightly.' Fennelly further maintains that, of Tom Prior's contemporaries, there were few who 'could surpass his intellect, sincerity and courage and none who could match his compassion and his legacy of practical achievement'. His 'acute social conscience' was complemented by his being 'ever the practical down-to-earth man' when proposing reforms. His practicality was complemented by optimism. Certainly, an anonymous satire published in 1753, (//A Dialogue between Dean Swift and Thomas Prior, Esq., in the Isles of St. Patrick's Church, Dublin, On that memorable Day, October 9th, 1753//), portrayed Jonathon Swift as pessimistically rejecting his friend Tom's 'upbeat analysis of the Irish situation.'((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior.//, pp.vii,x,21,37,44,63,87-88.))\\ |
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| Tom Prior was very much a product of the [[wp>Age_of_Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], as well as the dire conditions which prevailed in Ireland during his lifetime (see [[national_and_social_context|Irish context]]). During 1696-99, he attended the most prestigious school in Ireland at the time, Kilkenny Grammar School. He left school and, with some interruptions, was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College Dublin in 1703. In 1712 he went to Oxford University, and awarded a Master of Arts later that year. Like many a historical person with frail physical health,((e.g. Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin ...)) he avoided other career options to work on what interested him most and (consequently?) lived to old age. He worked as a land agent and financial advisor but most of all, for a less exploited and more ecumenical (though still Protestant) Ireland.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior//, pp.viii.)) He was friendly with other reform-minded Anglo-Irish, notably the satirist author [[wp>Jonathan_Swift|the Rev. Jonathon Swift]], while he had a close friendship with the philosopher [[wp>George_Berkeley|Bishop Berkeley]].((See e.g., A. Luce and T. Jessop (eds. //The works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne//, New York: Thomas Nelson, 1948-57, vol. 5, three letters to Thomas Prior)). It was not entirely altruistic as Prior and his friends very much promoted the cause of their own class. They resented the English ruling class' attitude that the Anglo-Irish were inferior, and suffered from English economic policies. As well, in 1699 to protect their own wool industry, the English had passed an act of parliament prohibiting the Irish from exporting any woollen goods: that 'crushing blow for the Irish economy' ruined the Irish wool industry and members of the Anglo-Irish ruling class as well as the impoverished native Irish.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. His Life, Times and Legacy//, Ireland: Arderin Publishing, 2001, ch.2.))\\ | Tom Prior was very much a product of the [[wp>Age_of_Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], as well as the dire conditions which prevailed in Ireland during his lifetime (see [[national_and_social_context|Irish context]]). During 1696-99, he attended the most prestigious school in Ireland at the time, Kilkenny Grammar School. He left school and, with some interruptions, was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College Dublin in 1703. In 1712 he went to Oxford University, and awarded a Master of Arts later that year. Like many a historical person with frail physical health,((e.g. Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin ...)) he avoided other career options to work on what interested him most and (consequently?) lived to old age. He worked as a land agent and financial advisor but most of all, for a less exploited and more ecumenical (though still Protestant) Ireland.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior//, pp.viii.)) He was friendly with other reform-minded Anglo-Irish, notably the satirist author [[wp>Jonathan_Swift|the Rev. Jonathon Swift]], while he had a close friendship with the philosopher [[wp>George_Berkeley|Bishop Berkeley]].((See e.g., A. Luce and T. Jessop (eds. //The works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne//, New York: Thomas Nelson, 1948-57, vol. 5, three letters to Thomas Prior)). It was not entirely altruistic as Prior and his friends very much promoted the cause of their own class. They resented the English ruling class' attitude that the Anglo-Irish were inferior, and suffered from English economic policies. As well, in 1699 to protect their own wool industry, the English had passed an act of parliament prohibiting the Irish from exporting any woollen goods: that 'crushing blow for the Irish economy' ruined the Irish wool industry and members of the Anglo-Irish ruling class as well as the impoverished native Irish.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. His Life, Times and Legacy//, Ireland: Arderin Publishing, 2001, ch.2.))\\ |
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| No life is without misjudgement. Tom Prior's most publicised failure was his promotion of the medieval remedy [[wp>Tar_water|tar-water]], a mixture of pine-tar and water. The context of his belief in tar-water were the horrendous famine years of 1739-41: as usual, hunger has been accompanied by the plague and other diseases. Tom Prior's close friend Bishop George Berkeley initiated the public promotion of tar-water as a cure-all, publishing a pamphlet about it in 1744, lauding it as a restorative as well as cure for the plague and other diseases, both for cattle and humans. While the medical profession at the time had little success in curing disease, they did know a quack cure when they saw one. They led the attack, condemning tar-water as worthless (as indeed it was). Prior staunchly defended it and his friend Bishop Berkeley, writing //Authentic Narrative of the Success of Tar-Water, in Curing a Great Number and Variety of Distempers// (Dublin/London, 1746). Alas, he was wrong: the mixture of pine-tar and water was no cure for the diseases that accompanied poverty.\\ | No life is without misjudgement. Tom Prior's most publicised failure was his promotion of the medieval remedy [[wp>Tar_water|tar-water]], a mixture of pine-tar and water. The context of his belief in tar-water were the horrendous famine years of 1739-41: as usual, hunger has been accompanied by the plague and other diseases. Tom Prior's close friend Bishop George Berkeley initiated the public promotion of tar-water as a cure-all, publishing a pamphlet about it in 1744, lauding it as a restorative as well as cure for the plague and other diseases, both for cattle and humans. While the medical profession at the time had little success in curing disease, they did know a quack cure when they saw one. They led the attack, condemning tar-water as worthless. Prior staunchly defended it and his friend Bishop Berkeley, writing //Authentic Narrative of the Success of Tar-Water, in Curing a Great Number and Variety of Distempers// (Dublin/London, 1746). Alas, he was wrong: pine-tar and water was no cure for the diseases which stuck the malnourished and starving.\\ |
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| Tom Prior was buried in the graveyard beside the Anglican church in Rathdowney. The precise location of his grave is now unknown as his tombstone was later relocated inside the church.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior.//pp.x,60-62.)). His other memorials are:\\ | Tom Prior was buried in the graveyard beside the Anglican church in Rathdowney. The precise location of his grave is now unknown as his tombstone was later relocated inside the church.((Teddy Fennelly, //Thomas Prior.//pp.x,60-62.)). His other memorials are:\\ |
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| **1.**{{:prior_memorial_enhanced.jpg?300|}}{{:top_of_prior_memorial.png?300|}} The Prior monument (Thomas Prior introducing Ceres to Hibernia by [[wp>John_van_Nost_the_younger|John Van Nost the younger]]), at entrance of [[wp>Christ_Church_Cathedral,_Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]], Dublin. The sculpture was erected in 1756 and abounds with symbols of Prior’s work for Ireland.((Homan Potterton, //Irish Church Monuments 1570-1880//, [Belfast]: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975, pp.31,86.)) The photo by David Godden (with me in 1985) indicates its size – around three metres high. The second photo, courtesy Tom M-P, is the bust of Thomas Prior on top of the monument. The effusive praise of Tom Prior on the monument was written by his friend Bishop Berkeley - in Latin. A later member of the family copied a translation into their Family Bible:{{:mp16.jpg?300|}}{{:epitath.jpg?300|}}\\ | **1.**{{:prior_memorial_enhanced.jpg?300|}}{{:top_of_prior_memorial.png?300|}} The Prior monument (Thomas Prior introducing Ceres to Hibernia by [[wp>John_van_Nost_the_younger|John Van Nost the younger]]), at entrance of [[wp>Christ_Church_Cathedral,_Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]], Dublin. The sculpture was erected in 1756 and abounds with symbols of Prior’s work for Ireland.((Homan Potterton, //Irish Church Monuments 1570-1880//, [Belfast]: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975, pp.31,86.)) The first photo((Provenance: J Godden, taken by David Godden)) with me (Judith Godden) looking at it in 1985, indicates its size – around three metres high. The second photo((Provenance: Tom A. & Therese M-P)) is the bust of Thomas Prior on top of the monument. The effusive praise of Tom Prior on the monument was written by his friend Bishop Berkeley - in Latin. A later member of the family copied a translation into their Family Bible:{{:mp16.jpg?300|}}{{:epitath.jpg?300|}}\\ |
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| **3.** {{ :thomas_prior_bust.jpg?direct&200|}} | **3.** {{ :thomas_prior_bust.jpg?direct&200|}} |
| This photo of a bust of Tom M-P was taken by [[five_children|Nora Boyd]] when she visited Dublin. Sometime around the 1980s, I wrote on the back of the photo that my mother told me it was in Prior House. This was a building purchased by the Royal Dublin Society in the 1970s and subsequently renamed Prior House. It was later sold and in 2001 was a hotel. Presumably this bust is the same one that Fennelly states was sculptured for the Dublin Society by the sculptor who created his memorial in Christ Church Cathedral, John Van Nost the younger.((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior//,pp.63,74.)) | This photo of a bust of Tom M-P was taken by [[five_children|Nora Boyd]] when she visited Dublin. Presumably it is the one that was sculptured for the Dublin Society by John Van Nost the younger, who created Prior's memorial in Christ Church Cathedra.((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior//, pp.63,74.)) |
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| **4.** Tom M-P recalls another statue of Tom Prior in a chapel opposite Trinity College – a quest for the next person who visits Dublin?\\ | **4.** Tom A. M-P recalls another statue of Tom Prior in a chapel opposite Trinity College – a quest for the next person who visits Dublin?\\ |
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| \\ | **5.** Another memorial is the Thomas Prior Hall, in the Dublin suburb of Ballsbridge. The building was purchased by the Royal Dublin Society in the 1970s and subsequently renamed Prior House.((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior//, pp.63,74.)) It was later sold and, as at March 2018, it is part of Clayton Hotel. Only the front of the original building, with its name, survives.((see {{http://www.thomaspriorhall.com/history/}}; Geoffrey M-P pers. comm.))\\ |
| \\ | {{:scan_20180416_thom_prior_house.jpg?300|}}\\ (Above) Photo of J. Godden in front of Thomas Prior House, August 1985.\\ |
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| ==== Death and founding the Murray-Priors ==== | ==== Death and founding the Murray-Priors ==== |
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| Tom Prior died after, as it was described at the time, ‘a tedious fit of illness’. He was ‘not a wealthy man’ because he was ‘one of the few who sought neither place, patronage not honour’, and worked entirely voluntarily for the Dublin Society. When his friend Bishop Berkeley wrote his eulogy, he described (in Latin) Tom Prior as ‘not too careful of his private fortune, since he took a singular interest in the benefits of his fellow citizens’.((Desmond Clarke, //Thomas Prior//)) Certainly the home in Rathdowney, Garrison House, where he was born and died, seems modest enough even remembering that he also had a town house in Bolton Street, Dublin.((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. //, pp.x,4.))\\ | Tom Prior died after, as it was described at the time, ‘a tedious fit of illness’. He was ‘not a wealthy man’ because he was ‘one of the few who sought neither place, patronage not honour’, and worked entirely voluntarily for the Dublin Society. When his friend Bishop Berkeley wrote his eulogy, he described (in Latin) Tom Prior as ‘not too careful of his private fortune, since he took a singular interest in the benefits of his fellow citizens’.((Desmond Clarke, //Thomas Prior//)) Certainly the home in Rathdowney, Garrison House, where he was born and died, seems modest enough even remembering that he also had a town house in Bolton Street, Dublin.((Fennelly, //Thomas Prior. //, pp.x,4,84-85.))\\ |
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| {{:garrison_house_tom_prior_born.jpg?direct&400|}} Photo of Garrison House, courtesy Laois Heritage Forum. It is described as located just off the Square in Rathdowney.\\ | {{:garrison_house_tom_prior_born.jpg?direct&400|}} Photo of Garrison House, courtesy Laois Heritage Forum. It is described as located just off the Square in Rathdowney.\\ |