Anthony Blake (–1787) was an Irish

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as

Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, one of the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of Armagh. The episcopal title takes its name after the town of Ardagh in County ...

from 1756 to 1758 and

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

from 1758 to 1787.

Biography

Blake was the younger of two sons of Andrew Blake of Kilvine,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

. His family were one of the

Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway () were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Brown ...

; notable members of his family included

James "Spanish" Blake James "Spanish" Blake ( – 20 February 1635), known by the aliases Caddell, Blackcaddell, Blague, and Diego de Blacadell, was an Irish merchant, soldier and double agent. On various occasions, Blake seemingly worked as a spy for English, Irish ...

, John Blake (mayor),

John Henry Blake John Henry Blake (1808 – 29 June 1882) was a murdered Irish land agent. Biography John Henry Blake was the third and youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Blake of Furbo, County Galway and Maria Galway of Cork. He was a member of one of Th ...

and Sally Blake (duelist). He was a granduncle of Walter Blake Kirwan and

Anthony Richard Blake Anthony Richard Blake (1786–1849), was an Irish lawyer, administrator and 'backstairs Viceroy of Ireland'. Blake, the second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park, Athenry, was a member of the Tribes of Galway. A granduncle was Anthony Blake, ...

. Blake returned to Ireland from France about 1731, having been educated at

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...

and

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

. He was appointed priest in the archdiocese of Tuam, holding the posts of

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the chapter and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

to the archbishop. From 1741 to 1756, he served as

Warden of Galway The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas () is a medieval church building in Galway, Ireland,. It is a collegiate church and the parish church of St. Nicholas Church of Ireland parish, which covers Galway City. It was founded in 1320 and dedicate ...

. His most notable act was the erection of a new parish chapel in the town's middle street, which stood 'till 1833.

References

* ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', pp. 579–80, Cambridge, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Anthony 1700s births 1787 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Mayo Roman Catholic archbishops of Armagh Roman Catholic bishops of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise