John Garvey (1527–1595) was an Irish Protestant

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...

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 ...

Life

He was eldest son of John O'Garvey of Morisk,

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 ...

, but was born in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

. He was educated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, graduating in the reign of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

. His first ecclesiastical preferment was the deanery of Ferns, to which he was appointed by letters patent in 1558; in the following year, 13 July, he became

archdeacon of Meath The archdeacon of Meath is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the united Diocese of Meath and Kildare. The archdeaconry can trace its history from Helias, the first known incumbent, who held the office in the twelfth century, to the last discr ...

and rector of Kells, and in 1560 he was instituted to the

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

of Tipperkevin in

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glen ...

. On 27 January 1561, he received letters of

denization Denization is an obsolete or defunct process in England and Ireland and the later Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the British Empire, dating back to the 13th century, by which an alien (foreigner), through letters patent, becam ...

from the Crown. Becoming an important Crown adviser, he was made dean of

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

, in 1565, and a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. In 1585 he was promoted to the

bishopric of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Irelan ...

, on the recommendation of

Sir John Perrot Sir John Perrot (7 November 1528 – 3 November 1592) was a member of the Welsh people, Welsh gentry who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was formerly speculated that he ...

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, and was allowed to hold ''

in commendam In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastica ...

'' his deanery and archdeaconry. From Kilmore he was translated in May 1589 to the Archbishopric of Armagh, still retaining his minor preferments; in recognition of service, the payment of his first fruits was remitted. In 1591, in answer to a circular appeal from Sir William FitzWilliam, Lord Deputy, he gave towards the building of

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. He died in Dublin on 2 March 1595, and was buried in Christ Church.

Family

He married firstly Margaret, daughter of Christopher Plunket of

Dunsoghly Castle Dunsoghly Castle is a castle and a National Monument located in the civil parish of St. Margaret's, County Dublin, Ireland. The castle has been in state ownership since 1914. It is managed by the Office of Public Works. History The castle was ...

in County Meath and his wife Catherine Bermingham, and sister of the Right Honourable Sir John Plunket,

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

. Their eldest son was Sir Christopher Garvey. His second wife was Rose Money, widow of Alderman John Money, and daughter of Thomas Ussher and Margaret Geydon, and his successor in the archbishopric was his brother-in-law,

Henry Ussher Henry Ussher (1550 – 2 April 1613) was an Irish Protestant churchman, a founder of Trinity College Dublin, and Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh. Life The second of five sons of Thomas Ussher by Margaret (d. January 1597), daughter of H ...

Works

A treatise is ascribed to him by Anthony Wood, ''The Conversion of Philip Corwine, a Franciscan Friar, to the Reformation of the Protestant Religion, an. 1589,'' published by Robert Ware in his ''Foxes and Firebrands,'' Dublin, 1681, from a supposed original, found among the manuscripts of

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ...

's ecte James Ware (historian), his father who seems more likely">James_Ware_(historian).html" ;"title="ecte James Ware (historian)">ecte James Ware (historian), his father who seems more likely Corwine was a nephew of Hugh Curwen. Robert Ware however was well known as an anti-Catholic forger.Diarmaid MacCulloch, ‘Foxes, firebrands, and forgery: Robert Ware’s pollution of Reformation History’, ''Historical Journal'', 54:2 (June 2011), 307-46.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garvey, John 1527 births 1595 deaths Christian clergy from County Kilkenny Deans of Ferns Deans of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Anglican archbishops of Armagh Anglican bishops of Kilmore People of Elizabethan Ireland 16th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland Archdeacons of Meath