John Patrick Prendergast (7 March 1808 – 6 February 1893) was an Irish land agent and historian.

Life

Born on 7 March 1808, at 37 Dawson Street, Dublin, he was eldest son of Francis Prendergast (1768–1846), registrar of the court of chancery of Ireland, by Esther ( Patrick; 1774–1846), eldest daughter of John Patrick, of 27 Palace Row, Dublin. Educated in England at Reading grammar school under

Richard Valpy Richard Valpy (7 December 1754 – 28 March 1836) was a British schoolmaster and priest of the Church of England. He is best known as the head master of Reading Grammar School, in the town of Reading, England. Life and career Valpy was born ...

, he graduated at

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 Unive ...

, in 1825, and was called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland () is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland, commonly c ...

in 1830. In 1836 Prendergast succeeded his father and grandfather in the agency of

Lord Clifden Lord Clifden (1860 – 7 February 1875) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was undefeated as a two-year-old, including wins in the Woodcote Stakes and Champagne Stakes. As a three-year-old, he was just beaten by a short-head in the ...

's estates, which he administered for many years. His experiences made him an advocate of tenant right and a supporter of the early land reformers in Ireland. Prendergast died in Dublin on 6 February 1893, aged 84.

Works

In 1840 Prendergast was commissioned to make some pedigree researches in

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, which led him to a study of the settlement of Ireland at the restoration of Charles II, and also of the Cromwellian settlement. His researches culminated in ''The History of the Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland'' (1863, 2nd edit. 1875). In 1864 Prendergast was appointed by

Lord Romilly John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly PC (20 January 1802 – 23 December 1874), known as Sir John Romilly between 1848 and 1866, was an English Whig politician and judge. He served in Lord John Russell's first administration as Solicitor-General ...

a commissioner, with

Charles William Russell Charles William Russell (14 May 1812 – 26 February 1880) was an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor and scholar. Early life He was born at Killough, County Down, Ireland, a descendant of the Rus ...

, for selecting official papers relating to Ireland for transcription from the Carte manuscripts in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

. The report of the commissioners was published in 1871. Russell and Prendergast continued to calendar the papers until 1877, when Russell died. Prendergast continued the work until 1880. Prendergast issued for private circulation ''The Tory War in Ulster ...Descriptive of Ireland from the Restoration to the Revolution, A.D. 1660-1690'' (1868, Dublin, 2 pts.). In 1881 he prefixed a notice of the life of Charles Haliday to the latter's ''Scandinavian Kingdom of Dublin'', and in 1887 he published ''Ireland from the Restoration to the Revolution''. Prendergast was also an authority on Irish pedigrees and archæology, contributing, among other papers, to the old Kilkenny Archæological Society's ''Journal'', ''The Plantation of Idrone by Sir Peter Carew''. In articles published anonymously in the Dublin press (1884–90) he covered local knowledge of the old houses of Dublin. In politics he was a liberal, contributed to the old ''Nation'' newspaper, and replied there in 1872–4 to

James Anthony Froude James Anthony Froude ( ; 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of ''Fraser's Magazine''. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergym ...

's lectures in America on Irish history. He authored numerous pamphlets. He opposed Home Rule, and from 1878 he was an opponent of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

Legacy

Prendergast's manuscript collections were bequeathed to the King's Inn, Dublin.

Family

Prendergast married, on 1 September 1838, Caroline, second daughter of the radical political pamphleteer and

freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

George Ensor of Ardress House,

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, and left one son, Francis, who settled in California and became a naturalised American.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prendergast, John Patrick 1808 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Irish historians Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Writers from Dublin (city) Lawyers from Dublin (city)