Matthew Young (1750–1800),

Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh The Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, comprising the southern part of County Galway and a small area of County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of ...

, was an eminent Irish mathematician and natural philosopher, and was

Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin is a chair in physics founded in 1724 and funded by the Erasmus Smith Trust, which was established by Erasmus Smith, a wealthy London merchant, who liv ...

(1786–1799). He was Bishop of Clonfert at the very end of his life.

Biography

He was born in

Castlerea Castlerea ( ; ) is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 2,348 at the 2022 census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled castle' (''Caisl ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

in 1750, entered

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 ...

(TCD) in 1766, and was elected Fellow and took

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

in 1775. He became

at TCD in 1786.Erasmus Smith's professors of Mathematics
Mathematics at TCD 1592–1992 In 1798 the bishopric of Clonfert and

Kilmacduagh Kilmacduagh () is a small village in south County Galway, Ireland, near Gort. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name, in Kiltartan barony. It is the site of Kilmacduagh monastery, seat of a diocese of the same name. Th ...

was most unexpectedly conferred upon him by

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

. He was also a musician, an enthusiastic

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and somewhat of an artist. The ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term '' ...

'' says: "The versatility of his talents, the acuteness of his intellect, and his intense application to study were happily blended with a native unassuming modesty, a simplicity of manners, unaffected, and infinitely engaging; a cheerfulness and vivacity; … a firm and inflexible spirit of honour and integrity." One of the pleasures he hoped to derive from a country residence, on his appointment to the bishopric, was the opportunity to pursue his botanical studies; but shortly after his elevation, symptoms of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

developed themselves. During his terminal illness, he continued his studies with great activity, revising his works for the press, and even studying Syriac for the purpose of editing a new version of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

. He died at Whitworth, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, 28 November 1800, aged 50. Bishop Young contributed largely to the ''Transactions of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

'', of which he was one of the earliest members, and left some mathematical treatises in manuscript.

Marriage

Young married Anne, daughter of Captain Bennet Cuthbertson, and left several children.

Selected books

* ''An Enquiry into the Principal Phenomena of Sounds and Musical Strings'' (Robinson, 1784) * ''An Analysis of the Principles of Natural Philosophy'' (Dublin University Press, 1800)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Matthew 1750 births 1800 deaths Bishops of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh 18th-century Irish mathematicians Donegall Lecturers of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin People from Castlerea