Murtagh King (; c. 1562 – c. 1639) was an Irish

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

translator and scribe.

Overview

King was a member of an Irish

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

ic family, who were residents of the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Kilcoursey Kilcoursey () is a barony in County Offaly (formerly King's County), Ireland. Etymology The name Kilcoursey is from Kilcoursey Castle (also called Lehinch Castle; near Clara), which is named for Kilcoursey townland (Irish ''Cill Chuairsí'', "C ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

, known as Fox's Country. They were poets, scribes, and drafted legal documents for their patrons, mainly the families of Fox and Mageoghegan. Writing in 2001, McCaughy states "What we can say is that the Muircheartach Ó Cionga that we are concerned with in this study was one of a learned poetic family of the name who are referred to quite frequently in the sources, some of whose poetry survives (a good deal of it religious), and that they are located in the barony of

in Fox’s Country." Muircheartach first apparent appearances are as ''Murtagh O Kinge'' of Kilcolly and ''Murtho O King'' of Fox's County in fiants of the 1590s. In the 1610s he was an agent and receiver to Lord Lambert's lands near

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) 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 Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

(he appeared as a witness for

dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property – a "dower" – derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles. In popular usage, the n ...

Lady Lambert in the 1630s). He appears to have been among the native grantees who received land in the plantation of his locality around the year 1620. The Franciscan Paul King was his nephew.

Association with William Bedell

King was employed from 1627 by

William Bedell The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. (; 22 September 15717 February 1642), was an English Anglican bishop who served as the 5th Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1627 to 1629. He also served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore and as a member of t ...

(later

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 ...

) to teach Irish to himself and students 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 Univ ...

. Under Bedell's influence, King conformed to the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

and was ordained a priest on 23 September 1633. This provided him with an income while he translated the

and

Apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

into Irish, having been selected as an acknowledged master of the language, in both prose and verse. It was eventually published (without Apocrypha) in 1685 by

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...

under the title ''Leabhuir na Seintiomna ar na ttarruing go Gaidhlig trechiram & dhithracht an Doctuir Uilliam Bedel/The Books of the Old Testament translated into Irish by the care and diligence of Doctor William Bedel.'' Bedell wrote to

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 ...

"We haue brought Mr King to read an houre every day to those that are already chosen, to frame them to the right pronunciation and exercise of the language, to which purpose we haue gotten a few coppies of the booke of Common prayer, and do begin with the Catechisme which is therein .... The translation of the Psalmes into prose and verse, whereof I spoke to your Grace, would be a good worke, and Mr King has giuen us an assay in the first psalme ..."

By the end of his life, serious questions had arisen concerning King's fitness to be a

minister. He was accused of secretly attending

Catholic 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 ...

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

with his family, inappropriately administering

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

and

holy communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

. ''A sum of the matters objected against Murtagh King'' alleged that:

"He is ignorant of the Bible .... Cannot read distinctly and intelligibly. Causeth his parish clerk, who is a layman, to execute the office of priest. Left his congregation desolate in a church one Sunday, and went to the alehouse. Another Sunday, refused to perform service, saying his occasions led to the mass house. Went to Mass on the Sunday. Baptised a child with words but without the element of water, and then with water but without the words. Baptised another with gloves on. In administering the Holy Communion he did not use the appointed words but said, "Eat this according to our Saviour’s meaning." Committed a battery and bloodshed. Suffers his children to go to mass. When his son asked him for money, he said, "Poor slave; woe’s me, that am going to hell to get you maintenance", insinuating that he was conformable against his conscience."

Bedell defended him, concerned that attacks on King's character would detract from the reputation of the translation, and said as much in a letter to

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...

, dated December 1638.

"Mr King is a much more competent man than he is represented to be. He has few matches as an Irish scholar in the kingdom. He has now been imprisoned for four or five months, and that most unjustly, and has been too sick to defend himself. Surely the man who translated God’s Word into Irish deserves better treatment. I pray you do him justice."

King died shortly after, survived by his wife, Margery, and their children. Mrs. King was supported by

, Bishop Anthony Martin of Meath and

Sir James Ware Sir James Ware (26 November 1594 – 1 December 1666) was an Anglo-Irish historian. Personal details Born at Castle Street, Dublin on 26 November 1594, James Ware was the eldest son of Sir James Ware (1568–1632) and Mary Bryden, daughter of ...

in a land dispute with William Bayly, who in 1638 had seized a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of King's.

References

* ''Dr. Bedell and Mr. King: the making of the Irish Bible'', Terence McCaughey, 2001 * ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', vol. five, pp. 209–210, Cambridge, 2009.

External links

Ó CIONGA, Muircheartach ( c.1562– c.1639)
ainm.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Murtagh 17th-century Irish-language poets Irish translators People from County Offaly Poet priests Translators to Irish Year of birth uncertain Translators of the Bible into Irish Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism