St. George Ashe, D.D. (3 March 1657 – 27 February 1718) was an Irish mathematician who served as the 15th

Provost of Trinity College Dublin The following persons have been provost of Trinity College Dublin. References {{University of Dublin, Trinity College Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity o ...

from 1692 to 1695. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he served as

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 ...

Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title that takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a separate title; but, in the Church of Ireland, it has been united with other bishopri ...

Clogher Clogher (; , ) is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne ...

and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, in succession. From 1685 to 1692, he was the Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics 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 ...

. He is remembered now chiefly for his alleged role in performing a secret marriage between

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

and

Esther Johnson Esther Johnson (13 March 1681 – 28 January 1728) was an Englishwoman known to have been a close friend of Jonathan Swift, known as "Stella". Whether or not she and Swift were secretly married, and if so why the marriage was never made public ...

''(Stella)''.

Early life and education

Ashe was born in

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

in 1658, a younger son of Thomas Ashe and his wife Mary St George, daughter of Richard St George of

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 ...

. Dillon Ashe, Archdeacon of Clogher, was his brother. He was educated at Trinity College, where he earned his B.A. (1676),

Academic career

He became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1679, then Professor of Mathematics in 1685, and ultimately became Provost in 1692, a position he served in until July 1695. He later returned to Trinity College as Vice-Chancellor in 1702. He afterwards acted as secretary and chaplain to the British Embassy at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Returning to Ireland in 1692, he was made Provost of Trinity College.

Bishop

He was consecrated

in 1695, and promoted to the see of

in 1697, and to that of

in 1717. He spent a large sum on refurbishing the episcopal palace at Clogher. He refused to become

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ) is an Episcopal polity, archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Cathol ...

in 1716 because the stipend was inadequate. He had a reputation for being an absentee bishop. He was sharply reprimanded on that account by

William King William King may refer to: Arts * Willie King (1943–2009), American blues guitarist and singer * William King (author) (born 1959), British science fiction author and game designer, also known as Bill King * William King (artist) (1925–2015), ...

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

, who wrote that the enemies of the church were led by his conduct to conclude that "bishops are not necessary, since they can so long be spared", and pleaded with him to "think of coming home as soon as possible". He occasionally contributed to the

Proceedings of the Royal Society ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

, of which he was a member. He died in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, on 27 February 1718, and was buried in Christ Church. He bequeathed his mathematical library to the College.

Family

Two years before he died, Ashe sent his son, also called St George Ashe, on a Grand Tour with the philosopher

George Berkeley George Berkeley ( ; 12 March 168514 January 1753), known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland), was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and clergyman who is regarded as the founder of "immaterialism", a philos ...

, a Fellow of Trinity College, as his tutor. Having been conducted on one of the most extensive tours of the period, including the length and breadth of Italy, including

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Ischia,

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, and

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, the young Ashe died, presumably without having seen his father again, in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1721. By his wife (and distant cousin) Jane St George, daughter of Sir George St George of

Dunmore, County Galway Dunmore () is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It is located on the N83 road (Ireland), N83 national secondary road at its junction with the R328 road (Ireland), R328 and R360 road (Ireland), R360 Regional road (Ireland), regional roads. The tow ...

and Elizabeth Hannay, the Bishop as well as his son had one daughter Elizabeth, who married as his second wife

Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet (c. 1675 – 23 February 1733) was an Anglo-Irish Whig politician and baronet, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland from 1717 until his death, and concurrently Speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 17 ...

, and had numerous children, including

Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross (23 November 1725 – September 1802), known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet, from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Baron Gore until 1768, and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, ...

Character

Despite his record as an absentee bishop, Ashe was much loved by his friends.

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

wrote to Swift to commiserate him on Ashe's death, and said that Ashe was a man "who has scarce left behind his equal in humanity, agreeable conversation and all kinds of learning".

Swift and Stella

Bishop Ashe was a lifelong friend of Jonathan Swift, whose tutor he had been at Trinity College. In 1726,

("Stella") the lifelong companion of Swift, is said to have confided to her friends that Ashe had performed a secret marriage ceremony, with no witnesses, between herself and Swift in 1716. Whether or not her claim was true has been the subject of endless debate. Their friends were deeply divided on the truth of the story, and historians conclude that it is impossible to be certain one way or the other, since Ashe, the only person other than Swift and Stella who could have known the truth, was already dead when Stella reportedly made her disclosure. "St George Ashe" Dictionary of Ulster Biography 2021

External links

* http://www.libraryireland.com/biography/StGeorgeAshe.php

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashe, St George 1658 births 1718 deaths Anglican bishops of Cloyne Anglican bishops of Derry Bishops of Clogher (Church of Ireland) Donegall Lecturers of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century Irish mathematicians Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Christian clergy from County Roscommon Provosts of Trinity College Dublin 17th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland 18th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland 17th-century Irish mathematicians