Kilkenny College - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

In its almost 500-year history, Kilkenny College has produced a long list of notable past pupils. A selection of some of the better known, in alphabetical order, includes:

• John Banim (1798–1842), Kilkenny-born novelist and playwright.
• Richard Baldwin, D.D., (1668–1758), Provost, Trinity College Dublin (1717–1758 ).
• David Beatty, (1871–1936), 1st Earl Beatty, one time First Sea Lord and deputy-commander of the Royal Navy at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
• George Berkeley, (1685–1753), philosopher and Bishop of Cloyne, after whom the university city of Berkeley, California is named.
• Edward Butler (1823–1879), Kilkenny-born barrister and politician. Butler served as editor of the Galway Vindcator during the Great Famine and was briefly imprisoned for his activities with the Young Ireland movement. As an emigrant to Australia, he served as a parliamentarian, Queen’s Counsel and ultimately Leader of the Bar.
• David Alfred Chart, D.Litt., (1878-1690), archivist of State Papers at Dublin Castle and latterly Deputy Keeper of Public Records in Northern Ireland. Chart read many of his papers before the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland and his book An Economic History of Ireland is still in print to this day.
• Abraham Colles, Prof., (1773–1843), Elected President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) at the age of 29. Colles gave his name to a seminal text on surgical anatomy and to a number of medical terms including Colles’ facia, Colles’ fracture and Colles’ law. Colles twice declined the offer of a knighthood.
• William Congreve, (1670–1729), English-born poet and playwright of the Restoration period (17th and 18th centuries).
• Benjamin Cronyn (1802–1871), Bishop of Huron, Canada. In response to “unsound and un-Protestant” teaching at Trinity College Toronto, Cronyn established a “low church” theology school which subsequently became the founding college of the University of Western Ontario.
• George Farquhar (1677–1707), a dramatist, who made notable contributions to Restoration comedy.
• Victor Gilbert Benjamin Griffin, D.D., (1924- ), Dean of St. Patrick’s Dublin (1969–1991).
• Warden Flood (1694-1764) was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and father of the statesman Henry Flood.
• Andrew Fitzgerald O.P, (1763–1843) a native of Kilkenny, anti-tithe campaigner, he was a Catholic priest, a professor and President of Carlow College.
• Greg Jacob, (1984-), Wexford Hurler and amateur porn star.
• John Kinchela, LL.D., (1765–1845), Acting Chief Justice of New South Wales, Australia.
• Peter Lombard D.D., (1555 to 1625) Waterford-born scholar, appointed professor of theology at Université catholique de Louvain and latterly Archbishop of Armagh by Pope Clement VIII. At the behest of Pope Gregory XV, Lombard joined a Pontifical Commission investigating the affairs of Catholic missionaries in India. Barred from returning to Ireland by James I, Lombard resided in Rome until his death in 1625.
• Thomas Prior, (1681–1751), born in Rathdowney, Co. Laois, Prior was a lifetime friend of George Berkeley. Prior founded the Royal Dublin Society with Samuel Madden in 1731.
• George Ponsonby (1773–1863), son of William 1st Baron Ponsonby (of Imokilly), Bessborough, served as Junior Lord of the Treasury (1832–34). Ponsonby’s sister (Mary Elizabeth, 1776–1861) is the fourth great grandparent (eighth generation) of Prince William of Wales on his mother’s side.
• Jonathan Swift, D.D., (1668–1745), 17th century satirist and author of Gulliver's Travels, Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, and one of Kilkenny College's most distinguished alumni, so much so that the newest extension of classrooms is called the Jonathan Swift block in his honour>
• Luke Wadding (1588-1657) Waterford-born, maternal cousin of Archbishop of Armagh Peter Lombard, joined the Franciscan Order aged seventeen. Ordained to the priesthood at Viseu, he lectured divinity at University of Salamanca. Wadding penned Annnales-Minorum upon retirement and founded the Franciscan College of St Isidore's in Rome.