Life
1723-1791 [var. Archdale]; b. Dublin, 23 April; ed. TCD; domestic
chaplain to Pocock, bishop of Ossory; presented to living at Attanagh,
and prepend of Cloneamery, 1762; prependary of Slane, Co. Meath, 1764
[chk, err. Mayne]; MRIA; his encyclopaedic work Monasticon Hibernicum
(1786), representing 40 years work, published with 128 subscriptions,
and commonly called "The Irish Monasticon" in comparison
to Sir William Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum, to which it
is greatly inferior though valued for the plates; many errors were subsequently
noticed and corrected by John Lanigan in his Ecclesiastical History
(1822); a new edition was prepared by Rev. Patrick F. Moran and others
in 1871; Archdall also edited Lodge’s Peerage of Ireland (7
vols., 1789); d. 6 Aug.; bur. ancient churchyard in Slane. RR
DNB DIB DIW OCIL
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Works
Monasticon Hibernicum: An History of the Abbeys, Priories and
Other Religious Houses in Ireland, Interspersed with Memoirs of
their Several Founders and Benefactors [...] Likewise an
Account of the Manner in which the Possessions Belonging to These Foundations
were Disposed of, the Present State of Their Ruins (Dublin: printed
for RIA by Luke White 1786), ), xxiii, 820pp. [vii errata], 4o., ill.
ports [18 pls.]; Do. (London: C. C. & J. Robinson 1786), xxiii,
820pp.; also P[atrick F[rancis] Moran, ed., Monasticon Hibernicum,
with many additional notes, Vols. 1 & 2 (Dublin: W. B. Kelly 1873,
1876).
The Peerage of Ireland, or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. With Engravings of their paternal Coats of Arms. Collected from the public Records - authentic Manuscripts; approved Historians well-attested Pedigrees; and Personal Information. Revised, Enlarged and Continued to the Present Time by Mervyn Archdall, Rector of Slane, 7 vols. (Dublin: Moore; London: printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson 1789).
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- Monasticon Anglicanum, produced under direction of Sir William Dugdale, 3 vols. (Vol. 1, with Roger Dodsworth, 1655; 2nd Vol., 1661; third Vol., 1673);
- Richard Ryan’s Biog. Hibernica, Irish Worthies (1821), Vol. I, pp.17-19 [var. Archdale used];
- George A Little, Dublin Before the Vikings: An Adventure in Discovery (Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son 1957), pp.105-06;
- R. E. Ward and C. Ward, eds., Letters of Charles O’Conor of Belanagare (Washington: Cath. Univ. of America Press 1988) [infra].
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Notes
British Library holds Monasticon [sic] Hibernicum (London: C. C.
& J. Robinson 1786), xxiii, 820pp.; also P[atrick F[rancis] Moran,
ed., [Monasticon Hibernicum], with many add. notes, vols. 1, 2 (Dublin:
W. B. Kelly 1873, 1876) [no further volumes]; also Monasticon Hibernicum,
or the Monastical History of Ireland, &c. [by John Stevens.] (London:
W. Mears 1722), 416pp., 8o. [See note on John Stevens, infra.]
University Libraries: TCD Library holds [Monasticon Hibernicum], An History of the Abbeys, priories and other religious houses in Ireland, interspersed with memoirs of their several founders and benefactors ... likewise an account of the manner in which the possessions belonging to these foundations were disposed of, the present state of their ruins. (Dublin; printed for Luke White 1786), 827pp. ill. ports [18 pls.]. University of Ulster Library ( Morris Collection), holds Monasticon Hibernicum (1786).
De Burca Catalogue (1977) lists Mervyn Archdall, Monasticon Hibernicum; or, An History of the Abbies [... &c] Suppression. With engravings of the several religious orders and military habits and a map illustrating the history (Dublin: Luke White 1786), xxiii, 820pp., vii errata 4to. (Bradshaw item 2150; Gilbert, Hist. of Dublin, p.30); The Peerage of Ireland, or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. With Engravings of their paternal Coats of Arms. Collected from the public Records - authentic Manuscripts; approved Historians well-attested Pedigrees; and personal Information. Revised, enlarged and continued to the present time by Mervyn Archdall, Rector of Slane. With list of subscribers. Seven volumes. (Dublin: Moore 1789)
Hyland Catalogue [No. 214] lists John Stevens, trans. and enlarged, Monasticon Hibernicum, or the Monastical History of Ireland; 1st English language ed., 1722; Moll map, 7 pls., [8 called for in Bradshaw 7301; contemp. calf blind panelled front & rear.]
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Monasticon Anglicanum, the model for Archdall’s
book, was produced under direction of Sir William Dugdale in (Vol. 1,
with Roger Dodsworth, 1655; 2nd Vol., 1661; Vol. 3, 1673). It’s authoritative
status is indicated by the fact that it was admitted as circumstantial
evidence in the courts at Westminster in 1677 (see DNB, under Dugdale.)
John Stevens: The Library also holds Monasticon Anglicanum, transl by John Stevens, with additional material, viz., Memoirs of the Antiquities of Great-Britain, Relating to the Reformation, &c. [...] To Which is Prefix’d a Preface, with Some Remarks on Mr. Stevens’s First Additional Volume to Sir William Dugdale’s Monastichon Anglicanum, in defence of the late Bishop Burnet London: H. Tracy 1723), xii, 139pp, 12o. [BL]. John Stevens is also accredited with a volume dealing with Irish monasteries, Monasticon Hibernicum, or the Monastical History of Ireland, &c. (London: W. Mears 1722), 416pp., 8o., a copy of which is held in the British Library.
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)