Life
1664-1747; b. Armagh, son of Sir John Richardson; ed. TCD; TCD BA, 1688;
holy orders; resided chiefly at Belturbet, Co. Cavan; rector of Annagh
(nr. Belturbet), where he frequently preached in Irish, and chaplain to
Duke of Ormond; issued A Proposals for the conversion of the Popish
natives of Ireland to the Established Religion (1711); Seanmora
ar na Priom Phoncibh na Creideamh: Sermons upon the principal points of
religion (London 1711), incl. a lengthy sermon of his own with another
by Rev. Pilip Mac Brádaigh, and three by William Beveridge, trans.
by Seón Ó Mulchronri; assisted by Cathal Ó Luinín,
published an Irish translation of The Book of Common Prayer as Leabhar
na nOrnaighteadh [g]Comhchoitchionn (1712), chiefly based on Ó
Domhnaill’s translation of The Book of Common Prayer of 1608;
trans. John Lewis’s catechism as Church Catechism Explain’d:
Caitecism na heaglaise minighthe (1712); his Short History
of the Attempts Made to Convert the Popish Natives of Ireland (1712),
gives an account of the Bible-translation efforts of William Bedell, Uilleam
Ó Domhnaill [William Daniel], and others; also published A Cathechism
to which are appended brief and plain rules for reading the Irish
language (London n.d.); and The Great Folly of Pilgrimages in Ireland
(1727), ridiculing their efficacy with particular reference to Lough Derg,
which he atttempted to prevent by application of canon law. DNB OCIL
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Works
Seanmora ar na Priom Phoncibh na Creideamh ar na Ttaruing go Gaidhilg,
agus ar na Ccur a Ccló a Lunnduin Tre Eibhlin Everingham. Sermons
upon the Principal Points of Religion, Tralasted into Irish (London:
Printed by Elinor Evingham 1711); The Church Catechism Explain’d
by Way of Question and Answer; And Confirm’d by Scripture Proofs.
Collected by John Lewis, Minister of Margate, Kent. And Render’d
into Irish by JOHN RICHARDSON Minister of Belturbet in Ireland, Chaplain
to his Grace James Duke of Ormond, and St. George Lord Bishop of Clocher
(London 1712), with Dedication to to Robert Nelson; A short history
of the Attempts made to convert the Popish natives of Ireland to the establish’d
religion, with a proposal for their conversion [2nd edn.] (Dublin
1713); The Great Folly [...] of pilgrimages in Ireland
[...] (Dublin: J. Hyde 1727), 8o [copy in Marsh’s Library acquired
1843].
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Criticism
Maureen Wall, Catholic Ireland in the Eighteenth Century,
ed. Gerard O’Brien (Geog. Publ. 1989), writes: ‘John Richardson
(1664-1747), p.4.
Michael Cronin, Translating Ireland: Tranlsations, Languages, Cultures (Cork UP 1996), pp.58-59.
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Notes
Muriel McCarthy & Caroline Sherwood-Smith, eds., Hibernia
Resurgens: Catalogue of Marsh’s Library (1994) [Exhib. Catalogue],
cites The church catechism explain’d (London: E. Everingham
1712), 12o, containing Ornaig lé hagiadh usaide na scol charthanais
[Prayers for the use of charity schools], and The Elements
of the Irish Language (p.30).
Library of Herbert Bell, Belfast, holds John Richardson, A Short History of The Attempts To Convert The Popish Natives of Ireland (London 1712). cites The Great Folly [...] of pilgrimages in Ireland [...] (Dublin: J. Hyde 1727), 8o [copy in Marsh’s Library acquired 1843].
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Quotations
Politics of language: ‘Preaching the Irish language is not
an Encouragement to the Irish interests ... For the Irish Papists, who
can speak English, ever were, and still are as great enemies to the English
interest, as the Irish Papists who cannot speak English. ... the Irish
language, as such, hath nothing of Impiety, Heresie, or Immorality in
it; and no Man, I presume, will be condemned at the Last Day for speaking
Irish.’ (Cited in Joseph Leerssen, Mere Irish & Fíor
Ghael, 1986, pp.330-32; also 370.)
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)