Plunket, William Conyngham

PLUNKET, WILLIAM CONYNGHAM: Church of Ireland archbishop; b. at Dublin, Ireland, Aug. 26, 1828; d. there Apr. 1, 1897. Graduated at Trinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1853; M.A., 1864); was ordained deacon (1857), and priest (1858); was rector of Kilmoylan and Cummer, Tuam (1858–64); chaplain and private secretary to the bishop of Tuam, and treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin (1864–67); precentor of St. Patrick's (1869–1877); consecrated lord bishop of Meath (1876); and translated to the joint archbishopric of Dublin, Glendalough, and Kildare, in 1884. He was a leader of the Evangelical party in the Irish Church strenuously opposed its disestablishment prior to 1868; fostered a sympathy for struggling Protestant communities, and took an active part in the Protestant movements in Spain and Italy; reorganized what is now the Church of Ireland Training College (Kildare Place); and for his activity in educational matters was nominated in 1895 a member of the 95board of national education. In 1871 he succeeded his father in the peerage.

Bibliography: F. D. How, William Conyngham Plunket, . . . , a Memoir, London, 1900; DNB, Supplement, iii. 275–277.