Matthew Young 1786-1799

Matthew Young was born in 1750 in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. He entered Trinity College in 1766 and became a scholar in 1769. He graduated BA in 1772, MA in 1774, BD in 1782 and DD in 1786. He was elected a Fellow in 1775. His tutors, Henry Ussher and Richard Murray, inspired his interest in physics. He is described as a ‘staunch Newtonian’ defending Newton’s theory of sound in ‘an enquiry into the principal phenomena of sounds and musical strings.’  He was the sixth Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1786 - 1799).  A collection of his lectures, ‘An Analysis of the principles of Natural Philosophy’, was published in 1800. As one of the founding members of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), he published several papers on topics such as algebra, optics, hydrodynamics, and Gaelic poetry in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. He had a keen interest in Irish literature. His translations of Irish manuscripts were the first Gaelic scholarship produced by the RIA. He married Anne Cuthbertson and they had several children. He was appointed Bishop of Clonfert in 1798 and died on 28^th November 1800.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 903, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Enda Leaney (2009), Young, Matthew, Dictionary of Irish Biography https://www.dib.ie/biography/young-matthew-a9175
3. John Comerford (1796) The Rev. Matthew Young, Bishop of Clonfert, https://www.artnet.com/artists/john-comerford/the-rev-matthew-young-bishop-of-clonfert-I51kcL7k7JrWe1TGTJABXQ2