Life

He was born in Dunmore, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 where his father was a clergyman. He made his first stage appearance as Zanga in Young

Edward Young

Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...

's tragedy The Revenge at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin in 1749.

Mossop's first London appearance was made in 1751 under Garrick

David Garrick

David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...

's management as Richard III

Richard III (play)

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...

. He returned to Ireland in 1759 and added to his laurels. Then he attempted management on his own account. He took over the Smock Alley theatre in 1860 and entered into intense rivalry with the Crow Street theatre, run by Spranger Barry

Spranger Barry

Spranger Barry was an Irish actor.-Life:He was born in Skinner's Row, Dublin, the son of a silversmith, to whose business he was brought up...

, which involved both houses in financial difficulties. When he went to London in 1771 to recruit actors he was arrested for debt and made a bankrupt. He toured the continent for a year in an effort to acquire funds but his health broke down and he died in poverty on 18 November 1773 (another account, in the Gentleman's Magazine, gives his date of death as December 1774).