William Dunkin, D.D. was an Irish poet.

Life

William Dunkin was born in Dublin in around 1709. His parents died when he was young and he was left in early life to the charge of Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, by an aunt who left her property to the college with the condition that it should provide for his education and advancement in life. He took his B.A. degree in 1729, and D.D. in 1744.

As a young man he had a reputation for foolish acts and clever poems. He was introduced to Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

, who became at once a very valuable patron to him. His ordination by the Archbishop of Cashel in 1735 and the increase of the annuity which he received from Trinity College from £70 to £100 in 1736 were both due to Swift's intercession, which caused his marriage and other imprudent acts to be overlooked. In 1739 Swift made a strenuous attempt to procure the living of Coleraine

Coleraine

Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...

 for him, but in this he was not successful. At that time Dunkin was keeping a school at Dublin, and in August 1746 Lord Chesterfield, with whom he had some intimacy, appointed him to the mastership of Portora Royal School

Portora Royal School

Portora Royal School for boys, and some 6th form girls, located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is one of a number of 'free schools' founded by Royal Charter in 1608, by James I...

, Enniskillen

Enniskillen

Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...

, which he held till his death on 24 November 1765.

Writing

Swift speaks of him as "a gentleman of much wit and the best English as well as Latin poet in this kingdom". Swift, writing of the "Vindication of the Libel", says "that poem was, I know, written by my very worthy friend Dr. Dunkin, with whom I have spent many a jovial evening; he was a man of genuine true wit and a delightful companion". Besides the two poems already mentioned Dunkin wrote: Techrethyrambeia sive poëma in P. Murphorum Trin. Coll. subjanitorem, Dublin, 1730; a translation of Techrethyrambeia(Dublin, 1730); Carbery Rocks (the English version of Carberiæ Rupes), published among Swift's poems; The Lover's Web, (Dublin, 1734); Epistola ad Franciscum Bindonem arm., cui adjiciuntur quatuor Odæ, (Dublin, 1741); Hymen's Triumph, a poem in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1743); a prologue at the opening of a Dublin hospital, in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1745; Bœotia, a poem, (Dublin, 1747); The Bramin, an eclogue to Edm. Nugent, esq., (London, 1751) (Nugent was apparently an old pupil); An Ode on the death of Frederick, P. of Wales, with remarks by P. H. M. D, (Dublin, 1752); An Epistle to the Rt. Hon. Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, (Dublin, 1760); The Poet's Prayer, a poem in the Annual Register for 1774; Select Poetical Works, (Dublin, 1769–70); Poetical Works, to which are added his Epistles to the Earl of Chesterfield, (Dublin, 1774).

Works

• The parson's revels (1746), Ed. with notes and introd. by Catherine Skeen, Dublin : Four Courts Press, 2010, 978-1-84682-227-8