William Smyth (Irish bishop)

{{Short description|Anglican bishop}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}

{{Portal|Christianity}} William Smyth was a seventeenth century Anglican bishop in Ireland."A New History of Ireland" T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, F.J. Byrne and Cosgrove, A: Oxford, OUP, 1976 {{ISBN|0-19-821745-5}} He was the ancestor of the prominent landowning family of Barbavilla Manor, Collinstown, County Westmeath.National Library of Ireland Collection List No. 120 "Papers of the Family of Smyth of Barbavilla"

Smyth (1644–1699) was born in County Antrim, son of Captain Ralph Smyth(b. 1615 Rosedale Abbey, Yorkshire, d.1689 Lisburn), who had settled in Ireland c.1630 and acquired lands in Antrim and County Down. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin."Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860)Burtchaell, G.D/Sadlier, T.U p767: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 He was appointed Treasurer of Armagh in 1667;"Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3" Cotton, H. p358 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 and a prebendary of Derry in 1670."Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3 " Cotton, H. p341/2 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 He was Dean of Dromore from 1673 to 1681."Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3 " Cotton, H. p292 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 He became Bishop of Killala and Achonry in 1681"Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 4 " Cotton, H. p71 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 but translated to Raphoe a year later."Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3" Cotton, H. p351 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 He spent 12 years at Raphoe before being translated again to Kilmore."Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3 " Cotton, H. p168 Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878 He was summoned to attend the short-lived Patriot Parliament called by James II of England in 1689. He died on 24 February 1699 and was buried at St Peter, Dublin."The register of the parish of St. Peter, Dublin, 1669–1761" p 458Parish Register Society of Dublin, William Pollard & co, 1911

He married Mary Povey at Saint Michan, Dublin on 29 May 1672,[https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/844000:9904 William Smyth in The Ireland, Select Marriages,1619–1898]. FHL Film Number: 824048. Accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription site on 7 March 2022. daughter of Sir John Povey, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and Elizabeth Folliott. They had three sons and four daughters.Papers of the Family of Smyth of Barbavilla

He acquired large estates in County Westmeath. Some of these were inherited by his eldest son Ralph, a barrister of Gray's Inn, who spent much of his life in England, but Ranaghan and Collinstown passed to his third son William. Another son, James, was Archdeacon of Meath. The family home, Barbavilla Manor, belonged to the Smyth family for two centuries.Papers of the Family of Smyth of Barbavilla

His episcopal papers are a valuable source of information on the Church of Ireland after 1660, and in particular on his conflict with the Presbyterian Church in County Cavan.