Dillon, Wentworth, 4th Earl Of Roscommon

(1633-1685)

   Born in Roscommon County, in Ireland, brought up a Protestant, he was educated in Yorkshire and at the Protestant University in Caen, Normandy. His lands and titles were given back after the Restoration, and he took his seat in the Irish parliament by proxy on 10 July 1661. He was involved in disputes about land in England and in Ireland. He was awarded two honorary degrees: one from Cambridge in 1680 and one from Oxford in 1683. The earl had no children and the title consequently devolved on his uncle. Two of his publications: Art of Poetry, 1640 (a translation of Horace, with editions in 1684 and 1709). Essay on Translated Verse, 1684, enlarged 1685. Some of his poems: "A Paraphrase of The Prayer of Jeremiah," "A Prospect of Death," "An Ode on Solitude," "On Mr. Dryden's Religio Laici," "On the Death of a Lady's Dog," "Paraphrase on Psalm 148," "Song on a Young Lady who Sung Finely," "The Ghost of the Old House of Commons."

   Sources: County Roscommon, IrelandGenWeb Project (http://www.rootsweb.com/Dillon, Wentworth{, 4th Earl Of Roscommon}irlrosco/). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. ChadwyckHealey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/ search/epoetry/author.html). English Poetry: A Poetic Record, from Chaucer to Yeats. David Hopkins, ed. Routledge, 1990. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.