King, William (1650-05-01 - 1729-05-08)

William King, son of James King, was born in Antrim town on 1 May 1650. He was educated at the Royal School at Dungannon from 1662 and entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1667. He graduated B.A. in 1670 and was admitted the following year to deacon’s orders as chaplain to John Parker, archbishop of Tuam; in 1673, he was appointed prebendary of Kilmainmore, co. Mayo. He proceeded M.A. in 1673 and was ordained as priest in 1674, resigning the prebend and taking up the provostship of the cathedral of St. Mary, Tuam in 1676. He was appointed chancellor of St. Patrick’s and minister of St. Werburgh’s in 1679. During his time at St. Werburgh’s he published several controversial texts in response to a Catholic apologia written by the former dean of Derry. King was appointed chaplain to the lord deputy, the earl of Arran, in 1683 and chaplain to the lord lieutenant, the duke of Ormond, in 1684. He received his B.D. and D.D. from TCD in 1688, and was installed as dean of St. Patrick’s the following year. While serving as guardian for the diocese of Dublin in the absence of archbishop Francis Marsh, King was arrested by Jacobite forces and imprisoned in Dublin Castle from July to December 1689. Under the new monarchs, King was consecrated as bishop of Derry in 1691, where he implemented reform initiatives. King published “The State of the Protestants of Ireland under the Late King James's Government” (1691) which cemented him as the leading Irish defender of the revolution, and also produced several tracts in 1694 and 1695 against the Presbyterians of Derry. In 1703 he was appointed archbishop of Dublin, during which time he gained a reputation for strictness. As archbishop, King was heavily involved in politics and became a leading spokesperson for the established church and the constitutional rights of Ireland. He never married and died at the episcopal palace of St Sepulchre on 8 May 1729; he was buried in St. Mary’s Church, Donnybrook.