Plunket, Thomas Span

Plunket, Thomas Span an Irish lord and prelate, was a son of William Conyngham Plunket, the great Irish chancellor, and was born in 1792. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and, after having held various preferments, was appointed dean of Down in 1831, and eight years later was raised to the bishopric of Tuam. He was consecrated at Christ Church, Dublin, by the archbishop of Dublin, assisted by the bishops of Derry and Cashel; was appointed ecclesiastical commissioner in 1851, succeeded his father as second baron Plunket in 1853, and was patron of ninety-five livings in his united dioceses of Tuam. Killala, and Achonry. According to Charles's Church Directory, the gross value of the see is £5265, and the net value £4039. He did not confine his attention and care to the members of the Church of England in his diocese, but he threw himself into the missionary work among the Roman Catholics with remarkable zeal and energy. No opposition (and he had much to encounter) could daunt or obstacles deter him, and to his exertions are due, in no small degree, those tangible and indisputable results, in the shape of new churches, schools, and congregations of converts, which remain a memorial of his piety and zeal. He died at Tourenakeady, Galway, Oct. 19, 1866. See Appleton's Annual Cyclop. 6, 600, Ch. Journal, vol. 11; Men of the Times, s.v. (J. H. W.)