Troy, John Thomas (1739–1823)

Irish Dominican friar, born in Dublin; bishop of Ossory 1776–86 and archbishop of Dublin 1786–1823. He ruled his problem-ridden archdiocese with energy but little tact, and is remembered for political conservatism and denunciation of the United Irishmen. Like many prelates, he sternly criticized democratic aspirations, ‘the French disease’. His policy was collaboration with government even when this meant public silence on repression. His pragmatism discouraged many of his priests and laity.

Troy's attitudes were more complex and have received less than full justice. His Duties of Christian Citizens (1793), a call ‘to fear God and honour the King’, dismayed many Catholics. Yet he was rewarded for this work by government support of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, founded in 1795. His closing years were marked by tensions, mitigated by his auxiliary, Daniel Murray, who later succeeded him. By 1823 Troy was a spent force.