This short Life of Jonathan Swift was written to coincide with the Tenth International Congress on the Enlightenment, held in Dublin, 25–31 July 1999. At an early stage in the planning of that event the National Library of Ireland agreed to put on an exhibition about Swift and his contemporaries, with the emphasis on his life and his friends rather than on his writings. Radio Telefís Éireann subsequently commissioned a documentary about Swift. These three events—book, exhibition and documentary film—share a common theme and purpose. They reflect my own views on Swift and recognize that in the events of his life there remain many unresolved questions.
I would like to thank particularly Andrew Carpenter, whose guidance and support in writing the book was considerable. Research for it was carried out by Helen Moss, whose work in the vast field of material on Swift and his period has been of inestimable value to me. Brendan O’Donoghue, Director of the National Library of Ireland, responded with immediate enthusiasm to the idea of an exhibition, and has been very helpful, together with members of his staff, Catherine Fahy, Colette O’Daly, Donal O’Luanaigh, Sylvia Lynam, John Farrell, Hyder Abbas, Sandra McDermott and Anita Joyce. For all three projects we borrowed from the National Gallery of Ireland, and I would like to thank the Board of Governors and Guardians for their permission, and Marie Bourke, Marie McFeely, Elizabeth Player and Niamh McGuinne for their practical help. Muriel McCarthy, Librarian of Marsh’s Library, was very helpful, as were the administration staff of St Patrick’s Cathedral, and of the Deanery. In particular I would like to thank the Dean-elect, the Right Reverend Robert McCarthy, and Kate Manning, the archivist. I was also helped by Dr Anthony Clare, Medical Director of St Patrick’s Hospital. David Woolley has been supportive of this work, and I was helped by the Reverend Victor Griffin, Joe McMinn and Bob Mahony.
I owe a special debt to Maeve Binchy and Tony Sweeney, to Andrew Bonar Law, Jane Fenlon, Marie-Therese Nasmyth, Hermann Real, Robert Folkenflik and Maurice Craig. Jonathan Williams has been a help to the project, and to me. I am also grateful to Caxton Prints, Grosvenor Prints, Joslyn McDiarmuid, and Mr and Mrs Berkeley of Berkeley Castle. I am very much in the debt of Virginia Cardwell Moore and Polly Hutchison, and also Mandy O’Connell for help with research. Antony Farrell of the Lilliput Press accepted a tight schedule for the book and was an enthusiast for its content; Brendan Barrington edited it with an astonishing grasp of difficult material and great skill in accommodating my arguments while at the same time pressing his own. In terms of the overall project I would also like to thank Ian Graham, Tim Lawless, Brendan Campbell, Patricia Roche, Joe Mulholland, Mike Kelly, Fintan Ryan, Eamon Hayes, Martin O’Brien, Jean Feeney, Oonagh Young, Michael Kenny, Brother Finian at Celbridge Abbey, Mary O’Brien and Tony Adderley, Bill Simpson, Librarian, Trinity College Library, Ian Ross of the English Department at Trinity, Patricia Moriarty and Liam Belton of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Superintendant John Mulderrig and Sergeant Martin Pelo of Kevin Street Garda Station, and Tony O’Shaughnessy at Dublin Castle.