Swift, Jonathan

Jonathan Swift, born in Dublin in 1667, was a writer, satirist, Anglican clergyman in Kilroot and eventually Dean of St Patricks. Swift wrote numerous pamphlets on political and ecclesiastical topics. Politically, he initially fought on the side of the Whigs; in 1710 he went over to the Tories and gained great political influence under their leadership, which, however, waned after their fall. Thereafter he campaigned exclusively on Irish issues. When his mistress Stella died in 1728, his life darkened. He suffered from misanthropy and fear of mental illness. During the last years of his life he was blind and deaf as a result of a brain tumour. In 1745 he died in Dublin in mental derangement.