Author: Duigenan, Patrick
Biography:
DUIGENAN, Patrick (1735-1816: DIB)
He was born on 17 Mar. 1735 in County Londonderry and was almost certainly the son of Hugh Duigenan and his wife Priscilla Lake. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin (BA 1757, MA 1761, LL.B. 1763, and LL.D. 1765) and was appointed a Fellow in 1761. In 1766 he was made the Regius Professor of Laws, and he was called to the Irish bar in 1767. Violently opposed to the appointment in 1771 of John Hely-Hutchinson as Provost of Trinity, he published a strongly-worded pamphlet, Lachrymae Academicae, in 1777. The three “Pranceriana” books included in the database are not conclusively known to include contributions by him but they are also about the controversial appointment; Hely-Hutchinson is referred to as “Prancer” because he introduced dancing to Trinity. Duigenan resigned his fellowship, becoming Professor of English and Feudal Law, and developed a successful legal career, moving steadily through various government posts to become a judge. He was elected MP for Leighlin in County Carlow (1790-97) and for Armagh (1797-1800). Pro-Union and opposed to any concessions for Catholics, he served in the united parliament in Westminster as MP for Armagh (1801-16). In 1801 he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Orange Order. Duigenan was twice married: first, in about 1782, to Angelina Cusack (d 1799) and, second, in 1807 to a widow, Esther Heppenstall. He had no children and, after his sudden death at home in Westminster on 11 Apr. 1816, his estate was inherited by Angelina’s nephew, Sir William Cusack Smith (q.v.). (DIB 3 Feb. 2022; ODNB 3 Feb. 2022; ancestry.co.uk 3 Feb. 2022) SR