Author: Macdonnell, Alexander
Biography:
MACDONNELL, Alexander (1794-1875: DIB)
He was born in Belfast, the elder son of a physician, James MacDonnell, and his wife Elizabeth Clarke. (In some records, the name is given as McDonnell.) He had a very successful academic career as first a scholarship student at Westminster School, London (1809-13), then a prize-winning student at Christ Church, Oxford (Student 1813-26, BA 1816, MA 1820). He entered Lincoln’s Inn in 1817 and was called to the bar in 1824, but found himself unsuited to the barrister’s role: he is said to have been so sensitive that he broke down in tears when pleading a case in the House of Lords. He returned to Ireland and settled in Dublin, where he became an effective civil servant, acting as chief clerk to Lord Morpeth, Chief Secretary for Ireland (1835-9) and then as resident commissioner of the Board of National Education (1839-71). He was made a baronet in 1872 following his retirement. In 1826 he married a widow, Barbara (Montgomery) Staples of co. Antrim, presumably in Ireland but no record has been found. There were no children. She predeceased him in 1865; he died on 21 Jan. 1875 at 32 Fitzwilliam St., Dublin, and was buried at Kilsharvan, near Drogheda. (DIB 4 Feb. 2023; ODNB 4 Feb. 2023; Alumni Oxonienses)