Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin in 1667. He spent most of his childhood in Ireland until, aged twenty-one, he moved to England, where he found employment as secretary to the diplomat Sir William Temple. On Temple’s death in 1699, Swift returned to Dublin to pursue a career in the Church. By this time he was also publishing in a variety of genres, and between 1704 and 1729 he produced a string of brilliant satires, of which Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal are the best known. Between 1713 and 1742 he was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and he was buried there upon his death in 1745.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin in 1667. He spent most of his childhood in Ireland until, aged twenty-one, he moved to England, where he found employment as secretary to the diplomat Sir William Temple. On Temple’s death in 1699, Swift returned to Dublin to pursue a career in the Church. By thi...