Peter Talbot (bishop)

Peter Talbot (1620 – November 1680) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin from 1669 to his death in prison. He was a victim of the mythical Popish Plot.

Talbot was born at Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland, in 1620. He was the second of the eight sons of Sir William Talbot and his wife Alison (née Netterville). At an early age he entered the Society of Jesus in Portugal. He was ordained a priest at Rome, and for some years thereafter held the chair of theology at the College of Antwerp. In the meantime in the British Isles during the Commonwealth period, Charles II and the royal family were compelled to seek refuge in Europe. Throughout the period of the king's exile, Talbot's brothers were attached to the royal court. The eldest brother, Sir Robert Talbot, 2nd Baronet, had held a high commission under James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde in the army in Ireland and was reckoned among the king's most confidential advisers. A younger brother, Richard Talbot, later Earl of Tyrconnel, was also devoted to the cause of the exiled monarch and stood high in royal favour.

Peter Talbot himself was constantly in attendance on Charles II, and his court. On account of his knowledge of the continental languages, he was repeatedly dispatched on private embassies to Lisbon, Madrid, and Paris. On the return of the king to London, Talbot received an appointment as Queen's Almoner, but the Clarendon and Ormond faction, which was then predominant, feared his influence with the king. He was accused of conspiring with the aid of four Jesuits to assassinate the Duke of Ormond, and he was forced to seek safety by resigning his position at Court and retiring to the Continent. The king allowed him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. Before his return to England, Talbot had, with the approval of the General of the Jesuits, severed his connection with the Society. He was appointed Archbishop of Dublin on 11 January 1669, and was consecrated at Antwerp, assisted by the Bishops of Ghent and Ferns.

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