Robert Fowler (archbishop of Dublin)

Robert Fowler (23 December 1724 – 10 October 1801) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman. He served as the Archbishop of Dublin in the Church of Ireland from 1779 until his death in 1801.

Robert Fowler was born on 23 December 1724, and baptized at Skendleby Thorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was the third son of George and Mary Fowler (née Hurst) of Skendleby Thorpe. After an education at Westminster School, he was elected a King’s Scholar in 1744. On 24 May of that year he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1747, a Master of Arts degree in 1751, and a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1764. He married Mildred, eldest daughter (and coheir of her brother, also William) of William Dealtry of Gainsborough, County Lincolnshire, on 29 October 1766. Together, they had one son and two daughters.

An appointment as Chaplain to King George II in 1756 led Robert Fowler to a seat as Dean and Prebendary of Westminster Abbey from 1765 to 1771. A prebend at Westminster was highly sought after by the ecclesiastical establishment. The value of the prebend helped to enrich the salaries of bishops, who retained their prebends at Westminster whilst in another office. Robert Fowler was nominated on 13 June and consecrated on 28 July 1771, Bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora in Ireland. On 22 December 1778, during the administration of Lord Buckingham, he was translated to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin. His letters patent were issued by King George III on 8 January 1779, and on the 13th of the same month he was consecrated and enthroned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, as Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. On the 16th of January, he was consecrated and enthroned at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. The elevation to the Archbishopric of Dublin in 1779 also led him to a seat on the Irish Privy Council. The Irish Privy Council was a private committee of King George III's closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state. In 1783 Robert Fowler was appointed the position of Chancellor of the 'Order of St. Patrick'. The 'Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick', as it is formally known, is a British order of chivalry associated with Ireland and was created by King George III on 5 February 1783.

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