William F. Cunningham, Jr. is a retired Professor of English, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Academic Vice President, from Creighton University in Omaha.

Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Dublin to Jonathan Swift (1640-1667), who worked at the King's Inns in Dublin, and Abigail Ericke (1640-1710), who was the daughter of James Ericke, vicar of Thompson. Swift was born seven months after the death of his father, and he was raised primarily by a nursemaid and an uncle due to financial strains on the family. He was educated at Kilkenney College and later at Trinity College, Dublin, where he barely received his B.A. due to poor academic performance. In 1689, Swift and his cousin Thomas left Dublin for Protestant England, in order to avoid political and religious unrest in Ireland. In Leicestershire, Swift was briefly reunited with his mother. While in England Swift received his M.A. from Oxford in 1692. After returning to Ireland, he was ordained deacon in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin in 1694. In 1699, Swift obtained a position at St. Patrick's Cathedral, where he was made Dean in 1713.

Swift began publishing poems anonymously in Ireland in 1691. His A Tale of the Tub was published in London, again issued anonymously, while he was living in England. Between 1714 and 1724, Swift wrote a number of Irish tracts, poetry, and most of the book that would come to be known to modern readers as Gulliver’s Travels. Transcribed in full in 1725, the “Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World” text was published in 1726. Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels enjoyed tremendous literary success in his lifetime. Swift died in 1745.

Sources:

McMinn, Joseph. "Swift, Jonathan." Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2009. (Accessed April 6, 2020).

Probyn, Clive. "Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.(Accessed April 6, 2020).