John Duncan Craig

Who was John Duncan Craig?

John Duncan Craig was an Irish poet, writer and Church of Ireland clergyman who was also an authority on the language and literature of Provence.

He was born in Dublin, son of John Craig of Dulsholm, Scotland, and Horsehead, County Cork, and Agnes Maria Taylor, of Edendale, County Dublin. He spent part of his youth in counties Sligo and Cork, where his father worked as a bank manager.

He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin where he graduated B.A. in 1851, M.A in 1857 and B.D. and D.D. in 1869. He was ordained Deacon in Dublin in 1853 and became a chaplain in the Irish prison system. As Vicar of Temple Breda, County Cork, he was chaplain to the garrison of Camden, and held also an appointment as chaplain to the Church of Ireland convicts stationed there. In the 1850s and 1860s he held a number of posts as curate in St. John's, Dublin, Carrigaline, Killanully, Passage West, Youghal and afterwards became the last Vicar of Kinsale.

While still young he had to travel to the south of France for health reasons and while there became well acquainted with the language and literature of the region.