‘History of the City of Dublin,’ a valuable work, in which he was aided by the researches of James Whitelaw [q. v.] and John Warburton [q. v.] It appeared in two large quarto volumes in 1815. In 1820—during which year he received a certificate of diploma of M.D. from the Royal College, Aberdeen, as well as a grace for the degree of LL.D. from Trinity College, Dublin—Walsh accepted the offer of the chaplaincy to the British embassy at Constantinople, remaining in that post for some years, during which time he made many extensive expeditions through Turkey and other parts of Asia. Having obtained a medical degree, he practised as a physician on various occasions while in the more remote parts of that continent. From Constantinople he went to the embassy at St. Petersburg, to which he had been appointed chaplain, but only remained there a little while, proceeding in 1828 to Rio de Janeiro. His investigations of the extent of the slave trade in Brazil led to his being placed on the committee of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery. On his return to England in 1831 he was again sent to Constantinople. He finally settled in Ireland about 1835, and was given the living of Kilbride, co. Wicklow, exchanging it in 1839 for that of Finglas, where he died on 30 June 1852. By his wife Ann, daughter of John Bayly, he was father of John Edward Walsh [q. v.]
He wrote largely for the annuals in the thirties, and then and later for the ‘Dublin University Magazine.’ His works include the following:
- ‘An Essay on Ancient Coins, Medals, and Gems, as illustrating the History of Christianity in the Early Ages,’ 1828, 12mo; 3rd edit. 1830.
- ‘Narrative of a Journey from Constantinople to England,’ 1828, 8vo; 4th edit. London, 1839; it was translated into French in 1828.
- ‘Notices of Brazil in 1828–9,’ London, 1830; Boston (U.S.A.), 1831.
- ‘Residence at Constantinople during the Greek and Turkish Revolutions,’ London, 1836, 2 vols.; another edit. 1838.
- ‘Constantinople and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor,’ illustrated by Allom, London [1839?], 2 vols. 4to.
Also a paper on ‘The Plants of Constantinople’ in ‘Transactions of Horticultural Society,’ vi. 32.
[Walsh's Fingal and its Churches, 1887; Dublin Univ. Mag. 1840, vol. i.; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Britten and Boulger's British Botanists.]
WALSH, WILLIAM (1512?–1577), bishop of Meath, was born about 1512 at or near Waterford according to Ware, but more probably at Dunboyne, co. Meath. Possibly he was the ‘Prior Walsh,’ son of William Walsh, standard-bearer to Thomas Fitzgerald, and brother of Robert Walsh, servant to Lord Leonard Grey [q. v.], who, with other members of the family, was involved in Grey's alleged treason in 1540 (see Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, vols. xv.–xvi. passim). This William Walsh was perhaps the ‘late prior of Ballyandreyhett’ or ‘Ballyndrohyd’ who on 11 July 1545 was granted a pension of 6l. 13s. 4d. (Cal. Fiants, Henry VIII, Nos. 406, 462); another William Walsh, ‘a conventual person’ of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, was granted a pension of 40s. on 10 March 1539–40 (ib. No. 94). In any case the future bishop became a Cistercian, and, according to Wood, he spent some time with the Cistercians at Oxford, becoming a noted theologian. He graduated D.D., but whether he obtained the degree at Oxford or was granted it by the pope is uncertain. He is also said to have lived at Bective Abbey, co. Meath, until its dissolution. Several of that name are mentioned in the ‘Calendar of Fiants’ during Edward VI's reign, but it is impossible to identify any of them with the future bishop. He had, however, acquired some reputation before the end of the reign, and soon after Mary's accession he was commissioned to visit the diocese of Meath and deprive all married clergy. Among these was the bishop, Edward Staples [q. v.], and Walsh was nominated his successor by Cardinal Pole in virtue of his legatine authority. The temporalities were restored to him on 18 Oct. 1554, though, as he stated in his petition, his consecration had been prevented by his duties as commissioner. Nor was he papally confirmed until 1564; in the papal registers the delay is ascribed to Walsh's imprisonment, but that did not begin until Elizabeth's reign.
Walsh, however, commenced at once to exercise his episcopal functions, and was a constant attendant at the Irish privy council (P. C. Register in Hist. MSS. Comm. 15th Rep. App. pt. iii.). On 3 July 1556 he was placed on the commission of the peace for co. Meath, and on 8 Aug. following on that for the government of the city and county of Dublin during the lord-deputy's absence. On 3 Dec. he was also put on a commission for the restoration of church property. On 1 June 1558 he was again appointed commissioner for the government of Dublin, and on 3 Sept. to examine into a dispute about some monastic lands between the friars minor of Trim and Sir George Stanley (Cal. Fiants, Mary, Nos. 113, 159, 160, 181, 222, 241). He continued in possession of his see and in attendance on the privy council after Elizabeth's accession. In May 1559 he was made a commissioner of musters. When, however, the oath of supremacy was
