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George (Bishop) Berkeley 1685-1753

Born at Dysert Castle, County Kilkenny. He was a philosopher and educationalist whose works include An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. He travelled widely in Europe and in 1724 he was made Bishop of Derry. He then went to America to establish a missionary college in Bermuda. He promoted his ideas there and made gifts to both Yale and Harvard. The University of California, Berkeley, is named after him. He returned to Ireland where he became Bishop of Cloyne. He questioned the economic and social conditions in Ireland in his three volume work – The Querist. He resigned due to ill health in 1752 and went to Oxford where his son was an undergraduate at Christ Church at the time. He is buried in Oxford.   Photos by Orla Bateson

Further information and directions to the grave are to be found in "The End - An Illustrated Guide to the Graves of Irish Writers".  Click here to order a copy of this book