Thomas Sheridan was an Anglican divine, essayist, playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, schoolmaster

Schoolmaster

A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...

 and translator. He was born in Cavan

Cavan

Cavan is the county town of County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The town lies in the north central part of Ireland, near the border with Northern Ireland...

, Ireland, the son of James Sheridan, and grandson of the Reverend Dennis Sheridan. Two of his uncles were William Sheridan, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh

Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh

The Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Kilmore and Ardagh in the Province of Armagh. The Diocese of Kilmore comprised most of County Cavan and parts of counties Leitrim, Fermanagh, Meath and Sligo...

 and Patrick Sheridan, Bishop of Cloyne

Bishop of Cloyne

The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title which takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it is a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics....

. After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, he married Elizabeth MacFadden and the couple first lived in Dublin in King James's Mint. He was father of Thomas Sheridan, a celebrated actor and elocutionist who was the father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...

. He was friends with Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

, was his principal collaborator and wrote a biography about him.