Henry Joseph Monck Mason

Henry Joseph Monk Mason (15 July 1778 – 14 April 1858) was an Irish writer who, although not a native speaker, specialised in Irish-language activities. He was a founder of The Irish Society, dedicated to spreading the Scripture in Irish, and a campaigner for prison reform. Life He was born at Powerscourt, County Wicklow, the son of Lieutenant-colonel Henry Monck Mason of Kildare Street, Dublin, by his second wife, Jane, only daughter of Bartholomew Mosse, M.D. After attending schools at Portarlington and Dublin he entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1793, was elected scholar in 1796, and on graduating B.A. in 1798 was awarded the gold medal. At college he was contemporary with Thomas Moore the poet, and afterwards met him during visits to Kilkenny. In 1800 he was called to the Irish bar, but did not seek practice. Instead he held the post of examiner to the prerogative court. In 1814 he was appointed assistant librarian of King's Inns, and became chief librarian in 1815. In conjunction with Bishop Daly, Mason founded, in 1818, the "Irish Society for Promoting the Education of the Native Irish through the Medium of Their Own Language". He acted as its secretary for many years, besides writing several tracts in furtherance of its objectives. The same year he assisted in organising an association for the improvement of prisons and of prison discipline in Ireland, and in 1819 he wrote a pamphlet on the objects of the association. He likewise visited the prisons with a view to reclaiming first offenders.