Background
Nicholas French was born at Wexford in 1604.
Nicholas French was born at Wexford in 1604.
Nicholas French was educated at Street Anthony's College, Leuven, and returning to Ireland became a priest at Wexford.
On his returning to Ireland Nicholas French became a priest at Wexford, and before 1646 was appointed bishop of Ferns. Having taken a prominent part in the political disturbances of this period, French deemed it prudent to leave Ireland in 1651, and the remainder of his life was passed on the continent of Europe. He acted as coadjutor to the archbishops of Santiago de Compostella and Paris, and to the bishop of Ghent, and died at Ghent on the 23rd of August 1678. In 1676 he published his attack on James Butler, marquess of Ormonde, entitled "The Unkinde Desertor of Loyall Men and True Frinds, " and shortly afterwards "The Bleeding Iphigenia. "