Life and family Bunworth was born into a farming family in
Freemount, near
Newmarket,
County Cork in 1704. Both of his parents were also born and raised in Newmarket. His mother was Elizabeth Bunworth (née Philpot), granddaughter of Sir
Robert Travers (MP), great granddaughter of
Richard Boyle, the
Archbishop of Tuam, and an older relative of Irish patriot
John Philpot Curran. His father was Richard Bunworth (d. 1727), a former colonel in the
Williamite army who fought in both the
Battle of the Boyne and the
Siege of Limerick. Charles was the second of at least three sons. He had an old brother Peter (b. 1699) and a younger brother Richard. He was home-schooled by a family tutor, Mr. Murdock, and enrolled in
Trinity College Dublin on 4 April 1723 as a
pensioner, indicating that his family was middle class, of moderate means. He achieved his BA in 1727, and graduated with an
M.A. in Divinity Studies in 1730. He moved to
Cloyne and was ordained a
deacon that same year. On 15 March 1731 he was fully ordained as a priest in the
Church of Ireland. He served as the rector of Knocktemple in northern County Cork until 1736, after which he was appointed the
prebendary of
Cooline until 1740. He became the
Vicar of Bregoge in 1740, a position he held for the remainder of his life. In 1742, Bunworth married Mary Delacour of
Cork, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth (b. 1744) and Mary (b. 1 July 1746). Bunworth's daughter Mary married Croker Dillon, and their eldest daughter Maria was the mother of
Thomas Crofton Croker, thus making Bunworth Croker's great-grandfather. Bunworth was a learned scholar and had an intimate knowledge of the
Classics. Prior to
John Philpot Curran's entry into Trinity College he was examined by Bunworth, who was so impressed by the young Curran that the reverend gave him financial assistance for his studies. Bunworth also tutored
Barry Yelverton, who became a prominent lawyer and politician. Bunworth was renowned for his skill as a harpist, his knowledge of
Irish music and his patronage of bards and harpers. A fluent speaker of Irish, between 1730 and 1750 Bunworth was chosen five times as President of the local
cúirt éigse (meeting of the bards), which was held every 3 years in
Bruree,
County Limerick. Other positions he held within the Church of Ireland included rector of Buttevant (1742–72), the town in which he and his family resided, vicar of Tullylease (1748–72) and vicar of Kilbrin (1764–72). He died on 14 September 1772 and was buried in the churchyard of Saint John's, Buttevant. Affectionately known as "
the minister" by the area's
Catholic residents, he enjoyed cross-community admiration and the locals looked to Bunworth "in matters of difficulty and in seasons of distress, confident of receiving from him the advice and assistance that a father would afford to his children". According to Crofton Croker, he was "a man of unaffected piety, and of sound learning; pure in heart, and benevolent in intention, by the rich he was respected and by the poor beloved."
Patronage of the arts Bunworth's interest in, and patronage of, traditional culture extended to both
bardic poetry and harp music. However, the two art forms can be seen as interrelated. As Professor Pádraig Breatnach notes "Perhaps the most important feature of Irish poetry in the eighteenth century is that it is poetry in song". Most poetry of this time was recited with an
air and often accompanied by music. The
cúirt éigse which Bunworth attended were chances for poets and musicians to meet, perform and exchange notes. The harp was the aristocratic instrument of
Gaelic Ireland, and harpers enjoyed a high social status which was codified in
Brehon Law. The patronage of harpers was adopted by
Norman and
British settlers in Ireland until the late 18th century, although their standing in society was greatly diminished with the introduction of the
English class system. In his biography of
Turlough O'Carolan, historian Donal O'Sullivan writes: This observation very much aligns with Charles Bunworth, a Protestant rector born of a Williamite father. Apart from his own musical skill, Bunworth was renowned for his hospitable reception and entertainment of the class of impoverished travelling musicians. In return for his generosity they wrote songs of blessing and praise about him and his two daughters, whose charms were greatly celebrated by the harpers. When news of his death spread, many of these musicians visited his house to pay their respects, with some depositing harps in the loft of his granary as a final gesture of gratitude. After he died, Bunworth's prized collection of harps was largely destroyed when the family moved to Cork for a temporary change of scenery, leaving a servant in charge of their Buttevant home. Ignorant of their value, the servant broke apart the great majority of these harps and used them as firewood. Among Bunworth's collection was a large
cláirseach, today known as the "Bunworth Harp". The front of the harp bears the inscription "Made by John Kelly, for the Rev. Charles Bunworth, Ballydaniel, 1734". By 1829 the harp was in the possession of Miss Dillon, Bunworth's granddaughter, who was also a skilled harpist. It was then inherited by Thomas Crofton Croker and auctioned off in
London after his death in 1854. It is currently housed in the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and is the only known example of an early wire-strung harp outside of Ireland or Britain. ==The Bunworth Banshee==