Concanen studied
law in
Ireland but travelled to
London as a young man, and began writing political pamphlets in support of the
Whig government. He also wrote for newspapers including the
London Journal and
The Speculatist. He published a volume of poems, some of which were original works and some translations. He wrote a
dramatic comedy,
Wexford Wells, staged at Dublin's
Smock Alley Theatre. A collection of his essays from
The Speculatist was published in 1732. His skills attracted the attention of the
Whig statesman
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle. In June 1732 the
Duke appointed him
attorney-general of
Jamaica. He held the post for over sixteen years. While in
Jamaica, he married the daughter of a local
planter. After his tenure in Jamaica was completed, he sailed back to London, intending to retire to Ireland, but died of a
fever in London shortly after his return. He criticized
Alexander Pope and was rewarded with a passage in Pope's
Dunciad ridiculing him as "A cold, long-winded native of the deep" (Dunciad, ii. 299–304). There is also well-known letter about him written by
William Warburton, who comments on how Concanen helped him. ==
An Essay Against Too Much Reading==