The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume IX. From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift.
§ 5. Swift Vicar of Laracor
He was, however, presented to the living of Laracor, near Trim, with two other small livings, together with the prebend of Durlaven, in St. Patrick’s, and these brought in an income of some £230 a year. Laracor had a congregation of about fifteen persons; but he was often in Dublin and, through his friendship with Lady Berkeley and her daughters, soon became well known there. He suggested to Esther Johnson that she and her friend Rebecca Dingley, who, in some way, was related to the Temple family, might, with advantage, live in Ireland, and the ladies took his advice. Swift was now thirty-four, Esther Johnson a young woman of twenty. Everything was done to avoid any occasion of scandal. When Swift was absent, the ladies used his rooms in Dublin; when he was there, they took separate lodgings, and he was never with Esther Johnson except in the presence of a third person.