ORRERY, ROGER BOYLE, 1ST EARL OF, LORD BOYLE, BARON ...

born April 25, 1621, Waterford, Ire. died Oct. 16, 1679, Castlemartyr, Ire. Irish magnate and author prominent during the English Civil Wars, Commonwealth, and Restoration periods. Boyle took the Parliamentary side in the Civil Wars and became a confidential adviser of Oliver Cromwell; yet, when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, he also became a popular member of the king's circle as a poet and playwright. He wrote Parthenissa (1676), a romance in the French style, and introduced rhymed heroic drama into England. Created Earl of Orrery in 1660, he was made a privy councillor and lord president of the council of Munster in the same year. In 1669 he successfully defended himself before Parliament on charges of having tried to seize the lord lieutenantship of Ireland.