Swift was sympathetic to the plight of Irish Catholics under English rule, and wrote frequently in defense of their cause. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, and in 1714 he settled permanently in Ireland. In 1713 Swift was appointed as the Dean of St. A Tale of a Tub (1704), his first major prose work, mocked intellectual pedants and religious fanatics alike. He gained notoriety for his impassioned essays on religion and all matters of domestic and foreign policy, and for his works of biting satire. During this period he became increasingly invested in English politics. As a young man, Swift shuttled between Ireland and England often. He attended Trinity College, Dublin, received a Master of Arts degree from Oxford, in England, and was eventually ordained as an Anglican priest. Despite this, and thanks to the generosity of a few relatives, Swift received the best education possible in Ireland. His father, a Protestant Englishman who moved to Dublin during a period of increasing English settlement in Ireland, died just months before Swift was born.
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