Henry Brooke, an Irish novelist and dramatist, born at Rantavan in 1706, died in Dublin, Oct. 10, 1783. A poem, " Universal Beauty," introduced him to Swift and others, including the prince of Wales (father of George III.), to support whom in his antagonist position to his father Mr. Brooke is said to have written, in 1738> the tragedy of " Gustavus Vasa." The licenser of plays, believing that it was directed against Sir Robert Walpole, forbade its performance after it had been rehearsed at Drury Lane theatre; but the play was published, and brought the author £1,000. In 1745, when the rebellion broke out in Scotland, he wrote the " Farmer's Letters," which were believed to have greatly influenced the Irish against taking up arms for the Stuarts. An opera, called "Jack the Giant Queller," which was to have been produced soon after the close of the rebellion, was prohibited by the Irish government, who feared that it might be taken as a reflection on the duke of Cumberland, but he obtained £800 by its publication; at the same time he was appointed barrackmaster of Mullingar by Lord Chesterfield, the viceroy. In 1752 his tragedy, " The Earl of Essex," was successfully played in Dublin, and in 1762 at Drury Lane theatre. His novel entitled " The Fool of Quality " has had considerable celebrity.

He also translated a part of Tasso's Gerumlemme liberata.