Thomas Kelly
1769–1855 · Ireland · Classical
Irish evangelical preacher, founder of an independent church, and author of 765 hymns, among them 'Look, Ye Saints! The Sight Is Glorious'.
Life
Thomas Kelly was born in 1769 at Kellyville, Queen's County, Ireland, the son of a judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin (1789) and was admitted to the Middle Temple, but gave up law and was ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1792. His evangelical preaching in Dublin was inhibited by the Archbishop in 1794, and he and like-minded friends began preaching elsewhere; by 1803 he had left the established church and founded an independent body of congregations, sometimes called the Kellyites. He was known for generosity to the poor, especially during the Irish famine. He died in Dublin in 1855.
As a Hymn Writer
Kelly published Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture (from 1804) and added to it through many editions. His hymns are evangelical and Christ-centred, strongest on the Passion and on Christ's exaltation and reign. 'Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted' sets Isaiah 53 before the singer; 'Look, Ye Saints! The Sight Is Glorious' and 'The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns' celebrate the crucified Christ now crowned.
In The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Service Book (8)
- Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
- We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died
- Who Is This that Comes from Edom
- The Head That Once was Crowned with Thorns
- Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices
- Look, Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious
- Zion Stands by Hills Surrounded
- Through the Day Thy Love hath Spared Us
Sources: Wikipedia, 'Thomas Kelly (hymn-writer)'.