Jonathan Swift ( 30 November 1667 -- 19 October 1745 ) was an Anglo-Irish satirist , essayist , political pamphleteer ( first for Whigs then for the Tories ) , poet and cleric . He became Dean of St. Patrick 's Cathedral in Dublin . Jonathan Swift ( 30 November 1667 â `` 19 October 1745 ) was an Anglo-Irish satirist , essayist , political pamphleteer ( first for the Whigs , then for the Tories ) , poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick 's Cathedral , Dublin .