Henry Staunton was born at Hill House, Kellymount, Paulstown, County Kilkenny, around 1746.
In 1787, Staunton built a sizeable church on the later site of Carlow Cathedral.
[2] With the closing of the seminaries in France during the Revolution, in 1793, Bishop Daniel Delany, of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, founded a diocesan College at Carlow.
In 1811 he helped the Presentation Sisters set up in Carlow, by giving them money to purchase a house.
Dean Staunton died on 2 September 1814 initially he was buried in his own parish church but around 1828 his remains were re-interred in Carlow College cemetery.