He was born in Castlerea, County Roscommon in 1750, entered Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 1766, and was elected Fellow and took orders in 1775.
The Gentleman's Magazine says: "The versatility of his talents, the acuteness of his intellect, and his intense application to study were happily blended with a native unassuming modesty, a simplicity of manners, unaffected, and infinitely engaging; a cheerfulness and vivacity; … a firm and inflexible spirit of honour and integrity."
One of the pleasures he hoped to derive from a country residence, on his appointment to the bishopric, was the opportunity to pursue his botanical studies; but shortly after his elevation, symptoms of cancer developed themselves.
Bishop Young contributed largely to the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, of which he was one of the earliest members, and left some mathematical treatises in manuscript.
[2] Young married Anne, daughter of Captain Bennet Cuthbertson, and left several children.