Molloy, Charles (1690–1767), dramatist and journalist, was born in Dublin in 1690, son of Hugh Molloy; nothing is known of his mother. He is believed to have been educated at TCD, though no records survive to confirm this. Moving to London, he decided on a career writing for the stage, and soon produced three indifferent plays. In 1715 his comedy ‘The perplexed couple’ was performed three times at Lincoln's Inn Fields, but without much success. Undaunted, he followed this with ‘The coquet’ (1718), another comedy, which received a better response at the same venue; it was revived at the Haymarket in 1793. His final play was ‘The half pay officers’ (1720), a comedy that borrowed two characters from Shakespeare – Macmorris and Fluellen – and relied heavily on Sir William Davenant's ‘Love and honour’. Running for seven nights, its success was chiefly due to the presence of the elderly Peg Fryer, a renowned actress from the reign of Charles II, in one of the lead roles.
Recognising his limitations in this field, he retired from dramatic writing and turned to journalism. A whig in politics, he became the principal writer for Fog's Weekly Journal in 1728, and from 1737 to 1739 he was the proprietor and leader writer of Common Sense, a collection of political, satirical, and humorous articles, which supported the Jacobite cause. Unlike his dramatic writing, Molloy's political journalism won praise: it was hailed as displaying ‘great depth of understanding, an ample command of language, and clearness of reason’ (quoted in Webb). Despite the offer of substantial financial inducements, he refused on political grounds to work for the first lord of the treasury, Sir Robert Walpole. After marrying a wealthy heiress in 1742, Molloy appears to have withdrawn from public life. In his final years he decided on a career in the law, and in 1764 entered Gray's Inn, London; he had entered Middle Temple in 1716 but had not continued his studies. He died 16 July 1767 at his home at St Anne's, Soho, in London, and was buried at All Saints, Edmonton, Middlesex.
He married (July 1742) Sarah Duffkin, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire; they had no children.