Biographies A-Z

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Hackett, Felix Edward

Hackett, Felix Edward (1882–1970), physicist, was born 15 August 1882 in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, second son among five sons and three daughters of Daniel Hackett and Jeanie Hackett (née Walsh). He was a student at UCD, and edited the…

Hackett, Francis

Hackett, Francis (1883–1962), novelist, historian, and journalist, was born 21 January 1883 at 34 Patrick St., Kilkenny city, one of six sons and three daughters of John Byrne Hackett, a Kilkenny-born doctor, and Bridget Hackett (née Doheny), daughter of a prosperous farmer of…

Hackett, John Baptist

Hackett, John Baptist (c.1606–1676), Dominican priest and theologian, was born into a very prominent Norman-Irish family at Fethard, Co. Tipperary. He entered the Dominican order and made his profession at Cashel; he then studied in Spain and was ordained deacon and priest at…

Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie')

Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie') (1893–1976), trade unionist, was born 25 July 1893 at 14 Prebend Street, off Constitution Hill in the Dublin north city centre, elder of two daughters of John Hackett, described as a labourer at his marriage (October 1891) but working by Rosie's birth as a…

Hackett, Sir John Winthrop

Hackett, Sir John Winthrop (1848–1916), newspaper owner and editor, politician, and philanthropist, was born 4 February 1848 in Crinken, Co. Dublin, twin of Jane Georgina and third eldest among eight children of the Rev. John Winthrop Hackett, perpetual curate of Crinken, and his…

Hackett, Sir Thomas

Hackett, Sir Thomas (d. 1706), merchant, banker, and Jacobite mayor of Dublin, was the second of two sons of James Hackett, of a family long established in Co. Tipperary. His mother was Alson Hackett, daughter of Jasper White, and he had three sisters. He was engaged in…

Hackett, Thomas

Hackett, Thomas (d. 1697), deprived Church of Ireland bishop of Down and Connor, is said to have been born in England but the date and exact place of his birth and the identity of his parents are unknown. Educated at TCD, where he…

Hadden, George

Hadden, George (1882–1973), medical doctor and historian, was born 9 October 1882 at Richmond Terrace, Wexford town, son of George Hadden, draper and alderman, and Hannah Mary Hadden (née Perrot). The Haddens, a methodist family, were established in Wexford town during the nineteenth…

Haddick, Victor Anderson

Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…

Hadsor, Richard

Hadsor, Richard (d. c.1635), lawyer, was eldest son of Nicholas Hadsor of Keppock, Co. Louth; nothing is known of his mother. He went to Oxford (1587), then transferred to the New Inn, London, before being admitted to the Middle Temple (July 1590). Although he inherited…

Hagan, John

Hagan, John (1873–1930), priest, writer, republican, and college rector, was born near Rathdrum in the parish of Avoca, Co. Wicklow, one of three brothers and three sisters. At least one parent was an Ulster catholic, probably influencing his nationalist sympathies. He was…

Hague, William

Hague, William (1836?–99), architect, was born probably in February 1836 at Cavan, the eldest of the five sons of William Hague (1806?–88), a builder and building materials merchant, and his wife Catherine. After schooling, probably at Kilmore Academy, Co. Cavan, he became an architect…

Haicéad (Hackett), Pádraigín

Haicéad (Hackett), Pádraigín (1610s?–1654), Dominican priest and Gaelic poet, was probably born in the second decade of the seventeenth century, second son of James Hackett FitzPiers and his wife Margaret Kearney, of Baltarsna in the parish of Ballysheehan, Co. Tipperary. ‘Pádraigín’…

Halappanavar, Savita

Halappanavar, Savita (1981–2012), catalyst for change in Irish abortion laws, was born Savita Andanappa Yalagi on 29 September 1981 in Bagalkot, Karnataka province, south-west India, the youngest of three children (two boys, one girl) of Andanappa Yalagi, an electrical engineer with the…

Hales, Seán

Hales, Seán (1880–1922), republican and TD, was born 30 March 1880 in Knocknacurra House, Ballinadee, Bandon, Co. Cork, eldest child of five sons and four daughters of Robert Hales, farmer, and his wife, Mary Fitzgerald, both from Bandon. He was educated at Ballinadee national…

Hales, Thomas (Tom)

Hales, Thomas (Tom) (1892–1966), republican and TD, was born 28 February 1892 in Knocknacurra House, Ballinadee, Bandon, Co. Cork, sixth of nine children (five sons and four daughters) of Robert Hales, farmer, and his wife, Mary Fitzgerald, both from Co. Cork. He was educated at…

Haliday, Alexander Henry

Haliday, Alexander Henry (1727?–1802), physician and public figure in Belfast, was one of several sons of Samuel Haliday (qv), a presbyterian minister at Belfast. Intent on a career as a physician, Alexander Haliday…

Haliday, Alexander Henry

Haliday, Alexander Henry (1806–70), naturalist, was born 21 November 1806 at Holywood, Co. Down, the eldest child of William Haliday (1763–1838), a well-known Belfast physician and a founding subscriber of the Belfast Academical Institute, and his wife Marian (née Webster).…

Haliday, Charles

Haliday, Charles (1789?–1866), banker, bibliophile, and antiquary, was the second of four sons of William Halliday (1754?–1830), who was a native of Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, and an apothecary in Arran Quay, Dublin. The eldest son was…

Haliday (Halliday, Hollyday), Samuel

Haliday (Halliday, Hollyday), Samuel (1685–1739), presbyterian minister, was born probably in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, where his father, Samuel Haliday, was a presbyterian minister; his mother's name is not known. The elder Haliday was born 1637 in Scotland, and had been minister in a…

Haliday, William

Haliday, William (1788–1812), Irish–language scholar and linguist, was born at 32 Arran Quay, Dublin, eldest among four sons of Dr William Haliday, apothecary, originally of Carrick–on–Suir, Co. Tipperary. His father encouraged him to pursue law, and on his qualifying as a solicitor his…

Hall, Anna Maria

Hall, Anna Maria (1800–81), writer, editor, and philanthropist, was born 6 January 1800 in Anne Street, Dublin, the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Fielding (d. 1856), a widow of Huguenot extraction. Her father, who died in Anna Maria's infancy, came from Co. Wexford. She spent her…

Hallaran, William Saunders

Hallaran, William Saunders (c.1762–1825), psychiatric pioneer, was the son of William Hallaran (d. 1794?) of Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, and was likely born in Cork in the early 1760s. After graduating MD from Edinburgh University (c.1788), he returned to Cork and served…

Hall, David Henry

Hall, David Henry (1873–1940), clergyman, scholar, and promoter of housing reform, was born 21 May 1873 in Dromore, Banbridge, Co. Down, the son of Henry Hall, schoolteacher and organist, and his wife, Helen (née Kingham). Educated at Dundalk and Santry schools, he had a…

Hall, Francis James (‘Frank’)

Hall, Francis James (‘Frank’) (1921–95), journalist, broadcaster, and film censor, was born 24 February 1921 at 40 Cecil Street, Newry, Co. Down, son of John Hall, a seaman, and Mary Hall (née Golding). He was reared in an eccentric extended family household, which probably inspired…