Biographies A-Z

Hennessey, Mary (1797–1875), Sister of Charity and pioneer in primary education, was born 8 February 1797 in Cork city, second daughter of George Hennessey, Cork wine merchant, and his wife Teresa Stacpoole, member of another Cork merchant family. Her father also served as captain…

Hennessy, Christie (1945–2007), singer and songwriter, was born Edward Christopher Ross on 19 November 1945, in Tralee, Co. Kerry, the youngest of nine children (four boys and five girls) of James Ross, an electrician, and his wife Julia (née Griffin). They lived in a two-bedroom house…

Hennessy, Henry (1826–1901), physicist and mathematician, was born 19 March 1826, probably at 4 Mount Verdon Terrace, Cork city, second son among five sons and three daughters of John Hennessy of Ballyhennessy, hide merchant on Pope's Quay, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of…

Hennessy, Patrick (1915–80), painter, was born 28 August 1915 in Cork city, son of John Hennessy, army officer, of 2 Shandon Terrace, Cork, and Bridget Hennessy (née Ring). While still a young child he moved with his family to Arbroath, Scotland, where they joined other relatives.…

Hennessy, Patrick Jerome (1855–1938), Christian Brother, was born 6 October 1855 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, fourth son of David Michael Hennessy, Cork-born businessman, and Mary Hennessy (née Moran) of Dublin. There was one daughter. Patrick's father had been an early pupil of the…

Hennessy, Richard (c.1729–1800), brandy merchant and distiller, was born about 1724 according to his army record, but more reliably about 1729 according to his marriage certificate, in Ballymacmoy, Co. Cork, the son of James Hennessy. He was the first member of the famous…

Hennessy, Sir John Pope (1834–91), politician and colonial governor, was born 8 August 1834 in Cork, probably at 4 Mount Verdon Terrace, third son in the family of five sons and three daughters of John Hennessy (d. 1867), who traded as a hide merchant in Pope's Quay and whose…

Hennessy, William Maunsell (Ó hAonghusa, Liam M.) (1829?–1889), Irish-language scholar, was born in 1829 or possibly a year earlier, in Castlegregory, Co. Kerry; nothing is known of his parents. He was educated at private schools and spent his early youth with his uncle, Dr Finn. His…

Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…

Henn, Jonathan (1789–1873), barrister, was the second son of William Henn (d. 1843), master in chancery, of Merrion Square, Dublin, and Paradise, Co. Clare, and his wife Susanna, daughter of Jonathan Lovett of Liscombe, Buckinghamshire, and Kingswell, Co. Tipperary. His elder…

Henn, Thomas Rice (1901–74), scholar, was born 10 November 1901 at Albert House, Sligo, youngest among five children of Francis Blackburne Henn (1845–1915), barrister and resident magistrate, and his wife, Helen (1857–1936), daughter of Col. Francis Gore of Woodlawn, Co. Clare. The Henn…

Henry, Arnold Kirkpatrick (1886–1962), surgeon and anatomist, was born 3 February 1886 at 37 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, son of Richard Henry, physician, and Annie Louisa Henry (née Kirkpatrick). He was educated at Aravon preparatory school, Bray, Co. Wicklow, and later in England…

Henry, Augustine (1857–1930), plant collector and forester, was born at Dundee, Scotland, on 2 July 1857. His father, Bernard Henry (c.1825–1891) was a catholic originally from Tyanee, Co. Londonderry. In 1847, during the great famine, he had emigrated to America and tried his…

Henry, Denis Stanislaus (1864–1925), lawyer and politician, was born 7 March 1864 in Cahore, Draperstown, Co. Londonderry, one of five sons and two daughters of James Henry, businessman, and Ellen Henry (née Kelly), both of Draperstown. Educated at the local national school, he…

Henry, (Emily) Grace (1868–1953), painter, was born 10 February 1868 at Kirktown St. Fergus, near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, ninth of ten children of the Rev. John Mitchell and Jane Mitchell (née Gardner). Her maternal grandmother was a cousin to the poet Lord Byron. She…

Henry, Françoise (1902–82), specialist in early Irish art, archaeologist, and art historian, was born 16 June 1902 in Paris, the only child of René Henry, deputy chef de cabinet to the president of the French chamber of deputies, professor at L'École des Sciences…

Henry II (1133–89), king of England, was son of Geoffrey, count of Anjou, and his wife Matilda, daughter of Henry I, king of England. He inherited the kingdom of England from his cousin Stephen in 1154 (he already held the duchy of Normandy, conquered by his father c.1144)…

Henry, James (1798–1876), physician, pamphleteer, poet, and classical scholar, was born at the family home, 46 College Green, Dublin, eldest son of Robert Henry (d. 1829), woollen draper, and Katharine Olivia Henry (née Elder). Educated under the ferrule of the Rev. Joseph Hutton, a…

Henry, Mitchell (1826–1910), politician and businessman, was born at Ardwick Green, Manchester, younger son of Alexander Henry, liberal MP for South Lancashire (1847–52) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Oliver Brush of Willow Bank, Co. Down. He was educated privately and at…

Henry of London (c.1170–1228), archbishop of Dublin, justiciar, was second son of Bartholomew Blund, alderman of London during the reign of Richard I. He appears as a royal clerk and archdeacon of Stafford by 1194, and remained a royal clerk for almost two decades, becoming…

Henry of Marlborough (a.1395–p.1421), chronicler and minor cleric, appears to have been a member of the Marlborough family of Co. Dublin, established in Ireland since the early thirteenth century. Sometime before 1395 Henry of Marlborough, clerk, granted lands and…

Henry, Paul (1876–1958), painter, was born 11 April 1876 at 61 University Road, Belfast, third of four sons of Robert Mitchell Henry (1824–91), minister of the Reformed Presbyterian church, and his wife Kate Anne (1838–1928), eldest of four daughters of Thomas Berry, minister of the…

Henry, Pooley Shuldham (1801–81), presbyterian minister and first president of QCB, was born in Randalstown, Co. Antrim, son of Thomas Henry (d. 1830), presbyterian minister and son of a minister, and his wife (m. 1794), Ellen or Elinor Shuldham (d. 1845), of a gentry family from…

Henry, Robert Mitchell (1873–1950), classicist and university administrator, was born 11 February 1873 in Belfast, son of Robert Mitchell Henry (1824–91), who was himself son of a Reformed Presbyterian minister, William Henry (1789–1852). Robert M. Henry sen., having started his…

Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’) (1878–1952), folk-song collector, was born in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, youngest among five sons of William Henry and Mary Henry (née Biggart). He had two sisters; one of his brothers became town clerk of Coleraine. Educated locally, he entered the customs…