Carpenter, Andrew

Delany, Patrick (1685?–1768), clergyman and writer, was born in Rathcrea, Queen's Co. (Laois), probably on 15 March 1685. His father, Dennis Delany, is reputed to have been a servant to the Irish judge Sir John Russell. Delany was educated in Athy, Co. Kildare, at the school of Mr…

Johnson, Esther (1681–1728), Jonathan Swift's ‘Stella ’, was born 13 March 1681 in Richmond, Surrey, England, daughter of Bridget Johnson, housekeeper to Sir William Temple (qv) of Moor Park in Surrey. It was rumoured, from early in her…

Sheridan, Thomas (1687–1738), schoolmaster, poet, essayist, and wit, was born in Co. Cavan. His father, Patrick, may have been a farmer. Nothing certain is known of Sheridan's life before he entered TCD in 1707, aged 20, except that he…

Stephens, Edward Millington (1888–1955), barrister, civil servant, and biographer, was born 8 November 1888 at 3 Orwell Park, Rathgar, Dublin, second child and younger son among two sons and one daughter of Henry Francis Colclough Stephens (1856–1935), a solicitor distantly…

Sweeney, John Anthony (Tony) (1931–2012), horse-racing journalist and bibliophile, was born on 26 June 1931 in London, son of John Sweeney (1887–1940), GPO surveyor, and his wife Kitty, daughter of James Joseph ('J. J.')…

Tate (Teate), Nahum (1652–1715), poet and dramatist (who himself dropped the ‘e’ from the family name when he reached adulthood), was born in Dublin. His father, the Rev.…

Van Homrigh (Vanhomrigh), Esther (Hester) (1688–1723), Jonathan Swift's (qv) ‘Vanessa’, was born 14 February 1688 in Dublin, eldest of the four children of Bartholomew Van Homrigh (qv),…