Biographies A-Z

Harrington, Niall Charles (1901–81), soldier, writer, and broadcaster, was born 23 January 1901 at 6 Cavendish Row, Dublin, one of the eight children of Timothy Charles Harrington (qv), MP, barrister at law, and his wife…

Harrington, Timothy Charles (1851/2–1910), newspaper editor and politician, was born 20 September 1851/2, at Castletownbere, Co. Cork, tenth son of Denis Harrington and his wife, Eileen (née O'Sullivan). Harrington was a native speaker of Irish; he took pride in his use of the language…

Harrington, Timothy Richard (1866–1937), journalist, was born 14 September 1866 in Castletownbere, Co. Cork, son of John Harrington, farmer, and Honora Harrington (née Harrington). He was christened plain ‘Timothy’, but began adding ‘Richard’ to his name early in his career –…

Harris, Frank (1856–1931), writer, was born James Thomas Harris on 14 February 1856 in Galway city, fourth among five children of Thomas Vernon Harris, customs shipmaster, and his wife, Anne Thomas, both Welsh nonconformists. Their father being appointed to various ships, the family…

Harris, Matthew (1825–90), revolutionary and agrarian radical, was born in Roscommon town, son of Peter Harris, a farmer from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Ann Harris. After attending a hedge school, he worked for several years as a labourer in the building profession before…

Harrison, Frank Llewelyn (1905–87), musicologist, organist, and composer, was born 29 September 1905 in Dublin, the second son of Alfred Francis and Florence May Harrison. He became a chorister at St Patrick's cathedral in 1912, occasionally playing the organ for cathedral…

Harrison, Henry (1867–1954), politician, soldier, and writer, was born on 17 December 1867 at Hollywood House, near Hollywood, Co. Down, son of Henry Harrison, landowner and JP, and Letitia Harrison, grandniece of…

Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen) (1906–94), librarian and methodist activist, was born Letitia Elizabeth Eileen Dunbar in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, on 4 February 1906, the youngest of at least four children of Arthur Dunbar, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née…

Harrison, Robert (1793–1858), surgeon and anatomist, was born in Co. Tipperary, son of John Harrison; nothing is known of his mother. He entered TCD in October 1809, aged 16; his father was dead by this time. After his initial medical…

Harrison, Sarah Cecilia (‘Celia’) (1863–1941), painter and social campaigner, was born 21 June 1863 at Holywood House, near Holywood, Co. Down, third child of Henry Harrison JP (d. 1873), a prosperous landowner, and his second wife, Letitia…

Harrison, Thomas (1619–82), nonconformist minister, was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, son of Robert Harrison, merchant. He attended the local grammar school, matriculated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1636 and received his BA…

Harris, Paul (c.1572/3–p. 1642), Roman catholic priest and author, was born Paul Green in Derbyshire, England, but was subsequently to become more widely known both to contemporaries and future historians by his alias ‘Paul Harris’; nothing is known of his…

Harris, Richard St John (1930–2002), stage and screen actor, was born 1 October 1930 in Limerick city, fifth child among six sons and two daughters of Ivan Harris, a prosperous flour‐mill owner, and Mildred Harris (née Harty). Reared in a comfortable, middle‐class home at Overdale,…

Harris, Walter (1686–1761), antiquarian, was born in May 1686 in Mountmellick, King's Co. (Offaly), second son of Hopton Harris, who was described as a gentleman and served as lieutenant of the local Williamite militia in 1690–91. He entered the famous Kilkenny School in 1702 and…

Harshaw, James (1797–1867), farmer, diarist, and presbyterian nationalist, was born in the townland of Ringbane, Donaghmore parish, Co. Down, last child of James Harshaw and Mary Harshaw (née Bradford). The senior James was one of the major landholders in the eastern part of the…

Hart, Alice (1848–1931), philanthropist, artist, and businesswoman, was born Alice Maria Rowland , daughter of Alex William Rowland (d. 1869), a merchant with a family fortune derived from the Rowland Macassar oil company, and his wife Henrietta Maria Margeretta (née Ditges; d. 1851…

Harte, Francis ('Frank') (1933–2005), architect, lecturer, singer, and collector of traditional songs, was born 14 May 1933 in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte (d. 1977), was originally from a farm in Co. Sligo, but moved to Dublin and bought a pub, The Tap, in Chapelizod, then still…

Hart, Henry Chichester (1847–1908), naturalist and literary scholar, was born 29 July 1847 in Glenvar, Raheny, Dublin, second son of Andrew Searle Hart (qv) and Frances Hart (née MacDougall). His father's family was of Co.…

Hartigan, William (c.1766–1812), surgeon, was born in Dublin, only son of two known children of Edward Hartigan, apothecary, member of the barber surgeons and freeman (1749) of the city of Dublin, and his wife (née Heron). Educated as a surgeon, he began practice c…

Hart, Josephine (1942–2011), writer, theatrical producer and poetry promoter, was born on 1 March 1942 in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of five children of Dermot Hart and his wife Sheila (née Donoghue). Her father had been a commercial traveller and a lorry driver, until…

Hartley, May Laffan (1849–1916), novelist, was born 3 May 1849 at 41 Philipsburgh Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, second child and eldest daughter of Michael Laffan and Ellen Sarah Laffan (née Fitzgibbon). The Fitzgibbons, originally catholic, converted to the Church of Ireland and,…

Hartley, Sir Walter Noel (1846–1913), scientist, was born 3 February 1846 at Lichfield, Staffordshire, son of Thomas Hartley, portrait painter, who exhibited (1820–60) at the Royal Academy in London, and Caroline Hartley (née Lockwood). Walter Hartley appears to have been an only…

Hartley, Travers (1723–96), merchant and MP, was born in Dublin, eldest son of James Hartley (a younger scion of the family of Hartley of Beech Park, Clonsilla, Co. Dublin) and his wife Alice, daughter of the Rev. Elias Travers. Prospering in city business from the 1750s, and…

Hartnett, (Maurice) Noel (1909–60), political activist and broadcaster, was born 21 December 1909 in Kenmare, Co. Kerry, fourth son of William Joseph Hartnett, pharmacist and member of the IRB, and Kathleen Hartnett (née Barbery),…

Hartnett, Michael (1941–99), poet, was born 18 September 1941 in Croom, Co. Limerick, eldest among eight children of Denis Harnett, house painter, and Bridie Harnett (née Halpin). An error on his birth certificate gave the name as ‘Hartnett’, a form he later adopted as it is closer to…