Biographies A-Z

Torrens, Sir Henry (1779–1828), British army general, was born in Derry city, fourth son of the Rev. Thomas Torrens and Elizabeth Torrens (née Curry). His brothers were the Ven. John Torrens (1761–1851), archdeacon of Dublin; Capt. Samuel Torrens, killed at Ferrol (1800); and the…

Torrens, Sir Robert Richard Chute (1812–84), politician and land reformer, was born in Cork on 31 May 1812, son of Robert Torrens (qv) and his first wife, Charity Herbert Chute. After graduating BA…

Torrens, William Torrens McCullagh (1813–94), politician and writer, was born 13 October 1813 at Delville, Co. Dublin, as William Torrens McCullagh, eldest son of James McCullagh, merchant, of Delville, and his wife Jane, daughter of Andrew Torrens of Dublin. He entered (1829)…

Tottenham, Charles (1685–1758), MP, was the only child of Edward Tottenham of Tottenhamgreen, Ballyloskeran, near Taghmon, Co. Wexford, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hayman of Youghal, Co. Cork. Little is known of his early life other than his marriage, by 1713 (when his…

Tottenham (Loftus), Sir Charles (1738–1806), 1st marquess of Ely and MP, was born 23 January 1738, the son of Sir John Tottenham (d. 1786), 1st baronet, and his wife Elizabeth daughter of Nicholas Loftus (1687–1763), 1st Viscount Loftus. He was returned for the borough of Clonmines, Co…

Touhey, Patrick J. (‘Patsy’) (1865–1923), traditional musician and vaudeville entertainer, was born 27 February 1865 in Cahertinny, Bullaun, Loughrea, Co. Galway, son of James Twohill, or O'Toole (1839–75) (all variations of the surname being anglicisations of the Irish ‘Ó Tuathail…

Tourville, Geoffrey de (d. 1250), bishop of Ossory, possibly born near Turville, Buckinghamshire, England, is one of the best examples of the sort of career available to a clerk in royal service in the thirteenth century. He appears as a servant of…

Towb, Harry (1925–2009), actor, was born Harris Towb in Larne, Co. Antrim, on 27 July 1925, the second child of Jack (or Jacob) Towb and his wife Bessie (Amelia) Towb (née Sergai). Bessie Towb had been born to a Jewish family in Belfast, while Jack was born in a shtetl (town),…

Townsend, John Sealy Edward (1868–1957), mathematical physicist, was born 7 June 1868 in Galway, second son among three sons and two daughters of Edward Townsend, professor of civil engineering at QCG, and Judith Townsend, daughter of…

Townsend, Richard (c.1618–1692), parliamentarian officer and Munster landowner, was of a family originally from Rainham, Norfolk, England. Commissioned as a captain in the parliamentarian army in 1643, during the civil war he served in the west country, distinguishing…

Townsend, Richard (1821–84), mathematician, was born 3 April 1821 at Baltimore, Co. Cork, eldest son among six sons and two daughters of Thomas Townsend of Smithville, near Castletownsend, and his wife Helena, daughter of John Freke of Baltimore, deputy governor of Co. Cork during…

Townshend, George (1724–1807), 1st Marquess Townshend , lord lieutenant of Ireland, was born 28 February 1724 in London, eldest son of Charles Townshend (1700–64), 3rd Viscount Townshend, a Norfolk politician, and his wife Etheldreda (c.1708–1788), daughter and heir of…

Townshend, George (1876–1957), clergyman, Bahá'i convert, scholar, and writer, was born 14 June 1876 at Hatley, 10 Burlington Rd, Dublin, eldest of two sons and five daughters of Charles Uniacke Townshend (1828–1907), JP and land agent, of 15…

Townshend, Horatio (1750–1837), clergyman and author, was born 5 November 1750, third son of Capt. Philip Townshend (1700–86), soldier and landowner, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hungerford. The Townshends had come to Ireland in the seventeenth century; Horatio's…

Toye, Edward Joseph (1857–1932), architect, was born in Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry, son of Richard Toye, from Derry city, and his wife Mary, eldest daughter of Bernard Dempsey of Mullaghmore, Aghadowey. Mary Toye died, aged 28, at her father's house in April 1859. Edward was…

Toye, Thomas (1801–70), presbyterian minister, was born 6 October 1801 in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, eldest child among two sons and a daughter of Winspear Toye (d. 1854) and Margaret Toye (née Justice). His father, who held public office in the county, was connected to Cork's gentry…

Tracy, Honor Lilbush Wingfield (1913–89), author, was born 19 October 1913 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Educated privately in London and in Dresden, Germany, she spent two years at the Sorbonne. She worked before the second world war as a journalist for Picture Post,…

Traill, Anthony (1838–1914), provost of TCD, was born 1 November 1838 at Ballylough, Co. Antrim, eldest son among three sons and three daughters of William Traill, who had a medical degree and owned an estate at Ballylough, and his wife Louisa, daughter of Robert Ffrench of…

Traill, William Acheson (1844–1933), civil engineer, was born in Ballylough House, Bushmills, Co. Antrim, third son of William Traill, landed gentleman of Bushmills, and his wife Louisa, daughter of Robert Ffrench of Monivea Castle, Co. Galway. After private schooling, William A.…

Trant, Dominick (1738–90), MP and lawyer, was born in Co. Kerry, second son of Dominick Trant, merchant, and his first wife Catherine, daughter of Thomas Trant of Kerry, a distant relation. He entered TCD (August 1756) aged seventeen -…

Trant, Sir Nicholas (1769–1839), officer in the French, British, and Portuguese armies, was born 12 November 1769, third son of Thomas Trant of Ballintlea, Co. Kerry, and his wife (and cousin), a daughter of James Trant of Castleisland, Co. Kerry. Nicholas's grandfather was Dominick…

Trant, Thomas (c.1762–1794), soldier and chevalier of France, was born at Mallow, Co. Cork, third son among six sons and at least two daughters of Thomas Trant, a successful catholic merchant, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Trant). Educated locally, he decided to join the…

Traquair, Phoebe Anna (1852–1936), mural artist, craftworker, bookbinder, and illustrator, was born 24 May 1852, third daughter of William Moss , physician, of Kilternan, Co. Dublin, and Teresa Moss (née Richardson), and was reared in Dublin and Wicklow. In her late teens she…

Travers, Robert English (1807–88), physician, scholar and librarian, was born 24 June 1807 in Dublin, son of William T. E. Travers, LLD, and Mary Travers (née Parker). Travers had little education at home and when his father died, having gambled…

Travers, Walter (c.1548–1635), provost of TCD and minister of religion, was the son of Walter Travers, of Brydelsmith Gate, Nottingham, England, and his wife, Ann. He matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge, aged twelve, on 11 July 1560, before transferring to Trinity…