Biographies A-Z

Jones, (Patrick) Lloyd (1811–86), socialist, trade unionist, and journalist, was born 17 March 1811 at Bandon, Co. Cork. His father, a fustian cutter of Welsh immigrant ancestry, took part in the 1798 rebellion in Dublin, and, as an expression of his nationalism, later converted to…

Jones, Peter William Warburton (1946–2001), barrister and political activist, was born 5 December 1946 in Belfast, second son of Sir Edward Jones (1912–93), unionist MP and lord justice of appeal in the NI supreme court 1973–84, and Margaret…

Jones, Richard (1641–1712), 1st earl of Ranelagh , tax farmer, politician, and architect, was born 8 February 1641 in the house of his uncle, Viscount Dungarvan, in Long Acre, London, the only son of Arthur Jones and Katherine Jones…

Jones, Richard (c.1810–p.1840), Ribbonman, was born in Farney, Co. Monaghan, coming to Dublin c.1825 to work for his uncle, one Clarke, a hay, straw, corn, and potato factor in Smithfield. He probably received an elementary education in Monaghan, as he…

Jones, Roger (d. 1644), 1st Viscount Ranelagh , politician, was the only son and heir of Thomas Jones (qv), archbishop of Dublin and lord chancellor of Ireland, and Margaret, daughter of Adam Purdon of Lurgan-Race, Co. Louth. The family…

Jones, Sir Theophilus (d. 1685), scoutmaster-general of the army in Ireland, was youngest of the five sons of Lewis Jones (qv) (c.1560–1646), bishop of Killaloe, and Mabel Ussher, daughter of Arland Ussher and his wife Margaret…

Jones, Sir Thomas Alfred (1823?–1893), painter, was of unknown parentage. He was found and brought up by the philanthropic Archdale family of Kildare Place, Dublin. He began his artistic studies in 1833 in the schools of the Royal Dublin Society and entered…

Jones, Theophilus (d. 1736), bookseller, printer and newspaper proprietor, was probably descended from Sir Theophilus Jones (qv), son of Lewis Jones (qv) (d. 1646), bishop of Killaloe.…

Jones, Theophilus (1729–1811), chief secretary, MP, and revenue collector, was the only son of Walter Jones (c.1694–1756) of Headfort, Co. Leitrim, and of Dublin, and his wife Olivia, elder daughter and co-heir of the Hon. Chidley Coote, of Coote Hall, Co. Roscommon, and…

Jones, Thomas (1550–1619), Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin and lord chancellor of Ireland, was the younger son of Henry Jones of Middleton, Lancashire; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge (BA,…

Jones, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1868–1950), priest and handball player, was born 19 December 1868, in Rock Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry, the son of Michael Jones, shopkeeper and publican, and Mary Jones (née Stack). He was educated at the Christian Brothers' School in Tralee, St Brendan's seminary…

Jones, Valentine (1711–1805), merchant, was born in Belfast. An ancestor, also Valentine Jones, had come from Wales c.1640; a Valentine Jones bought the timber on eight townlands in Co. Londonderry before 1705; and a Valentine Jones (d. 1761) of Belfast was high sheriff of…

Jones, William Bence- (1812–82), improving landlord and essayist, was born 5 October 1812 in Beccles, Suffolk, eldest son of William Jones (1776–1843), lieutenant-colonel, 5th Dragoon Guards, and his wife Matilda (d. 1869), daughter of the Rev. Bence Bence of Thorington Hall,…

Jones, William Todd (1757–1818), political reformer, was born at Lisburn, Co. Antrim, in December 1757, the first son of a physician, Conway Jones (1721–78) of Homra (a townland 4 km south of Lisburn but in Co. Down), and his wife Mary Wray (née Todd), daughter of William Todd and…

Jordan, Jeremiah (1829–1911), businessman, land campaigner and MP, was born in the townland of Tattinbar, parish of Aghavea, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, the eldest son of Samuel Jordan, tenant farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Warrell). He was 'a Wesleyan methodist of the third…

Jordan, John Edward (1930–88), writer, actor, academic, and broadcaster, was born 8 April 1930 in Dublin, eldest of two sons and a daughter of John Anthony Jordan, cooper at Guinness's brewery, and Mary Agnes Jordan (née Byrne), born of Irish parents in Jarrow, England; both of Parkview…

Jordan, Kate (1862–1926), novelist and playwright, was born 23 December 1862 in Dublin, the daughter of Michael James and Kathleen Jordan. Her father, an academic, came from a family that included numerous academics, musicians and artists. When Kate was three her family emigrated to…

Jordan, Sir John Newell (1852–1925), diplomat, was born 5 September 1852, second child and second among four sons of John Jordan, farmer, and Mary Jordan (née Newell) of Balloo, Co. Down; he also had two sisters, one of whom died as a child. The family was presbyterian. Jordan attended…

Jorz (Jorse), Walter (d. 1321) and Roland Jorz (d. p.1332), successive archbishops of Armagh, were scions of a wealthy London family that produced at least six sons who joined the Dominican order; three of these achieved high church office. Their elder brother Thomas was…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Jorz (Jorse), Walter. View the original entry.

Josephus Scottus (‘the Irishman’) (d. c.794), monk, poet, and biblical exegete, was one of the many Irish peregrini in the western Carolingian empire. It is possible that he belonged to the Cianachta Breg (in the present Co. Louth). He was educated at Clonmacnoise…

Joy, Albert Bruce- (1842–1924), sculptor, was born in Dublin, eldest son of Dr William Bruce Joy, member of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland; nothing is known of his mother. The Joy family was of huguenot descent. Albert was sent at nine years of age to school at Offenbach,…

Joyce, James (Augustine Aloysius) ) (1882–1941), writer, was born 2 February 1882 in 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin, eldest surviving child among four sons and six daughters of John Stanislaus Joyce (qv), from Cork, and May Joyce…

Joyce, John Stanislaus (1849–1931), businessman, civil servant, and father of James Joyce (qv), was born 4 July 1849 in Cork city, the only son of James Augustine Joyce, a minor corporation official, born in Fermoy, Co.…

Joyce, (John) Stanislaus (1884–1955), brother and supporter of James Joyce (qv), was born 17 December 1884 in Dublin, son of John Stanislaus Joyce (qv), civil servant…