Pinkerton, John
Pinkerton, John (1845–1908), tenant farmer, magistrate, and MP, was the son of John Pinkerton of Seacon, near Ballymoney, north Antrim, and his wife Nancy (née Pinkerton). John Pinkerton senior was a unitarian tenant farmer and linen merchant who died young after falling from his…...
Plunket, Katharine
Plunket, Katharine (1820–1932), botanical and landscape painter, was born 22 November 1820 at Kilsaran rectory, Co. Louth, the eldest of five daughters of Thomas Span Plunket (qv) (1792–1866), protestant curate of the parish,…...
Pollen, John Hungerford
Pollen, John Hungerford (1820–1902), architect, artist, and author, was born 19 November 1820 in London, second son of Richard Pollen, barrister, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Pepys Cockerell. Educated at Durham House (1829–33) and Eton (1833–8), in May 1838 he…...
Ponsonby, Brabazon
Ponsonby, Brabazon (1679–1758), 2nd Viscount Duncannon , 1st earl of Bessborough , revenue commissioner and lord justice of Ireland, was eldest son of William Ponsonby (1659–1724), 1st Baron Bessborough and Viscount Duncannon, of Bessborough, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Mary (d.…...
Pooley, Thomas
Pooley, Thomas (c.1644–1723), artist and politician, was born near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, one of nine children (four sons and five daughters) of Thomas Pooley, attorney, and his wife, Mary. In 1652 the family moved to Dublin, where Pooley senior worked as an…...
Pratt, John
Pratt, John (1670–1741), MP and government official, was fourth son of Joseph Pratt of Cabra Castle, Co. Cavan, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Audley Mervyn (qv) of Co. Fermanagh. One of his brothers,…...
Quin, Henry
Quin, Henry (1717–91), medical doctor and lapidary, was probably born in Dublin, one of two sons and one daughter of Thomas Quin (d. 1767), an eminent apothecary in the city, and Isabella Quin (née Brownrigg), daughter of Henry Brownrigg, of Annagh, Gorey, Co. Wexford. He was…...
Rawdon, John
Rawdon, John (1720–93), 1st earl of Moira, landowner, patron of the arts, and opposition peer, was born 17 March 1720, second (but first surviving) son of Sir John Rawdon, 3rd baronet, of Rawdon Hall, Yorkshire, and Moira, Co. Down, and Dorothy, daughter of Sir…...
Ridgeway, Sir Thomas
Ridgeway, Sir Thomas (1565?–1632), 1st earl of Londonderry, planter and treasurer of Ireland, was born at either Torwood or Tor Abbey, Devonshire, England, heir of Thomas Ridgeway of Tor Mohun, and his wife Mary Southcote of Bovey Tracey, both of Devonshire. After matriculating (…...
Robertson, Olivia Melian
Robertson, Olivia Melian (1917–2013), writer, artist and co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis, was born on 13 April 1917 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, to Manning Durdin Robertson (qv), urban planner and architect, and…...
Rochfort, Robert
Rochfort, Robert (1651/2–1727), MP and chief baron of the exchequer, was second son of Prime-Iron Rochfort, army officer and landowner, and Thomazine Rochfort (née Pigott). Prime-Iron served as a lieutenant-colonel in Cromwell's army and was found guilty by court martial in 1651 of…...
Rothwell, Richard
Rothwell, Richard (1800–68), portrait and subject painter, was born 20 November 1800 in Dublin. His father has generally been stated to be James Rothwell (possibly a soldier) of Lisdaly, near Cloghen, King's Co. (Offaly), though primary source evidence suggests that he was the son of…...
Savage, Philip
Savage, Philip (1644–1717), chancellor of the exchequer, was born in February 1644 in Dublin, only son of Valentine Savage (d. 1670?) and his wife Anne Haughton, both of Dublin. He had three younger sisters. He was educated by Mr Golbourne of Dublin, entering…...
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey (1828–1908), chief of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade, was born 17 January 1828 at Glenmore Cottage, near Ballymore, Cobh, Co. Cork, third son of Bernard Robert Shaw, merchant, of Shaw's Terrace and later Monkstown Castle, Cork, and his first wife, Rebecca…...
Sheridan, Thomas
Sheridan, Thomas (1646–1712), writer, royal official, and Jacobite, was born in St John's, near Trim, Co. Meath, fourth son of Denis Sheridan (qv), a Church of Ireland clergyman from Co. Cavan, and an Englishwoman named Foster. In the rebellion of 1641…...
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Smith, Sir Thomas
Smith, Sir Thomas (1512–77), officer of state, author, and colonial projector, was born at Saffron Walden, Essex, son of John Smith, high sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, and Agnes Charnock. He entered Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1526, and was made king's scholar (1527) and…...
Smythe, Percy Clinton Sydney
Smythe, Percy Clinton Sydney (1780–1855), 6th Viscount Strangford and 1st Baron Penshurst , diplomat and writer, was born 31 August 1780, in Queen St., Mayfair, London, eldest son of Lionel, 5th Viscount Strangford, formerly a captain in the 23rd Foot during the war of American…...
Southwell, Sir Robert
Southwell, Sir Robert (1635–1702), diplomat, landowner, and public official, was born 31 December 1635 at Battin Warwick, on the River Bandon, near Kinsale, Co. Cork. He was the eldest son of Robert Southwell of Kinsale and his wife Helena, daughter of Robert Gore of Shereton,…...
Southwell, Sir Thomas
Southwell, Sir Thomas (c.1665–1720), Baron Southwell of Castle Mattress, Co. Limerick, revenue commissioner, was born at Glanamorohe Rhaiaile, Co. Limerick, first of four sons of Richard Southwell of Callow (d. a. February 1680) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter…...
Spender, Sir Wilfrid Bliss
Spender, Sir Wilfrid Bliss (1876–1960), army officer and civil servant, was born 6 October 1876 in London, the fourth son and fifth child of Edward Spender (1834–78), co-founder and proprietor of the Plymouth Western Morning News, and his wife Ellen Spender (née Rendle).…...
Spenser, Edmund
Spenser, Edmund (1552?–1599), poet, political writer, government official, and settler in Ireland, was born in London, probably of artisan backgrounde, though little is known of his family. He attended Merchant Taylors’ grammar school, then Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, as a sizar.…...
Stephens, Edward Millington
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…...
Stewart, Robert
Stewart, Robert (1769–1822), Viscount Castlereagh and 2nd marquess of Londonderry , chief secretary for Ireland, politician, was born 18 June 1769 at 28 Henry Street, Dublin, the second, but only surviving, child of Robert Stewart (…...
St George, Richard St George Mansergh
St George, Richard St George Mansergh (c.1752–98), landlord, artist and soldier, was born Richard St George Mansergh, the only son of James Mansergh, landowner and soldier of Macrony Castle, Co. Cork, and his second wife Mary, a natural daughter of Lieutenant-General…...