Abbot, Charles
Abbot, Charles (1757–1829), tourist in Ireland, chief secretary for Ireland (1801–02), speaker of the British house of commons, creator of a system of arranging parliamentary papers, and later 1st Baron Colchester , was born 14 October 1757 at Abingdon, Berkshire, England, second…...
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill (1829–1913), scholar and clergyman, was born 26 March 1829 in Dublin, son of Joseph Abbott, clerk of the peace, and his wife Jane Kingsmill. Thomas entered TCD 9 June 1846 as a sizar (his father being dead),…...
A'Court, William
A'Court, William (1779–1860), 1st Baron Heytesbury, diplomat, politician, and lord lieutenant of Ireland, was born 11 July 1779, eldest son of Sir William Pierce Ashe A'Court, 1st baronet, and his second wife, Letitia, daughter of Henry Wyndham of Salisbury. He was educated at Eton but…...
Adams, William George Stewart
Adams, William George Stewart (1874–1966), economist, academic, and public servant, was born 8 November 1874 at Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, youngest child of John Adams, headmaster of St John's Grammar School, Hamilton, and Margaret, daughter of John Stewart, Glasgow cotton…...
Adrian (Bor), Max
Adrian (Bor), Max (1903–73), actor, was born 1 November 1903 in Ireland, the son of Edward Norman Cavendish Bor, a Bank of Ireland agent (or manager), and Mabel Lloyd (née Thornton). The family lived successively at Maryborough, Callan, and Waterford. Max was educated at Portora…...
Áed
Áed (982/3–1056), son of Cróngille Ua Foirréid and bishop and scholar at Armagh, belonged, like many bishops of Armagh, to the Cenél nÉogain, the most powerful of the dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill. He is best known as the subject of the poem ‘Uasal epscop Éirenn Áed’: here the…...
Aher, David
Aher, David (c.1778–1842), cartographer and civil engineer, was probably the son of Patrick Aher, a Cork surveyor; he trained under his father, in the ‘French school of [John] Rocque’ (qv). A leading Irish surveyor-…...
Aickin (Aikin), Francis
Aickin (Aikin), Francis (c.1736–1812) and his younger brother James (d. 1803), actors, were born in Dublin and apprenticed to their father, a weaver, before leaving him to begin their acting careers. Francis joined Philip Lewis's company of strolling players in 1754; his…...
Aickin, James
This is a co-subject for the entry on Aickin (Aikin), Francis. View the original entry....
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens)
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens) (d. 665), fer léigind (lector or chief scholar) of the monastery of Clonard, Co. Meath, died in the great cholera or plague, termed the Buide Conaill (AU 665). His obit is given as 29 December in the Martyrology of Tallaght and in the…...
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Aird, John
Aird, John (c.1760–1832), civil engineer, was born in Scotland; nothing is known of his parents or early life. In 1794 he began working for John Rennie (qv), one of the best-known engineers in Europe at the time, and remained with…...
Alen (Allen), John
Alen (Allen), John (1476–1534), archbishop and administrator, was the son of Edward Alen and his wife Catherine (daughter of Sir John St Leger), and cousin of Sir John Alen (qv). He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge (…...
Alen, Sir John
Alen, Sir John (d. 1561), lawyer and administrator, was the son of Warin Alen of Cotteshall, Norfolk, England, and cousin of his namesake John Alen (qv), archbishop of Dublin (1529–34) and a protégé of Cardinal Wolsey. He entered Gray…...
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long (1879–1920), civil engineer and rugby footballer, was born 6 June 1879 in Imlick, Co. Donegal, youngest son of Joseph Alexander, farmer and JP, and his wife Frances Mary Long. Registered at birth as ‘…...
Alexander, Michael O'Donel Bjarne
This is a co-subject for the entry on Alexander, (Conel) Hugh (O'Donel). View the original entry....
Alexander, Sir Jerome
Alexander, Sir Jerome (1590–1670), judge and administrator, was born at Gressenhall, Norfolk, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander of Thorpland in Norfolk. Schooled at Aylsham, he entered Furnival's Inn on 1 July 1609, and also matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, on 11…...
Alexander, Thomas A.
Alexander, Thomas A. (1847–1933), professor of civil engineering, was born 2 May 1847 in Maryhill, Glasgow; his parents' names are not known. Educated at the Normal School in Cowcaddens, Alexander entered Glasgow University in 1867, where he won prizes in mathematics, mechanics,…...
Alibrandi, Gaetano
Alibrandi, Gaetano (1914–2003), papal diplomat, was born 14 January 1914 in Castiglione, Sicily, to an aristocratic family. After secondary education at the diocesan seminary in Acireale, Alibrandi attended the Pontifical Seminary, Rome, and was ordained priest on 1 November 1936; he…...
Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’)
Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’) (1861–1937), Fenian, journalist and civil servant, was born 15 June 1861 in Dublin, the third son of William Gartley Allan (d. 1881?), a clerk in the accounts department of the Board of Public Works (until 1873), and his wife Ellen Batty (née Quince…...
Allen, Dave
Allen, Dave (1936–2005), comedian, was born David Edward Tynan O'Mahony on 6 July 1936 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, youngest of three sons of (Gerard John) Cullen Tynan O'Mahony (nicknamed 'Pussy'), journalist, manager of the Irish Times, and raconteur,…...
Allen, William Edward David
This is a co-subject for the entry on Allen, David. View the original entry....
Alleyn, Sir James
Alleyn, Sir James (fl. 1425–57), landowner in Co. Meath, lawyer, and officeholder, appears in 1425 as a justice of the liberty of Ulster, with the title of knight. At or after the end of 1427 he and Sir Henry Fortescue (d. c.1460), chief justice of the king's bench…...
Allgood, Sara
Allgood, Sara (1883–1950), actress, was born 31 October 1883 in Dublin, daughter of George Allgood and Margaret Allgood (née Harold). Her father was a protestant printing compositor, son of an English army officer; her mother's family were catholic, owners of a junk shop. There were…...
Alton, Ernest Henry
Alton, Ernest Henry (1873–1952), classical scholar and public representative, was born 21 September 1873 at Marlinstown, near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, eldest son of James Poë Alton, banker, of Limerick and Marguerite Alton (née Keely). His abiding passion for classical literature was…...