Abell, Abraham
Abell, Abraham (1783–1851), antiquary and public figure at Cork, was born 11 April 1783 in Pope's Quay, Cork, son of Richard Abell, a quaker merchant. Abraham Abell too was a merchant, but he is to be remembered for his prominence in voluntary bodies, both cultural and…...
Abernethy, William
Abernethy, William (1864–1930), professional photographer, was the son of Robert Abernethy, farmer, from Comber, Co. Down. Details of his early life are lacking, even in obituaries published in the Belfast press. He learned his trade in Belfast, in the studio of a successful…...
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…...
Adair, Patrick
Adair, Patrick (c.1624–1694), presbyterian minister and historian, was the third son of John Adair, of Genoch in Galloway. He graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1642 and proceeded in 1644 to study divinity in the University of Glasgow. When licensed he travelled to…...
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…...
Adomnán
Adomnán (c.624–704), son of Rónán, was 9th abbot of Iona (679–704), biographer of Colum Cille, and saint in the Irish tradition. According to the genealogies, he was son of Rónán son of Tinne, one of the Cenél Conaill branch of the Uí Néill, and a kinsman of…...
Ainsworth, Sir John Francis
Ainsworth, Sir John Francis (1912–81), 3rd baronet, palaeographer, and archivist, was born 4 January 1912 in London, the only son of Thomas Ainsworth, later 2nd baronet, a racehorse breeder and master of various packs of foxhounds in Ireland, and his first wife, Edina Dorothy Hope (…...
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, James
Alexander, James (d. 1815?), historian of the battle of New Ross and miscellaneous writer, was a native of Harristown, near Monastereven, Co. Kildare. Nothing has been ascertained of his family other than that he had a brother, Wentworth, and that he was a cousin-german of Sir…...
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…...
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, 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…...
Allison, Richard Sydney
Allison, Richard Sydney (1899–1978), neurologist and historian, was born 15 May 1899 in Belfast to William and Eliza Allison, and attended RBAI and QUB. Before completing his…...
Anderson, Emily
Anderson, Emily (1891–1962), academic, civil servant, and translator, was born 17 March 1891 at Taylor's Hill, Galway, second daughter of Alexander Anderson (qv), professor of natural philosophy and later president of…...
Anderson, John
Anderson, John (1882–1958), 1st Viscount Waverley , administrator, politician, and under-secretary for Ireland, was born in Edinburgh on 8 July 1882, the eldest of the four children (two sons and two daughters) of David Alexander Pearson Anderson, businessman, and his wife, Janet…...
Anderson, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee. View the original entry....
Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee
Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee (1837–86), and Sir Robert (1841–1918), lawyers and secret-service administrators, were sons of Matthew Anderson of Londonderry, crown solicitor for Dublin. Samuel Lee, the elder, was named after an ancestor member of the apprentice boys of Derry in 1688;…...
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’)
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’) (1901–85), revolutionary, public servant, and writer, was born 6 October 1901 at 42 Summerhill, central Dublin, elder of two sons of Christopher Andrews, of Dublin, and Mary (‘Molly’) Andrews (née Moran), daughter of a…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1873–1912), shipbuilder, was born 7 February 1873 at Ardara, Comber, Co. Down, where his family, members of the non-subscribing presbyterian church, had been prominent in business for several generations. He was the second son of Thomas Andrews (1843–1916), for…...
Archdall, Mervyn
Archdall, Mervyn (1723–91), clergyman and antiquary, was born 22 April 1723 in Dublin, elder son among two sons and three daughters of William Archdall, goldsmith, and his wife Henrietta, a widow who was daughter of Henry Gonne, curate of Finglas. William Archdall was Dublin assay…...
Archer, Forster
Archer, Forster (1758/9–1826), protestant clergyman and inspector of prisons, was born in Co. Cork, the son of Richard Archer, a merchant. He entered TCD, aged seventeen (1 July 1776), graduated BA…...