Croft(s), Sir James
Croft(s), Sir James (1517/18–90), soldier and administrator, was second son of Sir Richard Croft of Herefordshire and Catherine Croft (née Herbert). James sat in parliament for Herefordshire (1542; 1545?); was made a knight (1547), governor of Haddington (1549), and member of the…...
Croker, John Wilson
Croker, John Wilson (1780–1857), politician and author, was born in Galway 20 December 1780, eldest among two sons and a daughter of John Croker (1743–1814), exciseman and surveyor general of Dublin port 1800–07, and his second wife, Hester (née Rathbone), daughter of a Co. Galway…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Crookshank, Charles Henry
Crookshank, Charles Henry (1836–1915), methodist minister and historian, was born 29 January 1836 at Cayaga, Upper Canada, younger son of Alexander Crookshank – a prominent solicitor and son of the judge Alexander Crookshank (qv…...
Crook, William
Crook, William (1823–97), methodist minister and historian, was born 1 November 1823, at Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford, the eldest son of the Rev. William Crook (1784–1862) of Cosbystown, Co. Fermanagh, a prominent methodist minister, and Jane Crook (née Vipond) of Cork. Educated at…...
Crosbie, Richard
Crosbie, Richard (1756?–1800?), balloonist, was born in Co. Wicklow, second son among five children of Sir Paul Crosbie, 4th baronet and barrack master at Bray, Co. Wicklow, and Mary Crosbie (née Daniel), an Englishwoman. His elder brother was (Sir)…...
Cuffe, Hamilton John Agmondesham
Cuffe, Hamilton John Agmondesham (1848–1934), 5th earl of Desart , civil servant and politician, was born 30 August 1848 at Richmond, Surrey, the third child and second son of Otway O'Connor Cuffe, 3rd earl of Desart (d. 1865), MP (1842), Irish representative peer (1846–65) and…...
Curtis, Edmund
Curtis, Edmund (1881–1943), historian, was born 25 March 1881 at Bury, Lancashire, England, fifth child among five sons and a daughter of Francis Curtis, architectural draughtsman, of Rathmullen, Co. Donegal, and Elizabeth Curtis (née Elliott) of Belfast. The family's circumstances were…...
Curwin (Curwen, Coren), Hugh
Curwin (Curwen, Coren), Hugh (c.1507–1568), catholic and Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, was born in High Knipe, in the parish of Bampton, Westmorland. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating Bachelor of Civil Law in 1528 and Doctor of Civil Law on 5 July 1532…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Danvers, Henry
Danvers, Henry (1573–1644), earl of Danby , army officer and lord president of Munster, was born 28 June 1573 at Dauntsey, Wiltshire, the second son of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey and Elizabeth, youngest daughter and coheir of John Neville, last Baron Latimer. Appointed to his…...
Davies (Davis), Sir Paul
Davies (Davis), Sir Paul (d. 1672), clerk of the privy council and secretary of state, was the fourth but second surviving son of John Davies of Kill, Co. Kildare; nothing is known of his mother. He inherited his father's considerable holdings in Kildare, Donegal, Enniskillen, and…...
Dickie, Marie Louise
Dickie, Marie Louise (1871–1947), public servant, was born 13 October 1871 at 8 Wodehouse Terrace, North Circular Road, Dublin, the eldest and only surviving child of Thomas Frankfort Coyle , a wine merchant, and his wife Maria Elizabeth (née Hilles; 1842?–1931), the youngest daughter…...
Dillon, Sir Robert
Dillon, Sir Robert (d. 1597), judge, was the eldest son of Thomas Dillon of Riverston, Co. Meath, and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Luttrell (qv), chief justice of the common pleas. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn, appearing…...
Dixon, Frederick E.
Dixon, Frederick E. (1913–88) meteorologist, historian, and philatelist, was born 27 March 1913 in Oundle, near Peterborough, England, a son of Nathan Dixon and his wife, Edith, née Howitt, who also had another son and a daughter. He attended Deacon's School, Peterborough, and…...
Dobbs, Arthur
Dobbs, Arthur (1689–1765), politician and colonial governor, was born 2 April 1689 in Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland, second son of Richard Dobbs of Castle Dobbs, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, and Mary Dobbs (née Stewart) of Ballintoy, Co. Antrim. His father was an army captain serving…...
Docwra (Dowkra, Dockwra, Dockwraye, Dockquerye, Docura), Sir Henry
Docwra (Dowkra, Dockwra, Dockwraye, Dockquerye, Docura), Sir Henry (1564–1631), 1st baron of Culmore , soldier and administrator, was baptised on 30 April 1564, younger son of Edmund Docwra of Chamberhouse manor, Thatcham, Berkshire, England, and his wife Dorothy. He joined the…...
Donnellan, Nehemiah
Donnellan, Nehemiah (1649–1705), MP and chief baron of the exchequer, was born in Dublin, third son of Sir James Donnellan (qv), MP and lord chief justice of the common pleas, and his second wife, Sarah, fourth daughter of Jonas…...
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus)
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus) (c.1544–1628), ecclesiastic and annalist, was a member of the Dowling family of Laois (Co. Laois). According to his own testimony, he was fostered in Leighlin, and received some basic education locally. He then went to Dublin, where he stayed for four…...
Drew, Sir Thomas
Drew, Sir Thomas (1838–1910), architect and antiquary, was born 18 September 1838 at Victoria Place, Belfast, into the large family of the Rev. Dr Thomas Drew (qv), son of a Limerick grocer, and Isabella Drew (née Dalton; 1802–69), daughter…...
Drury, Sir William
Drury, Sir William (1527–79), soldier and administrator, was born on 2 October 1527 at Hawstead, Suffolk, the third son of Sir Robert Drury of Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Brudenell. He was educated at Gonville Hall, Cambridge, then became a…...
Duff, David
Duff, David (1883–1959), doctor, barrister and colonial civil servant, was born on 11 April 1883 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, one of ten children of John Duff, the secretary of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, and his wife Anne Marie (née Elkins). Educated at the…...
Duggan, George Chester
Duggan, George Chester (1885–1969), civil servant, was born 5 February 1885 in Parsonstown, King's Co. (Offaly), second son of George Duggan, born in Co. Fermanagh, manager of the Provincial Bank, College Green, Dublin, and Emily Duggan (née Grant). The family later lived at…...
Duhigg, Bartholomew
Duhigg, Bartholomew (c.1751–1813), political activist, antiquarian, and barrister, was the fourth son of Bartholomew Duhigg, ‘gent.’, of Ballyhigh, Co. Limerick, who seems to have been a Roman catholic who conformed in 1725. Bartholomew the younger entered the Middle…...
Dunlop, Henry Wallace Doveton
Dunlop, Henry Wallace Doveton (1844–1930), sports promoter, civil servant and engineer, was born in February 1844 in Bombay (Mumbai), India, the only son of (William) Henry Glasgow Dunlop (d. 1869), deputy superintendent of the Bombay Water Police, and his wife Mary Anne (née Pilkington…...