King, Sir Lucas White
King, Sir Lucas White (1856–1925), Indian civil servant and Oriental scholar, was born 28 September 1856 in Madras, India, first among three sons and three daughters who survived infancy, of Henry King, a Drogheda-born member of the Indian Medical Service, and his wife Sophie…...
Knox, Alexander
Knox, Alexander (1757–1831), theologian and private secretary, was born 17 March 1757 in Londonderry, son of a member of the city corporation, and a descendant of the Scottish reformer John Knox. Educated at home, he made the acquaintance of the founder of methodism,…...
Lambart (Lambert), Sir Oliver
Lambart (Lambert), Sir Oliver (d. 1618), 1st Baron Lambart of Cavan , soldier and Irish administrator, was the son of Walter Lambart, of Preston, Yorkshire, England, and Rose, daughter of Sir Oliver Wallop and niece of Sir Henry Wallop…...
Lane, George
Lane, George (c.1620–83), 1st Viscount Lanesborough , politician and administrator, was born near Elphin, Co. Roscommon, eldest son of Sir Richard Lane of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, and his second wife, Mabel, daughter and heir to Gerald Fitzgerald. His English grandfather…...
La Touche, William George Digges
La Touche, William George Digges (1747–1803), diplomat and banker, was born on 28 August 1747, third son of James Digges La Touche (qv) and his second wife, Martha (née Thwaites) of St Stephen's Green, Dublin. He was admitted to St Paul's School, London, on…...
Lawlor, Hugh Jackson
Lawlor, Hugh Jackson (1860–1938), church historian and dean of St Patrick's, Dublin, was born 11 December 1860 at Ballymena, Co. Antrim, third son of John Hilliard Lawlor (b. 1819), bank manager, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Lieut-col. John Elliott Cairnes (1785–1847). John…...
Lawrence, William John
Lawrence, William John (1862–1940), drama critic, was born 29 October 1862 in Belfast, son of Joseph Lawrence, railway station manager; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at the dowager countess of Annesley's private school at Newcastle, Co. Down, and at Methodist…...
Lecky, William Edward Hartpole
Lecky, William Edward Hartpole (1838–1903), historian, was born 26 March 1838 in Newtown Park, Dublin. Of Scottish origin, the Leckys had settled in the north of Ireland in the early seventeenth century, and became prominent in the public life of the city of Derry. Robert Lecky,…...
Ledwich, Edward
Ledwich, Edward (1737?–1823), clergyman and historian, was born in Dublin, son of John Ledwich, merchant and brewer, and his wife, possibly Elizabeth (née Davies); his father's brother was Edward Ledwich (1707–82), dean of Kildare. Edward Ledwich jun. was educated by a Mr Shiels and…...
Lees, Edward Smith
This is a co-subject for the entry on Lees, Sir John. View the original entry....
Lees, Sir John
Lees, Sir John (c.1737–1811), secretary of the Irish post office, was born in Cannock, Ayrshire, Scotland, son of Adam Lees of Cannock and Agnes Lees (née Goldie) of Glasgow. Educated in Scotland, he first came to the notice of …...
Le Fanu, William Richard
Le Fanu, William Richard (1816–94), civil engineer and commissioner of public works, was born 24 February 1816 in the Royal Hibernian Military School, Phoenix Park, Dublin, youngest child among two sons and a daughter of the Very Rev. Thomas Philip Le Fanu (1784–1845), dean of…...
Leland, Thomas
Leland, Thomas (1722–85), historian, was born in Dublin, son of John Leland (about whom nothing is known). Having been schooled by the Rev. Dr Thomas Sheridan (qv) (1687–1738), he entered TCD…...
Leslie, James Blennerhassett
Leslie, James Blennerhassett (1865–1952), clergyman and scholar, was born 28 May 1865, third son of James Leslie, farmer, and Mary Anne Leslie (née Blennerhassett) of Clouncannon, Killarney, Co. Kerry. He read history, political economy, and jurisprudence at…...
Lewis, Sir George Cornewall
Lewis, Sir George Cornewall (1806–63), politician, author, and assistant commissioner of the poor law in Ireland, was born 21 April 1806 in London, elder son of Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis (1780–1855), later MP for Beaumaris (1812–26) and Ennis (1826–8), commissioner for Irish…...
Lodge, John
Lodge, John (1692–1774), archivist and genealogist, was born in Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire, England, son of Edward Lodge, farmer, and was baptised there 22 January 1693. Nothing is known of his mother. After attending the Clapham School in Yorkshire he entered St John's College,…...
Loftus, Adam
Loftus, Adam (1568?–1643), 1st Viscount Loftus of Ely, lord chancellor of Ireland, was the second, but eldest surviving, son of Robert Loftus of Swineside in the parish of Coverham, Yorkshire. Adam matriculated at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating BA…...
Lowther, James (‘Jem’)
Lowther, James (‘Jem’) (1840–1904), chief secretary for Ireland, was born 1 December 1840 at Swillington House, near Leeds, second son of Sir Charles Lowther (1803–94) and his wife Isabella (d. 1887), daughter of the Rev. Robert Morehead, rector of Easington. He was educated first…...
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard)
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard) (1590–1660), lawyer and judge, was probably the natural son of Christopher Lowther of Penrith, Cumberland. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, on 7 June 1605. He entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the bar in 1614. He was in Dublin as…...
Ludgate, Percy
Ludgate, Percy Edwin (1883–1922), pioneer in digital computing, was born 2 August 1883 at the house of his parents, Michael Ludgate and Mary (née McMahon), in Townsend Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork, the youngest of at least eight children. His father taught shorthand, later joined by…...
Lye (Leigh, Lee, Alie), John
Lye (Leigh, Lee, Alie), John (d. 1612), crown agent, is of obscure origins: he may have been the son of Francis Lasighsigh and his wife, a daughter of John O'Carroll, of Killeigh, King's County, or he may have been English-born. Lye held an important position as an agent of the crown in…...
Lyon, John
Lyon, John (1710–90), clergyman and antiquary, was baptised 5 October 1710, son of John Lyon, a blacksmith, and his wife, Sarah Lyon. He was a scholar (1727) at TCD, and graduated BA in 1729,…...
Lyons, John Charles
Lyons, John Charles (1792–1874), antiquary and horticulturist, was born 22 April 1792, the only child of Charles John Lyons (1766–96), a Westmeath landowner and soldier, of huguenot descent, and his wife, Mary Anne Lyons (née Levinge). His father died when he was four and in 1798…...
Macartney, George
Macartney, George (1737–1806), Earl Macartney , diplomat, chief secretary, and colonial governor, was born 3 May 1737 at Lisanoure, near Dervock, Co. Antrim, the only surviving son of George Macartney (d. 1779), a landowner of Lisanoure, who in 1732 married Elizabeth (d. 1755),…...
Macartney (McCartney), George
Macartney (McCartney), George (1626–91), merchant and customs official, was the only son of Bartholomew McCartney of Auchinleck, near Kirkcudbright, Scotland, and his wife Catherine, daughter of George Maxwell of Orchardton. George spelt his name as McCartney, but the form ‘…...