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…...
Daborne, Robert
Daborne, Robert (c.1580–1628), playwright and cleric, was the son of Robert Daborne (1551–1612), a tradesman of Guildford, Surrey, and his wife, Susan (née Travis; d. 1626). He states in the preface to A Christian turn'd Turke (1612) that his descent was ‘not…...
Dallas, Alexander Robert Charles
Dallas, Alexander Robert Charles (1791–1869), evangelical missionary, was born 29 March 1791 in Colchester, Essex, eldest son of Robert Charles Dallas (d. 1824), minor polemicist, and Sarah Dallas (née Harding). Suffering, by his own account, a claustrophobic early upbringing, in…...
Daly, Robert
Daly, Robert (1783–1872), Church of Ireland bishop of Cashel, was born 8 June 1783 in Dunsandle, Co. Galway, younger son of Denis Daly (qv), Galway politician, and his wife Henrietta, only daughter and heiress of Robert Maxwell, 1st earl of…...
Daniel (Ó Domhnuill, O'Donnell), William
Daniel (Ó Domhnuill, O'Donnell), William (1570–1628), Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam and translator of the New Testament into Irish, was a son of Nicholas Daniel of Kilkenny; nothing is known of his mother. During his youth he became a protestant, probably under the…...
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…...
Darby, John Nelson
Darby, John Nelson (1800–82), religious leader and writer, was born 18 November 1800 in Great George's St., London, sixth and youngest son of John Darby and Anne Darby (née Vaughan); there were also three daughters, one of whom married (1806)…...
D'Arcy, Charles Frederick
D'Arcy, Charles Frederick (1859–1938), Church of Ireland clergyman, bishop, and religious writer, was born 2 January 1859 in Dublin, son of John Charles D'Arcy, cashier to the Great Southern & Western Railway, and Henrietta Anna D'Arcy (née Brierly). On both sides of the family D'…...
Darcy, Hyacinth Talbot
Darcy, Hyacinth Talbot (1806–74), evangelical clergyman and landlord, was born at Glen Ierne, Clifden, son of John Darcy (see below) of a Connemara gentry family, one of the fourteen ‘Tribes of Galway’. A private tutor, Mr Hawkesworth, prepared Hyacinth for the undergraduate…...
Darlington, Joseph
Darlington, Joseph (1850–1939), Jesuit and academic, was born 5 November 1850 in Wigan, Lancashire, second son of Ralph Darlington (occupation unknown). He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford (2 December 1869) and graduated BA (1874)…...
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…...
Davies, Rowland
Davies, Rowland (1649–1721), clergyman and journalist, was son of Rowland Davies, gentleman farmer, and Mary Davies (née Scudamore; widow of Thomas Smith) of Gill Abbey near Cork. He was taught by Mr Scragg of Cork city before entering TCD…...
Delacour, James
Delacour, James (1709–81), clergyman and poet, was eldest son of John Delacour, landowner, of Killowen, near Blarney, Co. Cork; nothing is known of his mother. The Delacours (or de la Courts) settled in Co. Cork during the 1650s and became affluent landowners by the beginning of the…...
Delany, Patrick
Delany, Patrick (1685?–1768), clergyman and writer, was born in Rathcrea, Queen's Co. (Laois), probably on 15 March 1685. His father, Dennis Delany, is reputed to have been a servant to the Irish judge Sir John Russell. Delany was educated in Athy, Co. Kildare, at the school of Mr…...
Denny, Sir Edward
Denny, Sir Edward (1796–1889), MP and hymn-writer, was born 2 October 1796 in Dublin, eldest son of Sir Edward Denny, 3rd baronet, of Tralee Castle, Co. Kerry, and Elizabeth Denny, daughter and heir of Robert Day, MP. Educated at Eton, and later Exeter College, Oxford, he…...
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…...
Dickinson, Hercules Henry
Dickinson, Hercules Henry (1827–1905), Church of Ireland clergyman and theologian, was born 14 September 1827 in Dublin, son of Charles Dickinson, DD, later vicar of St Ann's, Dublin (1833–42) and bishop of Meath (1840–42), and Elizabeth…...
Digby, Simon
Digby, Simon (c.1645–1720), miniature-painter and bishop of Elphin, was born at Kilminchy, Queen's Co. (Laois), youngest son of Essex Digby and his wife Thomasine, daughter of Sir William Gilbert of Kilminchy, Queen's Co. Essex Digby became dean of Cashel in 1661 and…...
Digges, Joseph Robert Garven
Digges, Joseph Robert Garven (1857–1933), anglican clergyman and beekeeper, was born 8 December 1857, probably in Dublin, youngest of the four sons and five daughters of Henry Digges and Eliza Stokes, who were married (7 June 1836) in the church of St Nicholas Within, Dublin. They…...
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…...
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…...
Dodwell, Henry
Dodwell, Henry (1641–1711), theologian and non-juror, was born in Dublin, son of William Dodwell, who served in the army and held lands in Connacht, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby. He spent his early childhood in Dublin before his family moved to London and…...
Dolling, Robert William Radclyffe
Dolling, Robert William Radclyffe (1851–1902), Church of England clergyman and social reformer, was born 10 February 1851 at the Old Rectory, Magheralin, Co. Down, the sixth child of nine and the elder of two sons of Robert Holbeche Dolling (d. 1878), a landowner in Co. Down and…...
Donellan, Nehemias (Daniel, Nehemiah; Ó Domhnalláin, Fearganainm)
Donellan, Nehemias (Daniel, Nehemiah; Ó Domhnalláin, Fearganainm) (d. 1609), protestant archbishop of Tuam and Irish-language scholar, was born in Co. Galway, son of Maoileachlainn Ó Domhnalláin and his wife Sisile Ní Cheallaigh. The O'Donnellans were a well known and learned…...