Pakenham, Sir Richard
Pakenham, Sir Richard (1797–1868), diplomat, was born 19 May 1797 at Pakenham Hall, Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath, fifth son of Admiral Sir Thomas Pakenham and Louisa Anne Pakenham (née Staples), granddaughter of William Conolly of Castletown, Co. Kildare. He was the nephew of…...
Parsons, Sir William
Parsons, Sir William (1570?–1650), lord justice of Ireland, was the eldest son of James Parsons of Leicestershire and his wife Catherine Fenton. As a youth, he was a staunch puritan and client of the earl of Leicester. After Leicester's death (1588), he settled in Ireland and from…...
Pennefather, Richard
Pennefather, Richard (1773–1859), judge and chief baron of the exchequer in Ireland, was born in August 1773 at Dublin, the eldest son of Major William Pennefather, of Knockeven (between Clonmel and Cashel), Darling Hill, Co. Tipperary (MP for Cashel in the Irish parliament), and…...
Perceval, Richard
Perceval, Richard (c.1558–1620), official in Ireland, was the eldest son of George Perceval (d. c.1599), of Sydenham, Somerset, England, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Edward Bampfylde, of Poltimore, Devon. He entered the Merchant Taylors’…...
Percival (Perceval), Sir Phillip
Percival (Perceval), Sir Phillip (1605–47), landowner and government official, was the second son of Richard Percival of Tickenham, Somerset, and his second wife, Alice Sherman of Ottery St Mary, Devon. His father was the clerk of the court of wards in Ireland and trained Phillip…...
Peter, Richard Milliken
Peter, Richard Milliken (1849–1909), rugby and swimming pioneer and administrator, was born in Dublin, a member of the Peter family after whom Peter Place, off Adelaide Road in Dublin, was named; no other family details are known. He was educated at Blackheath school near London,…...
Philips, Ambrose
Philips, Ambrose (1674–1749), official and writer, was born in Shropshire, England, son of Ambrose Philips, cloth manufacturer, and his wife Margaret, née Brookes. He attended Shrewsbury school and St John's College, Cambridge. He was a fellow of St John's (1699–1708), and seems…...
Piers (Pierse), Sir Henry
Piers (Pierse), Sir Henry (d. 1638), administrator, whose parentage is unknown, served as secretary to Sir Arthur Chichester (qv) throughout his eleven years as lord deputy of Ireland, from 3 February 1605 to 30 August 1616. For…...
Ponsonby, Brabazon
Ponsonby, Brabazon (1679–1758), 2nd Viscount Duncannon , 1st earl of Bessborough , revenue commissioner and lord justice of Ireland, was eldest son of William Ponsonby (1659–1724), 1st Baron Bessborough and Viscount Duncannon, of Bessborough, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Mary (d.…...
Power, Robert
Power, Robert (1794–1869), army officer and surveyor general of Van Diemen's Land, was born at Knockbrit, near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second son of Edmund Power, merchant, JP, and editor of the unsuccessful Clonmel Gazette, and…...
Pratt, John
Pratt, John (1670–1741), MP and government official, was fourth son of Joseph Pratt of Cabra Castle, Co. Cavan, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Audley Mervyn (qv) of Co. Fermanagh. One of his brothers,…...
Quigley, Sir George
Quigley, Sir George (1929–2013), civil servant and businessman, was born William George Henry Quigley into a presbyterian family on 26 November 1929 in Drumrot, Moneymore, Co. Londonderry, the son of William George Quigley, a potato inspector for the Ministry of Agriculture, and his…...
Ridgeway, Sir Thomas
Ridgeway, Sir Thomas (1565?–1632), 1st earl of Londonderry, planter and treasurer of Ireland, was born at either Torwood or Tor Abbey, Devonshire, England, heir of Thomas Ridgeway of Tor Mohun, and his wife Mary Southcote of Bovey Tracey, both of Devonshire. After matriculating (…...
Robinson, David Willis
Robinson, David Willis (1928–2004), scientist and horticulturalist, was born 2 April 1928 in Belfast, second son of William Robinson and his wife Eva (née Rice), who had two other sons. His father had a small building business, and in the difficult years of the 1930s also sold bedding…...
Rochfort, Robert
Rochfort, Robert (1651/2–1727), MP and chief baron of the exchequer, was second son of Prime-Iron Rochfort, army officer and landowner, and Thomazine Rochfort (née Pigott). Prime-Iron served as a lieutenant-colonel in Cromwell's army and was found guilty by court martial in 1651 of…...
Savage, Philip
Savage, Philip (1644–1717), chancellor of the exchequer, was born in February 1644 in Dublin, only son of Valentine Savage (d. 1670?) and his wife Anne Haughton, both of Dublin. He had three younger sisters. He was educated by Mr Golbourne of Dublin, entering…...
Shaw, James Johnston
Shaw, James Johnston (1845–1910), economist, barrister, and judge, was born 4 January 1845 at Kirkcubbin, Co. Down, second son of John Maxwell Shaw (d. 1852), merchant and farmer, and Anne Shaw (née Johnston). His father died when he was only seven, leaving his mother to raise a…...
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey (1828–1908), chief of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade, was born 17 January 1828 at Glenmore Cottage, near Ballymore, Cobh, Co. Cork, third son of Bernard Robert Shaw, merchant, of Shaw's Terrace and later Monkstown Castle, Cork, and his first wife, Rebecca…...
Sheridan, Thomas
Sheridan, Thomas (1646–1712), writer, royal official, and Jacobite, was born in St John's, near Trim, Co. Meath, fourth son of Denis Sheridan (qv), a Church of Ireland clergyman from Co. Cavan, and an Englishwoman named Foster. In the rebellion of 1641…...
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Smith, Sir Thomas
Smith, Sir Thomas (1512–77), officer of state, author, and colonial projector, was born at Saffron Walden, Essex, son of John Smith, high sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, and Agnes Charnock. He entered Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1526, and was made king's scholar (1527) and…...
Smythe, Percy Clinton Sydney
Smythe, Percy Clinton Sydney (1780–1855), 6th Viscount Strangford and 1st Baron Penshurst , diplomat and writer, was born 31 August 1780, in Queen St., Mayfair, London, eldest son of Lionel, 5th Viscount Strangford, formerly a captain in the 23rd Foot during the war of American…...
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend (1863–1936), naval officer, hydrographer, and author, was born 7 September 1863 on his family's historic estate at Drishane, Castletownshend, near Castle Haven, Co. Cork, third son of Lt.-col. Thomas Henry Somerville (later high sheriff of Cork) and his…...
Southwell, Sir Robert
Southwell, Sir Robert (1635–1702), diplomat, landowner, and public official, was born 31 December 1635 at Battin Warwick, on the River Bandon, near Kinsale, Co. Cork. He was the eldest son of Robert Southwell of Kinsale and his wife Helena, daughter of Robert Gore of Shereton,…...
Southwell, Sir Thomas
Southwell, Sir Thomas (c.1665–1720), Baron Southwell of Castle Mattress, Co. Limerick, revenue commissioner, was born at Glanamorohe Rhaiaile, Co. Limerick, first of four sons of Richard Southwell of Callow (d. a. February 1680) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter…...