Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Herbert, Victor
Herbert, Victor (1859–1924), composer, was born 1 February 1859 in Dublin, son of Edward Herbert, artist, and Fanny Herbert (née Lover). Victor's father died when he was 3, and he was initially raised by his grandfather, the novelist and composer …...
Hewson, George Henry Philips
Hewson, George Henry Philips (1881–1972), organist, composer, and teacher, was born 19 November 1881, youngest among ten children of Edmund Hewson and his wife Caroline (née Page). In 1888 he joined the school and choir of St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin. He showed an early aptitude…...
Higgins, Alexander Gordon ('Alex'; 'Hurricane')
Higgins, Alexander Gordon ('Alex'; 'Hurricane') (1949–2010), snooker player, was born on 18 March 1949 in Belfast, the only son of Alexander Gordon Higgins, a labourer, of Abbingdon Drive, Sandy Row, Belfast, and his wife Elizabeth (née Stockman); he had three sisters. Educated locally…...
Hilliard, Robert (‘Bob’) Martin
Hilliard, Robert (‘Bob’) Martin (1904–37), clergyman, boxer, and revolutionary, was born 7 April 1904 in New St., Killarney, Co. Kerry, one of six children of Robert M. Hilliard, a wealthy protestant draper, and Alice Hilliard (née Martin). The family subsequently resided at…...
Hobson, William
Hobson, William (1793–1842), naval officer and first governor of New Zealand, was born 26 September 1793 in Newtown Lodge, Waterford city, third among five sons of Samuel Hobson, assistant barrister for Co. Cork, and his wife Martha Jones, who was a member of a family that had…...
Holmes, Augusta Mary Anne
Holmes, Augusta Mary Anne (1847–1903), composer, was born 16 December 1847 in Paris of Irish parents, Captain Dalkieth Holmes, who had settled in Paris in 1820, and his wife, Augusta, née Shearer (d. 1857). Her mother published two pieces of prose: The law of Rouen, a…...
Hudson, Henry
Hudson, Henry (1798–1889), collector of traditional music, was born 23 March 1798, probably in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, third son of Edward Hudson and Frances Hudson (née Barton). Family tradition states that he was given the middle name ‘Philerin’ (‘love of Ireland’), which suggests…...
Hull, Sir William
Hull, Sir William (c.1573–1643), pirate collaborator and settler, was one of two surviving sons and five daughters of Henry Hull, a merchant and ship owner of Exeter, and his wife Julianna (née Spurway). Henry maintained a family tradition by serving as mayor of Exeter in 1605…...
Hutchinson, John Hely-
Hutchinson, John Hely- (1757–1832), 2nd earl of Donoughmore , soldier, politician, and diplomat, was born 15 May 1757, second son of John Hely-Hutchinson (qv), provost of TCD, and his…...
Hutchinson, Sir Walter Francis Hely
Hutchinson, Sir Walter Francis Hely - (1849–1913), colonial governor, was born 22 August 1849 in Dublin, second son of Sir Richard John Hely-Hutchinson (1823–56), 4th earl of Donoghmore and his wife, Thomasine, heiress of Walter Steele of Moynalty, Co. Monaghan. He was educated at…...
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy (1911–2006), socialist, activist, teacher, and maritime historian, was born 19 October 1911 in Lucknow, India, only child of De Courcy Ireland (1873–1915), a British army major of Irish ancestry, and his English-born wife Gabrielle (née Byron). …...
Jackson, Richard
Jackson, Richard (c.1731–1789), MP and official, probably born in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, seems to have been the only surviving son of William Jackson and Frances Jackson (née Eyre), who had also two sons who died young, and two daughters. William Jackson held a great…...
Jenison (Jenyson, Genyson), Thomas
Jenison (Jenyson, Genyson), Thomas (d. 1587), auditor general of Ireland, was the eldest son of Robert Jenison of Yokeflete, Yorkshire, England, and his wife Agnes, daughter of William Wren of the Isle of Ely. In early 1550 he entered the royal service and was dispatched to the…...
Johnson, Sir William
Johnson, Sir William (1715–74), superintendent of Indian affairs in colonial America (specifically among the Iroquois and their allies in New York), was born at Smithtown, Co. Meath, one of seven children (three sons and four daughters) of Christopher Johnson, tenant farmer, and Anne…...
Johnstone, Walter Edgeworth-
Johnstone, Walter Edgeworth- (1863–1937), soldier, DMP commissioner, and sportsman, was born at Kingstown, Co. Dublin, the eldest son of Robert Johnstone (1806–85), QC and county court judge, of Laputa, Co. Donegal, and his wife Doris Tivy. In 1838 a…...
Jones, Jimmy
Jones, Jimmy (1928–2014), footballer, was born on 25 July 1928 in Keady, Co. Armagh, the son of Thomas Jones, an RUC sergeant, and Ellen Jones (née Wilson). He was raised in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and educated at the local Carrick primary…...
Jones, Mary Latchford (Kingsmill)
Jones, Mary Latchford (Kingsmill) (1877–1968), public representative, was born on 28 June 1877 at 3 Wodehouse Terrace, North Circular Road, Dublin, the daughter of Percival Jones (1839–1906), a Dublin merchant and committed freemason, and Margaret Jones (née Williams) (1846–1920),…...
Jones, Theophilus
Jones, Theophilus (1729–1811), chief secretary, MP, and revenue collector, was the only son of Walter Jones (c.1694–1756) of Headfort, Co. Leitrim, and of Dublin, and his wife Olivia, elder daughter and co-heir of the Hon. Chidley Coote, of Coote Hall, Co. Roscommon, and…...
Joynt, William Lane
Joynt, William Lane (1824–95), barrister, politician and government official, was born on 26 December 1824 in Limerick city, the first son of William Persse Joynt, a merchant of Limerick city, and his wife Arabella (née Lane), the daughter of a doctor of Limerick city. Through his…...
Keightley, Thomas
Keightley, Thomas (c.1650–1719), government official, was born in Hertfordshire, England, only son of William Keightley of Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, and his wife Anne, daughter of John Williams of London. In 1672 he was appointed gentleman-usher to…...
Kellett, Iris
Kellett, Iris (1926–2011), showjumper and horse trainer, was born on 8 January 1926 in Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, the only child of Thomas Kellett, of Mespil Road, Ballsbridge, and his wife Julia (née Maron). Her father was a veterinary surgeon who, after service as a British army…...
Kennedy, Arthur Edward
Kennedy, Arthur Edward (1810–83), poor law inspector and colonial governor, was born on 9 April 1810 in Cultra, Co. Down, the fourth son of eleven children (six sons and five daughters) of Hugh Kennedy (1775–1852), a landed gentleman, JP and…...
Kennedy, Sir Robert
Kennedy, Sir Robert (c. 1584–1668) baronet, landowner, member of parliament and exchequer official, was the eldest son of Robert Kennedy of Dublin (probably descended from the O’Kennedys of Tipperary). Little is known of Robert’s early life, and he is…...
Keogh, Doris (neé Cleary)
Keogh, Doris (neé Cleary) (1922–2012), flautist and teacher, was born on 16 April 1922 on Leeson Street, Dublin, the daughter of Victor-Louis Cleary, an insurance agent and sometime professional flute player of Rathgar, Dublin, and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Hughes), who also had a…...