Abell, Abraham
Abell, Abraham (1783–1851), antiquary and public figure at Cork, was born 11 April 1783 in Pope's Quay, Cork, son of Richard Abell, a quaker merchant. Abraham Abell too was a merchant, but he is to be remembered for his prominence in voluntary bodies, both cultural and…...
Acheson, Anne Crawford
Acheson, Anne Crawford (1882–1962), sculptor, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several daughters of John Acheson and Harriet Glasgow Acheson, and was educated in Victoria College and later in the School of Art (both in Belfast) and then at the Royal College of Art, London,…...
Acheson, Archibald
Acheson, Archibald (1776–1849), 2nd earl of Gosford, landowner, politician, and colonial governor, was born 1 August 1776, probably on the Acheson estate at Markethill, Co. Armagh, elder son among two sons and three daughters of Arthur Acheson (c.1742–1807), who succeeded as…...
Adair, John George
Adair, John George (1823–85), land speculator and evicting landlord, was born 3 March 1823 at Bellegrove, near Monasterevan, Co. Kildare, son of George Adair, landowner and agricultural improver, and his wife, Elizabeth Trench, sister of…...
Adair, Patrick
Adair, Patrick (c.1624–1694), presbyterian minister and historian, was the third son of John Adair, of Genoch in Galloway. He graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1642 and proceeded in 1644 to study divinity in the University of Glasgow. When licensed he travelled to…...
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto (1811–86), 2nd baronet, Baron Waveney, MP and author, was born 25 August 1811, elder son of Sir Robert Shafto Adair (1st baronet, of Flixton Hall, Suffolk, and Ballymena, Co. Antrim) and Elizabeth Adair (née Strode), and educated at Harrow (1823–8).…...
Adderley, Thomas
Adderley, Thomas (1715–91), landowner, MP, and entrepreneur, the only son of two children of Francis Adderley, Cork landowner, and Elizabeth Adderley (née Fowkes), was educated at TCD (BA 1735,…...
Adomnán
Adomnán (c.624–704), son of Rónán, was 9th abbot of Iona (679–704), biographer of Colum Cille, and saint in the Irish tradition. According to the genealogies, he was son of Rónán son of Tinne, one of the Cenél Conaill branch of the Uí Néill, and a kinsman of…...
Affrica (Affraic)
Affrica (Affraic) (fl. 1180–c.1219), daughter of Gofraid and wife of John de Courcy (qv), was a member of the royal family of Man and the Isles. Her father Gofraid (d. 1187), king of Man and the Isles, was a grandson of…...
Agar, James
Agar, James (1713–69), of Ringwood, Co. Kilkenny, MP and landowner, was born 7 September 1713, younger son of James Agar (1672–1733) of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, MP, and his second wife, Mary (née Wemys). He was educated at the Rev. Edmund Lewis's school, Kilkenny, before graduating…...
Agar, James
Agar, James (1735–88), 1st Viscount Clifden , MP and landowner, was born 25 March 1735, eldest among four sons and one daughter of Henry Agar (1707–46) of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Anne, daughter of Welbore Ellis (qv), bishop of Meath 1732–4. He was…...
Aífe (Aoife, Eva)
Aífe (Aoife, Eva) (fl. c.1153–1189) was the daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada (qv) (d. 1171), king of Leinster, and of his wife Mór, daughter of …...
Aiken, Francis Thomas (‘Frank’)
Aiken, Francis Thomas (‘Frank’) (1898–1983), farmer, revolutionary, and politician, was born 13 February 1898 in Carrickbracken, Camlough, Co. Armagh, seventh child and youngest son of James Aiken, farmer and builder from Co. Tyrone, and Mary Aiken (née McGeeney), of Corromannon,…...
Ainsworth, Sir John Francis
Ainsworth, Sir John Francis (1912–81), 3rd baronet, palaeographer, and archivist, was born 4 January 1912 in London, the only son of Thomas Ainsworth, later 2nd baronet, a racehorse breeder and master of various packs of foxhounds in Ireland, and his first wife, Edina Dorothy Hope (…...
Alexander, James
Alexander, James (1730–1802), 1st earl of Caledon , MP, was third and youngest son of Nathaniel Alexander of Gunsland, Co. Donegal, alderman of Derry city, and Elizabeth Alexander (née McClintock) of Dunmore, Co. Londonderry; both families were related to many people of importance…...
Alexander, James
Alexander, James (d. 1815?), historian of the battle of New Ross and miscellaneous writer, was a native of Harristown, near Monastereven, Co. Kildare. Nothing has been ascertained of his family other than that he had a brother, Wentworth, and that he was a cousin-german of Sir…...
Allan, Henry
Allan, Henry (1865–1912), painter, was born 18 June 1865 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, youngest son of William Allan, distiller, of Bachelor's Walk, Dundalk, and his wife Anne, daughter of the Rev. Solomon Browne, presbyterian minister of Castledawson, Co. Londonderry. He began his…...
Alleyn, Sir James
Alleyn, Sir James (fl. 1425–57), landowner in Co. Meath, lawyer, and officeholder, appears in 1425 as a justice of the liberty of Ulster, with the title of knight. At or after the end of 1427 he and Sir Henry Fortescue (d. c.1460), chief justice of the king's bench…...
Allison, Richard Sydney
Allison, Richard Sydney (1899–1978), neurologist and historian, was born 15 May 1899 in Belfast to William and Eliza Allison, and attended RBAI and QUB. Before completing his…...
Alment, Mary Martha
Alment, Mary Martha (1834–1908) artist, was born 9 April 1834 at St Mary's Abbey, Dublin, the daughter of William F. Alment, who was the son of John Alment (1740?–1787), a huguenot scientific and mathematical instrument maker. Mary studied art at the…...
Alton, Bryan Gerard
Alton, Bryan Gerard (1919–91), physician, politician and goldsmith, was born in Dublin on 5 June 1919, the only child of Norman Bindon Alton, bank inspector, and his wife, Mary Frances (née Hayes). The family lived at 119 Morehampton Road until his father died in 1925. Bryan and his…...
Anderson, Lily
Anderson, Lily (1922–82), social campaigner and communist, joined the Communist Party in 1942 and served for many years on its subcommittees for social services, education, and women. She was best known as a campaigner for better nursery facilities in Belfast during the 1960s. Her…...
Anderson, Mark Louden
Anderson, Mark Louden (1895–1961), forester, was born 16 April 1895, son of the Rev. J. C. Anderson and Jeanie Anderson (née Boyd), of Kinneff, Scotland. His university career was interrupted by service in the British army (1914–19), where he won an MC…...
Anderson, Robert Andrew
Anderson, Robert Andrew (1860–1942), agriculturist, was born in June 1860 at Mount Corbet, Buttevant, Co. Cork, where his parents, Andrew Anderson, a Scot, and his Canadian wife, settled in 1851. He began work as a petty sessions clerk at Doneraile and became sub-agent to the local…...
Anderson, Sir James Caleb
Anderson, Sir James Caleb (1792–1861), baronet and steam-coach promoter, was born 21 July 1792 in Cork, eldest of two sons and one daughter of John Anderson (1747–1820), banker of Cork, and his second wife, Elizabeth (d. 1830), daughter of James Semple, merchant of Waterford.…...