Rea, Joe
Rea, Joe (1938–2007), farm leader, was born 2 May 1938 in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, eldest of two sons and a daughter of Michael Rea, farmer of Farmlee House, Ballyea, near Cahir, and his wife Catherine (‘Kathleen’, née O’Keeffe), originally from Co. Wexford. A voracious reader from early…...
Rebbeck, Denis
This is a co-subject for the entry on Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest). View the original entry....
Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest)
Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest) (1877–1964), shipbuilder and marine engineer, was born near Swindon, Wiltshire, only son of Albert Ernest Rebbeck and Jeanette Rebbeck. He was educated privately, serving his engineering apprenticeship in the English midlands, followed by employment at…...
Reid, Thomas
Reid, Thomas (1791–1825), naval surgeon and author, was one of four sons of Thomas Reid, farmer, from Cadian, near Eglish, Co. Tyrone. He received a classical education from the family pastor, the presbyterian minister Hugh Bell, before attending the Royal College of Surgeons in…...
Rice, Thomas Spring
This is a co-subject for the entry on Rice, Thomas Spring. View the original entry....
Richardson, William
Richardson, William (1740–1820), cleric, geologist, agriculturist, and pamphleteer, was probably born at Castleroe, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the only son of Charles Richardson (d. 1743) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Hercules Heyland of Coleraine. He was educated at…...
Ritchie, William
Ritchie, William (1756–1834), shipbuilder, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and had a shipbuilding practice at Saltcoats. In March 1791 he visited Belfast and, seeing the potential of the port, returned on 3 July 1791, with ten men, apparatus, materials, and his younger brother…...
Roberts, Richard
Roberts, Richard (1803–41), sailor, was third son of Richard Roberts, JP and captain of the Passage Yeomanry, of Ardmore, Passage West, Co. Cork, and his second wife, Mary Anne Neville, daughter of Norcott d'Esterre of Killura and Castle…...
Robinson, William
Robinson, William (1838–1935), horticulturist and author, was born 15 July 1838 in Co. Down to a family of agricultural labourers. He worked as a garden boy on the estate of Sir Hunt Johnson-Walshe in Ballykilcaven, Co. Laois, before taking the position of under-gardener at the…...
Roche, Laurence
Roche, Laurence (1927–99), forester, was born 20 October 1927 in Wexford town, second son and second child among five sons and four daughters of William Roche, shopkeeper, of 9 Monument Place, Wexford, and Bridget Roche (née Banville), from a well known literary family. Having…...
Roddy, Martin
Roddy, Martin (1883–1948), politician, publisher, and farmer, was born 9 December 1883 at Breeogue, Kilmacowen, Co. Sligo, eldest son among at least four sons and two daughters of Patrick Roddy, farmer, and Jane Roddy (née O'Hara). The family were long established and prominent in…...
Ross of Bladensburg, Sir John Foster George
Ross of Bladensburg, Sir John Foster George (1848–1926), soldier, commissioner of DMP, author, and landscape gardener, was born 27 July 1848, second son of David Ross of Bladensburg, of Rostrevor, Co. Down, and his wife Harriet, eldest daughter of the 2nd Viscount Ferrard, and 9th…...
Ryan, Luke
Ryan, Luke (1750–89), privateer and smuggler, was born on 14 February 1750 in Rush, Co. Dublin, the son of Michael Ryan, a farmer of Kenure, near Rush, and his wife Mary (née Taylor). As a child he attended the country school at Hackettstown, near Skerries, Co. Dublin. In 1762 he…...
Rynne, Stephen
Rynne, Stephen (1901–80), farmer, writer, and broadcaster, was born in Hampshire, second son of wealthy Irish parents, Dr Michael Rynne and Mary Rynne (née O'Mara). The family moved (1907) to Limerick, where Stephen attended Sacred Heart College, the Crescent, till he went to Clongowes…...
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’)
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’) (1894–1968), sailor and pioneer aviator, was born into a Church of Ireland family in Skerries, Co. Dublin, son of a Dublin contractor, Thomas Saul, and his wife Catherine; he had at least three sisters and three brothers. Educated at St Patrick's…...
Scully, James
Scully, James (1737–1816), grazier, banker, and diarist, was born 9 November 1737, a son in the family of two daughters and seven surviving sons of Roger Scully (1713–83) of Ballysheehan and later Dualla, townlands near Cashel, Co. Tipperary (to which district the Scullys had…...
Shanks, James
Shanks, James (1854–1912), farmer, agrarian activist, and self-taught naturalist and historian, was born 4 November 1854 on Ballyfounder farm, two miles south of Portaferry on the Ards peninsula, Co. Down. A presbyterian, after attending Portaferry no. 2 national school until age…...
Skeffington, Clotworthy
Skeffington, Clotworthy (1743–1805), 2nd earl of Massereene, eccentric, was born 28 January 1743, eldest son of Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st earl of Massereene (c.1713–1757) and his second wife, Anne (c.1715–1805), daughter of Henry Eyre of Row Tor, Derbyshire. At 14 he…...
Smith, Louis Patrick Frederick
Smith, Louis Patrick Frederick (1923–2012), agricultural economist and academic, was born on 21 December 1923 in Kevit Castle in Crossdoney, Co. Cavan, the youngest of eight children of Dr Frederick Paul Smith, a farmer and ophthalmologist of Kevit Castle, and his wife Isabella (née…...
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…...
Southern, Rowland
Southern, Rowland (1882–1935), marine zoologist, was born 9 May 1882 in Lancashire. He trained in chemistry at the Ramsay Laboratory, Bolton, and in 1902 obtained a position in the laboratory of the Dublin city analyst, Sir …...
Spratt, James
Spratt, James (1771–1853), seaman and inventor, was born 3 May 1771 at Harold's Cross, Dublin, son of James Spratt of Ballybeg, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. His family was descended from the Rev. Devereux Spratt (d. 1688) of Mitchelstown. He initially served in the merchant navy, and…...
Stafford, James Joseph snr
Stafford, James Joseph snr (1860–1947), merchant and ship owner, was born in Wexford town, eldest son among two sons and four daughters of Patrick Stafford of Wexford, merchant, and Elizabeth Stafford (née Cullenmore) of Yoletown, Co. Wexford. He was educated (1867–78) at the…...
Stephens, William Lawson (‘Billie’)
Stephens, William Lawson (‘Billie’) (1911–97), naval officer, was born 9 August 1911 in Belfast, son of Edward Rowley Stephens, shipping agent and timber merchant, of Kinnegar, Holywood, and Lilian Stephens (née Dash). Educated locally, he later attended Shrewsbury School before…...
Stewart, Sir Herbert Ray
Stewart, Sir Herbert Ray (1890–1989), agriculturalist, was born 10 July 1890, only son of Hugh Stewart and Rebecca Stewart (née Ray), both of Co. Down farming stock. Although born in Cambridge, Mass., USA (because of a family quarrel), he grew up in Co. Down, to which he returned…...