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…...
Robinson, Thomas Romney
Robinson, Thomas Romney (1793–1882), astronomer and mathematical physicist, was born 23 April 1793 in St Anne's parish, Dublin, eldest son of Thomas Robinson, an English portrait painter, and Ruth Robinson (née Buck). He was named after his father's painting master, George Romney.…...
Salmon, George
Salmon, George (1819–1904), mathematician and theologian, was born 25 September 1819 and baptised at St George's church, Temple Street, Dublin on 28 September 1819. He was the only son of Michael Salmon, linen merchant at the Linen Hall, Dublin, and subsequently at 80 Grand Parade, Cork…...
Scott, Robert Henry
Scott, Robert Henry (1833–1916), meteorologist and mineralogist, was born 28 January 1833 in Dublin, youngest son among five sons and one daughter of James Smyth Scott, lawyer, and his wife Louisa, daughter of Charles Brodrick (qv),…...
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…...
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…...
Stokes, George Gabriel
Stokes, George Gabriel (1819–1903), 1st baronet, mathematician, physicist, and scientific administrator, was born 13 August 1819 in Skreen, Co. Sligo, youngest child among five sons and three daughters of Gabriel Stokes (1761–1834), rector of Skreen, and his wife Elizabeth,…...
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles)
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles) (1922–2005), cardiologist, inventor of the Swan–Ganz catheter, was born 1 June 1922 in Sligo town, one of four sons of Harold Swan and his wife Marcelle (née Kelly); both his parents were physicians who had met while studying medicine at…...
Symner, Miles
Symner, Miles (d. 1686), clergyman, mathematician, astronomer, and military engineer, is of unclear parentage, but considering his education at TCD, he was probably of Anglo-Irish or English descent. He entered TCD as a scholar in…...
Synge, Edward Hutchinson
Synge, Edward Hutchinson (1890–1957), physicist, was born on 1 June 1890 in south Dublin, eldest child of Edward Synge and his wife Ellen (née Price). He had two brothers, Victor Millington Synge (qv) and…...
Synge, John Lighton
Synge, John Lighton (1897–1995), mathematician and theoretical physicist, was born 23 March 1897 in Dublin, youngest among one daughter and three sons of Edward Synge (1859–1939), then land agent in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan, and his wife Ellen Frances (1861–1935), daughter of the…...
Templeton, John
Templeton, John (1766–1825), naturalist and philanthropist, was born at Bridge St., Belfast, son of James Templeton, a prosperous wholesale merchant, and his wife Mary Eleanor, daughter of Benjamin Legg of Belfast and Malone. Background and education The…...
Thomson, James
Thomson, James (1786–1849), professor of mathematics, was born 13 November 1786 in Annaghmore, near Ballynahinch, Co. Down, third son and fifth child of James Thomson and Agnes Thomson (née Nesbit), farmers. James was taught to read by his older sisters, worked his way unaided…...
Tollet, George
Tollet, George (d. c.1721/2), mathematician and early scientist, had (although details of his parents and date of birth are unknown) three brothers, Charles, John, and Thomas, and a sister, Mary. All of his siblings were married, and had children: Charles had a son named…...
Torrens, David Smyth
Torrens, David Smyth (1897–1967), professor of physiology and amateur horologist, was born 10 September 1897 in the Carragh district of Culnaman townland, Moneydig, Garvagh, Co. Londonderry, eldest son among three sons and a daughter of David Torrens, farmer, and Margaret Torrens…...
Townsend, Richard
Townsend, Richard (1821–84), mathematician, was born 3 April 1821 at Baltimore, Co. Cork, eldest son among six sons and two daughters of Thomas Townsend of Smithville, near Castletownsend, and his wife Helena, daughter of John Freke of Baltimore, deputy governor of Co. Cork during…...
Traill, Anthony
Traill, Anthony (1838–1914), provost of TCD, was born 1 November 1838 at Ballylough, Co. Antrim, eldest son among three sons and three daughters of William Traill, who had a medical degree and owned an estate at Ballylough, and his wife Louisa, daughter of Robert Ffrench of…...
Ussher, Henry
Ussher, Henry (1741–90), astronomer, was fourth son of the Rev. Samuel Ussher (1695–1771), rector of Dunganstown, Co. Wicklow, and Frances Ussher (née Walsh). His grandfather, John Ussher of Mount Ussher, Co. Wicklow, was a master in chancery and third son of William Ussher of…...
Ussher, Richard John
Ussher, Richard John (1841–1913), ornithologist and speleologist, was born 6 April 1841, the only child that survived infancy of Richard Kiely Ussher (1778–1854) of Cappagh, Co. Waterford, and his second wife, Isabella Ussher, daughter of Col. Jasper Grant, of Kilmurray, Co. Cork…...
Vernon, John Fane
Vernon, John Fane (1849–1923), lawyer, land agent, JP, and governor of the Bank of Ireland, was born 5 July 1849 at Bingfield, Co. Cavan, the eldest of the two sons and one daughter of John Edward Vernon of Erne Hill, Co. Cavan, land agent,…...
Wade, Walter
Wade, Walter (c.1740–1825), botanist, was born in Dublin, son of John Wade (d. 1799), chemist and apothecary, and Katherine Wade. In 1767 John Wade's proposal, sanctioned by (Royal) King and Queen's College of Physicians Ireland ((R)K&QCPI; forerunner of RCPI), to establish…...
Watts, William Arthur ('Bill')
Watts, William Arthur ('Bill') (1930–2010), scientist and provost of TCD, was born on 26 May 1930 in Upper Mayor Street, in Dublin's East Wall area, his maternal grandparents' home. His mother, Bess Dickinson, had moved to Dublin from England as a child, and in 1925 married William…...
West, Harry (Henry William)
West, Harry (Henry William) (1917–2004), farmer and politician, was born in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, on 27 March 1917, eldest child and only son (he had five sisters) of William West, farmer and former secretary of Fermanagh County Council, and his wife Harriet (née Spence). West's…...
West, Trevor
West, Trevor (1938–2012), mathematician, politician and sportsman, was born on 8 May 1938 in Cork, the eldest of four sons of Timothy Roberts West, headmaster of Midleton College, Co. Cork, and Dorothy Trevor West (née McNeill), of Charleston, Ballinacurra, Co. Cork, who was CEO of…...
White, Henrietta Margaret
White, Henrietta Margaret (1856–1936), principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, horticulturist, and social activist, was eldest child among three daughters and one son of Henry Charles White (1818–1903), of Charleville, Queen's Co. (Laois), JP…...