Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Ashlin, George Coppinger
Ashlin, George Coppinger (1837–1921), architect, was born 28 May 1837 at Carrigrenane House, Co. Cork, third and youngest son of four children of John Musson Ashlin, a Corkman established as a corn merchant in London, and Dorinda Maria Ashlin (née Coppinger), from an old Co. Cork…...
Aston, Ernest Albert
Aston, Ernest Albert (1873–1949), journalist and urban planner, was born 6 October 1873 in Dublin, eldest of at least three sons and a daughter of Thomas J. Aston, book-keeper, and Jane Hawkshaw Aston (née Bennett). After education at Wesley College and training as an engineer, he…...
Barrett, James Rupert Edward Boyd
Barrett, James Rupert Edward Boyd (c.1904–1976), architect, was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, eldest of at least four sons of James Charles Boyd Barrett, electrical engineer, and Mary Jacqueline Boyd Barrett (née Robinson), and grandson of J. L.…...
Bathe, William
Bathe, William (1564–1614), diplomat, author, and Jesuit, was born in Drumcondra castle on Easter Sunday 1564, son of John Bathe (d. 1586), Irish solicitor general, chancellor of the exchequer, and grandson of James Bathe (qv), chief…...
Beirne, Bryan Patrick
Beirne, Bryan Patrick (1918–98), entomologist and pest control expert, was born 22 January 1918 in Ballygeary, Co. Wexford, the elder son of Patrick Beirne, tax inspector with UK Customs and Excise and later the Irish Revenue Commissioners, and his wife Mabel, daughter of…...
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie)
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie) (1903–72), trade unionist, was born in 1903 at Massford in the colliery district north of Castlecomer in Co. Kilkenny, the second in a family of four born to George Boran, a small farmer and coal carter, and his wife, Mary (née Maher). Nicholas attended…...
Boylan, Patrick Joseph
Boylan, Patrick Joseph (1879–1974), priest, biblical scholar, and Egyptologist, was born 2 December 1879 in Barrowhouse, near Athy, Co. Kildare, son of Patrick Boylan, a teacher at Shanganamore national school, and his wife Anne (née Walker), of Queen's County (Laois).…...
Brosnahan, Seán
Brosnahan, Seán (1911–87), teacher and trade unionist, was born 26 August 1911 in Killaloe, Co. Clare, one of nine children of John Brosnahan, RIC sergeant, and Norah Brosnahan (née Ryan) (d. 1946). One of his brothers was Thomas J.…...
Browne, Henry Martyn
Browne, Henry Martyn (1853–1941), classicist and Jesuit priest, was born 7 August 1853 in Claughton, Woodchurch, Cheshire, England, the second of four sons and one daughter of John Wilson Browne, hardware merchant, born in Portugal (1824), and Jane Susan Browne (née McKnight), one…...
Brown, Stephen James Meredith
Brown, Stephen James Meredith (1881–1962), Jesuit priest, bibliographer, and librarian, was born 24 September 1881 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of four children of Stephen James Brown (1853–1931), solicitor and JP, and Catharine Brown (…...
Bull, (George) Lucien
Bull, (George) Lucien (1876–1972), inventor, was born 5 January 1876 at 16 Upper Gloucester St., Dublin, one of two sons and two daughters of Cornelius Bull of Bedford, England, and Gabrielle Jouvé of Paris, owners of Bull's religious depository, Suffolk St., Dublin. Educated at…...
Butler, Eleanor Grace
Butler, Eleanor Grace (1914–97), countess of Wicklow, senator, social campaigner, and architect, was born 7 September 1914 at 89 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, one of five children of the architect Rudolf Maximilian Butler (qv), a…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (c.1782–1864), architect, was possibly the son of John Byrne, architect; his mother's name is not known. He entered the Dublin Society's schools in 1796, studied under Henry Aaron Baker (qv), and won premiums…...
Caldbeck, William Francis
Caldbeck, William Francis (c.1824–1872), architect and civil engineer, was the son of Richard Caldbeck and grandson of John Frederick Caldbeck (d. 1848) of Moyle Park, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin; his mother's name is not known, but she is said to have been Roman catholic, and…...
Campbell, James Joseph
Campbell, James Joseph (1910–79), educationist, classical scholar, author, and broadcaster, was born 8 March 1910 at 237 New Lodge Road, Belfast, second child of James Campbell, barber, and Bridget Campbell (née McTaggart), whose first child died in infancy, and who later had…...
Campbell, John Patrick (‘Seán’)
Campbell, John Patrick (‘Seán’) (1889–1950), trade unionist, was born 4 March 1889 in Dublin, the son of John Campbell, a labourer, and Isabella Campbell (née Darragh). The family lived at 27 New Bride Street. He was educated at CBS…...
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth (1905–89), conservationist and creator of the Ulster Way, was born in Belfast on 12 July 1905, the second son of four children (two boys and two girls) of John Malcolmson Capper, a cotton yarn merchant, and Elizabeth Jane Capper (née Stewart); the family was…...
Cardiff, Patrick Joseph ('Paddy')
Cardiff, Patrick Joseph ('Paddy') (1925–2005), trade union leader, was born 8 November 1925 at 11 Upper Basin Street, near James's Street, Dublin, third child and second son among five sons and one daughter of Patrick Cardiff (d. 1945), a foundry labourer, and later a boiler scaler in…...
Carlin, Terry (Terence)
Carlin, Terry (Terence) (1946–2003), trade unionist, was born 25 January 1946 in Derry city, the seventh child among eight sons and four daughters of Neil Carlin (d. 1981), a painter and decorator, and his wife Lizzie. The family resided on Elmwood Street in the city's Bogside. His…...
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’)
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’) (1887–1943), trade unionist, feminist, and republican, was born Maria Winifred Carney 4 December 1887 at Fisher's Hill, Bangor, Co. Down, youngest child among three sons and three daughters of Alfred Carney, commercial traveller, and Sarah Carney (née Cassidy…...
Carty, James
Carty, James (1900–59), historian, librarian, and bibliographer, was born in Wexford on 7 August 1900, one of the four sons of Francis Carty, a barber, and his wife, Margaret (née Storey). In 1920, while he was still a student at UCD…...
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth (1585–1639), Viscountess Falkland , writer and translator, was born at Burford Priory, Oxfordshire, the only child and heir of Lawrence Tanfield (c.1551–1625), a wealthy lawyer, later appointed chief baron of the exchequer, and his wife,…...
Clancy, Patrick
Clancy, Patrick (1877–1947), trade unionist, revolutionary, and politician, was born 17 March 1877 in the family home at Grange, Bruff, Co. Limerick, second child in the large family of John Clancy (d. 1935), carpenter, of Doneraile, Co. Cork and Bridget Clancy (née Farrell) (d.…...