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…...
Archer, William (Liam) Aloysius
Archer, William (Liam) Aloysius (1892–1969), Irish Volunteer, army officer, and chief of staff, was born 18 June 1892 at 19 Aughrim St., Dublin, son of Edward Archer, post office telegraph inspector, and Susan Archer (née Matthews). Educated at St Peter's national school, Phibsborough,…...
Arkins, Thomas Michael
Arkins, Thomas Michael (1888–1913), founder of the Students' Representative Council, UCD, was born 14 September 1888 in Knockroe, Co. Clare, eldest of at least four sons and three daughters of John Arkins, farmer, and Bridget Arkins…...
Armour, James Brown
Armour, James Brown (1841–1928), presbyterian minister and political campaigner, was born 20/31 January 1841, youngest of six children of William Armour and Jane Armour (née Brown), who both came of presbyterian tenant-farmer families in Kilraughts, north Co. Antrim; the Armours…...
Armstrong, Florence
Armstrong, Florence (1928–2010), teacher and pioneer of multi-denominational education, was born on 26 November 1928, one of four children (three boys and a girl) of Thomas Armstrong and his wife Elizabeth (née Dunne). Both parents were from farming backgrounds. Florence (usually…...
Armstrong, James
Armstrong, James (1781?–1839), unitarian minister and educationist, was born at Ballynahinch, Co. Down, where his father John Armstrong (1754?–1837) was a merchant; his mother, Margaret (1751?–1836), was a daughter of John Strong (d. 1780), presbyterian minister at Ballynahinch (…...
Armstrong, John Warneford
Armstrong, John Warneford (1770–1858), soldier and informant, was born 28 August 1770 at Ballycumber, near Clara, King's Co. (Offaly), eldest among two sons and three daughters of George Armstrong (1734–80), landed gentleman, of Ballycumber, and his wife Constantia Maria (d. 1826),…...
Armstrong, Robert Williams
Armstrong, Robert Williams (1824–84), architect, civil engineer, and co-founder of Belleek Pottery, was born in Co. Longford, son of Francis Armstrong, architect and builder. Despite an early aptitude for pottery, he trained as an architect and civil engineer, exhibiting designs at…...
Arnold, Thomas
Arnold, Thomas (1823–1900), literary scholar and teacher, was born at Laleham, Middlesex, on 30 November 1823, the third child and second son of Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), later famous as the headmaster of Rugby School, and his wife, Mary, née Penrose (1791–1873). Throughout his life…...
Arnott, Sir Lauriston John
Arnott, Sir Lauriston John (1890–1958), soldier, newspaper proprietor, and philanthropist, was born 27 November 1890, second (and eldest surviving) son of Sir John Alexander Arnott (d. 1940), 2nd baronet, and his wife Caroline Sydney, eldest daughter of Sir Frederick Martin Williams…...
Ashe, Nora (Honora)
Ashe, Nora (Honora) (1882–1970), teacher, nationalist, and Irish language enthusiast, was born 15 July 1882 in Kinard, Lispole, Co. Kerry, the third daughter in the family of ten of Gregory Ashe, a farmer, and Ellen (née Hanafin), of Tobar, Co. Kerry. Both her parents were native…...
Ashe, St George
Ashe, St George (1658–1718), scholar and Church of Ireland bishop, was born in Co. Roscommon, in 1658, the second of three sons of Thomas Ashe, a landowner of English extraction, and Jane White of Richerstown. He entered TCD in 1671,…...
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…...
Ash, Thomas
Ash, Thomas (1660?–p. 1735), diarist and defender of Derry, was born in Killylane, near Muff, Co. Donegal, before his family moved to Corrinerin, later known as Ashbrook, Co. Londonderry. One of twenty-four children of John Ash, he was the third son of John's second wife…...
Ashworth, Charles Herbert
Ashworth, Charles Herbert (1862–1926), architect, was born 18 May 1862 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, son of Alfred Ashworth, and educated at Chester and Liverpool, where he served his articles. He settled in Dublin c.1885, was engaged by Thomas N.…...
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…...
Aston, Sir Arthur
Aston, Sir Arthur (c.1590–1649) royalist army officer, governor of Drogheda, was the younger of the two sons of Sir Arthur Aston, knight, of Fulham, Middlesex, and his first wife, Christiana, daughter of John Ashton of Penrith in Cumberland. There is nothing on record…...
Atkins, Henry St John
Atkins, Henry St John (1896–1987), president of UCC, was born in Cork on 19 March 1896, son of Patrick Atkins and Agnes Atkins (née Egan); he was educated at North Monastery school in Cork, and graduated…...
Atkinson, Joseph
Atkinson, Joseph (c.1743–1818), army officer, poet, and dramatist, was born in Dublin and served in the English army, reaching the rank of captain. He wrote a comedy and two comic operas, all of which were produced in Dublin. His first play, ‘The mutual deception’,…...
Axtell, Daniel
Axtell, Daniel (d. 1660), military governor of Kilkenny, was almost certainly born in southern England, and was apprenticed to a grocer in Watling St. (London). In the English civil war he joined the parliamentary army from religious conviction, rose to be lieutenant-colonel,…...
Aylmer, Matthew
Aylmer, Matthew (c.1650–1720), 1st Baron Aylmer of Balrath , admiral, and commander-in-chief of the fleet, was second child and second son among three sons and one daughter of Christopher Aylmer (d. 1671), 1st baronet, of Balrath, Co. Meath, and his wife Margaret, third…...
Aylmer, William
Aylmer, William (1778–1820), United Irish commander and officer in the Austrian army, was born in March 1778 at Painstown, Co. Kildare, the second son of Charles Aylmer (1720?–1801) but the first son of his second marriage, to Esmay, daughter of William Piers of Castletown, Co.…...
Bagenal (Bagnal(l)), Sir Henry
Bagenal (Bagnal(l)), Sir Henry (c.1556–1598), soldier, was born in England, eldest son of Sir Nicholas Bagenal (qv) and his wife Eleanor (née Griffith; d. 1573) of Penrhyn, north Wales. Henry apparently left…...
Bagenal (Bagnal(l)), Sir Nicholas
Bagenal (Bagnal(l)), Sir Nicholas (1510?–1591), soldier, was second son of John Bagnal (d. 1558), tailor and mayor of Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, England, and his wife Eleanor (Elinor) Whittingham of Middlewich, Cheshire. In 1539 Nicholas, as a gentleman pensioner, went to…...
Bagenal, Walter
Bagenal, Walter (1614–52), soldier and politician, was eldest son of George Bagenal of Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, and Joan, daughter of Walter Butler (qv), 11th earl of Ormond. The Bagenals originated from Staffordshire in England and only…...