McDowell, Robert Brendan (R. B.)
McDowell, Robert Brendan (R. B.) (1913–2011), historian, was born on 14 September 1913 at Carrig, Bawnmore Road, Belfast, elder son of Robert McDowell, employed at Musgrave, a Belfast tea firm, and his wife Violet (née Ferris), whose family were wine and spirit merchants in Derry…...
McGrath, Raymond Herbert
McGrath, Raymond Herbert (1903–77), architect, was born 7 March 1903 in Gladesville, near Sydney, Australia, second child among two sons and one daughter of Herbert Edgar McGrath, hospital clerk, and Edith Mary McGrath (née Sorrell). He had Irish ancestry on both sides of his…...
Megaw, Basil
Megaw, Basil (1913–2002), archaeologist and folklife scholar, was born in Belfast on 22 June 1913, the third of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw, solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith). Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961) was a younger son of Robert Megaw…...
Moffett, Sir Thomas William
Moffett, Sir Thomas William (1820–1908), professor and president of QCG, was born 3 June 1820 in Castleknock, Co. Dublin, son of William Moffett, teacher. He entered TCD in 1838, obtaining first place in the sizarship examination, and…...
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury)
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury) (1612/13–1664), woman of letters, was born into the New English ruling class in Ireland, one of nine children of…...
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare)
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare) (1814–74), Sister of Mercy, foundress, Crimean war nurse, and teacher, was born 20 March 1814 in the Church of Ireland parish of St Ann's, Dublin, youngest among three children (one son and two daughters) of George and Catherine Moore, both…...
Morrison, Sir Richard
Morrison, Sir Richard (1767–1849), architect, was born probably in Co. Cork, where his father, John Morrison, practised as an architect of some pretensions. Frederick Augustus Hervey (qv), bishop of Cloyne and future earl…...
Moryson, Fynes
Moryson, Fynes (1566–1630), secretary to Lord Mountjoy and writer on Ireland, was third surviving son of Thomas Moryson (d. 1591), of Cadeby, Lincolnshire, England, clerk of the pipe and MP (for Great Grimsby in the parliaments of 1572, 1584, 1586, and 1588–9), and his wife…...
Mulholland, Roger
Mulholland, Roger (1740–1818), architect and property developer, was born in the diocese of Derry. Nothing is known of his background, but on 31 January 1770 he married Jane Russell in Belfast; she was probably related to a John Russell, whose name appears along with Mulholland's…...
Mulvany, Isabella Marion Jane
Mulvany, Isabella Marion Jane (1854–1934), educator, was born on 4 September 1854 in 7 Clanbrassil Terrace, Dublin, the second daughter in a family of seven children of Christopher Mulvany (1818?–1895), an engineer, and his wife Isabella (née Fowler). An older sister and a younger…...
Newman, John Henry
Newman, John Henry (1801–90), cardinal, theologian, and educationist, was born 21 February 1801 at 80 Old Broad Street, London, the first of the six children of his banker father, John Newman (d. 1824), and Huguenot-descended mother, Jemima Fourdrinier (d. 1836). He attended Ealing…...
Nicholson, Ernest Wilson
Nicholson, Ernest Wilson (1938–2013), biblical scholar, was born on 26 September 1938 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, the youngest of three children of Ernest Tedford Nicholson, a soldier and baker, and Veronica Muriel Nicholson. After attending Hart Memorial Primary School in Portadown, he…...
O Brien, Conor
O Brien, Conor (1880–1952), sailor and author, was born Edward Conor Marshall O'Brien on 3 November 1880 in Cahirmoyle, Co. Limerick, the son of Edward William O'Brien, JP, and Julia O'Brien (née Marshall). A grandson of…...
O'Connor, Patricia
O'Connor, Patricia (1905–83), writer and teacher, was born Henrietta Norah O'Connor (known within her family as Norah) at Sheephaven coastguard station, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal on 4 December 1905, third of four children (three daughters and a son) of Patrick O'Connor, coastguard and…...
Orpen, Richard Francis Caulfeild
Orpen, Richard Francis Caulfeild (1863–1938), architect and painter, was born 24 December 1863, the eldest of four sons and two daughters of Arthur Herbert Orpen, a solicitor, of Oriel, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and Anne Orpen (née Caulfeild), daughter of Revd Charles Caulfeild (1804–62),…...
Otway, Caesar
Otway, Caesar (1780–1842), protestant clergyman, travel writer, and antiquary, was the elder son in the family of two sons and two daughters of Loftus Otway (1755–89), a merchant at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and his wife Sarah, daughter of William Woodward of Cloughprior. Born in Co.…...
Palliser, John
Palliser, John (1817–87), explorer, was born 29 January 1817 in Dublin, eldest son of Wray Palliser (1788–1863) of Derryluskan, Co. Tipperary, and Comeragh, Co. Waterford, JP and lieutenant-colonel of the Waterford Artillery Militia, and…...
Parke, Thomas Heazle
Parke, Thomas Heazle (1857–93), army surgeon and African traveller, was born 27 November 1857 at Clogher House, Kilmore, Co. Roscommon, second son among ten children of William Parke, a well-to-do farmer, and Henrietta Parke (née Holmes). His ancestors were of Kentish stock. Educated…...
Parrot (Parrat), William
Parrot (Parrat), William (fl. 1622–42), builder of St Columb's cathedral, Londonderry, is first mentioned in September 1622 as a pikeman mustered for the defence of the town of Coleraine. In November 1627 he went to England carrying a letter from the 1st earl of…...
Perceval, Robert
Perceval, Robert (1756–1839), physician, chemist, traveller, and founding member of the RIA, was born 30 September 1756 in Dublin, third and youngest son of William Perceval, barrister, and his second wife, Elizabeth Perceval (née Ward; d.…...
Phillips, Walter Alison
Phillips, Walter Alison (1864–1950), historian and first Lecky professor at TCD, was born 21 October 1864 at Lewisham, England, youngest son of John Phillips, merchant, and Jane Phillips (née Atkins); throughout his career he was known as W. Alison Phillips. His father died in…...
Pococke, Richard
Pococke, Richard (1704–65), Church of Ireland clergyman, traveller, and antiquary, was born in Southampton, England, on 19 November 1704, son of Richard Pococke, rector of Colmer, Hampshire, and his wife Elizabeth, the only daughter of another clergyman, Isaac Milles (1639?–1720).…...
Pollen, John Hungerford
Pollen, John Hungerford (1820–1902), architect, artist, and author, was born 19 November 1820 in London, second son of Richard Pollen, barrister, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Pepys Cockerell. Educated at Durham House (1829–33) and Eton (1833–8), in May 1838 he…...
Pratt, Benjamin
Pratt, Benjamin (1669–1721), provost of TCD, was born at Garradice, Co. Meath, eldest son of Joseph Pratt (d. December 1705 or January 1706) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Audley Mervyn (qv) and widow of Nathaniel Poole. He…...
Purser, John Mallet
Purser, John Mallet (1839–1929), physiologist and professor of medicine, was born 8 November 1839 in Dublin, eldest son among nine sons and two daughters of Benjamin Purser (1815–98), corn merchant, and Anne Purser (née Mallet). He was educated in private schools before studying…...