McCormack, Inez Jane Mary (née Murphy)
McCormack, Inez Jane Mary (née Murphy) (1943–2013), human rights activist and trade unionist, was born on 28 September 1943 in Belfast to Francis Cecil Murphy, a printer, and his wife, Margaret Murphy (née Sterritt), a nurse. She had one older brother, Terence (b. 1942). When Inez was…...
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis)
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician, was born 23 October 1929 at the family home at 5 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest of three children (he had a sister, Marion, and a brother, John) born to Thomas Henry…...
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…...
Milligan, Victor
Milligan, Victor (1929–2009), athlete and civil engineer, was born in Belfast on 11 November 1929, the only child of Albert Milligan, a member of the RUC, and his wife Margaret (née Walker). Growing up in Irwin Drive, Ballyhackamore, in east Belfast, he was encouraged by his parents…...
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William (1656–98), scientist and political writer, was born in Dublin, 17 April 1656, eldest surviving son of Samuel Molyneux (1616–93), master gunner of Ireland and his wife, Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of William Dowdall, merchant of Dublin. His great-…...
Molyneux, Samuel
Molyneux, Samuel (1689–1728), scientist and politician, was born 18 July 1689, son of William Molyneux (qv) and his wife, Lucy Molyneux (née Domvile), at Chester. His mother died in 1691 and his father, who followed the…...
Molyneux, Sir Thomas
Molyneux, Sir Thomas (1661–1733), physician, natural historian, and antiquarian, was born 14 April 1661, near Gormond's (Ormond, Wormwood) Gate on Cook St., Dublin, second son among five sons and two daughters of Samuel Molyneux (d. 1693), lawyer, landowner, and army captain, and his…...
Monck, William Henry Stanley
Monck, William Henry Stanley (1839–1915), philosopher and astronomer, was born 21 April 1839 at Skeirke, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son of Thomas Stanley Monck, curate of Skeirke 1829–50, and Lydia Elinor Monck (née Kennedy). The family moved (1850) to Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny,…...
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…...
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…...
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort (1804–54), MP and gentleman scientist, was born 29 June 1804, eldest of three sons of the Rev. Frederick Ferriter Mullins of Beaufort House, Killarney, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Croker of Johnstown. His grandfather…...
Mullins, Michael Bernard
Mullins, Michael Bernard (1808–71), civil engineer, was born 1 August 1808, probably in King's Co. (Offaly), eldest among two sons and three daughters of Bernard Mullins and his wife Bridget-Maria, daughter of Michael Hoey of Co. Westmeath. Bernard Mullins (1772–1851), civil…...
Murphy, Robert
Murphy, Robert (1806–43), mathematician, was born in Mallow, Co. Cork, fifth son among seven sons and three daughters of John Murphy, shoemaker and Church of Ireland parish clerk in Mallow, and his wife Margaret (maiden name unknown). His father died (1814), leaving the family…...
Nevill, Arthur Jones
Nevill, Arthur Jones (c.1712–1771), engineer and MP, was son of Maj.-gen. Edward Jones of Wexford, who assumed the surname Nevill, and Mary Jones (neé Nevill). Both his grandfathers as well as his father served as MPs in the Irish house of commons. Nevill entered…...
O'Brien, Matthew
O'Brien, Matthew (1814–55), mathematician, was born at Ennis, Co. Clare, the son of Matthew O'Brien, a doctor. Educated initially by a private tutor, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, in July 1830 at the age of sixteen, but in November 1834 transferred to Gonville and Caius…...
O'Neill, (Katharine) Jean
O'Neill, (Katharine) Jean (1915–2008), Lady O'Neill of the Maine , plantswoman and horticulturalist, was born 16 January 1915 at 41 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, one of five children of William Ingham Whitaker, landowner and horticulturalist of Pylewell Park, near Lymington, Hampshire…...
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),…...
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…...
Parsons, William
Parsons, William (1800–67), astronomer and 3rd earl of Rosse , was born 17 June 1800 at York, England, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Sir Lawrence Parsons (1758–1841) of Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), and Alice Parsons (née Lloyd), daughter of a…...
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’)
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’) (1904–85), trade unionist and peace activist, was born 25 November 1904 at 32 Woodvale St., Shankill Road, Belfast, eldest of three children of William Patterson (d. 1912), shipyard blacksmith, and Sarah Patterson (née Moore), both of whom were devout…...
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.…...
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…...
Price, James
Price, James (1831–95), civil engineer, was born 18 January 1831 in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, second son of James Price of Newtown Park, Monkstown. Price entered TCD on 15 January 1847, eventually earning a diploma in civil engineering (…...
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael (1876–1934), neurologist, was born 16 September 1876 in India, son of William Edward Purser (b. 1845), official in the Indian civil service, and Elizabeth Purser (née Geoghegan), his cousin. After the death of his mother (1877), he was sent to…...
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock (1859–1923), astronomer, was born 21 September 1859 in Waterford city, third son of the Rev. Edmund Francis Rambaut (BA, TCD), Church of Ireland clergyman and curate of…...