Coppin, William
Coppin, William (1805–95), sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor, was born 9 October 1805 in Kinsale, Co. Cork; no details of his parents are known. From his childhood he displayed a strong affinity to the sea, and at the age of 15 was involved in the rescue of six customs men from a…...
Corbett, William Edward
Corbett, William Edward (1824–1904), engineer and architect, was born 19 April 1824 in Limerick city, son of Patrick Corbett, a member of an old Limerick family. Nothing is known of his mother. He is described as a civil engineer on his death certificate and obituaries, but there…...
Cordner, Joseph (James)
Cordner, Joseph (James) (1875–1963), pioneer aviator, was born 11 February 1875 in Derryinver, Co. Armagh, twin brother of Edward Cordner and son of Ussiagh Cordner, farm labourer, and Anne Cordner. Educated locally, Joseph (who may also have been known as ‘James’) and Edward opened…...
Corneille, Rudolph
Corneille, Rudolph (fl. 1690–1717), engineer and architect, was born at Medemblik, Holland, son of Rudolphe Gideon Corneille and Anne Corneille, probably French huguenot refugees. He went to Ireland c.1690 as an engineer in …...
Corry, John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Corry, Sir James Porter White. View the original entry....
Cotton, Charles Philip
Cotton, Charles Philip (1832–1904), civil engineer, was born 19 January 1832 in Dublin, son of Henry Cotton (qv), archdeacon of Cashel, formerly of Bucks., England, and his wife Mary Vaughan, youngest daughter of Richard Laurence (1760–…...
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’)
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’) (1895–1961), engineer, army officer, and businessman, was born at Cork on 13 December 1895, the elder son of Timothy Courtney of Co. Kerry, pensioner of the RIC, and Ellen Courtney (née Shea) of…...
Cox, Lemuel
Cox, Lemuel (1736–1806), engineer and mechanical innovator, was born in Boston, in the colony of Massachusetts. During the American war of independence he remained loyal to the British crown and was imprisoned at Ipswich on 29 December 1775. After his release he became a successful…...
Coyne, William Patrick
Coyne, William Patrick (1866–1904), statistician, was born 18 May 1866 at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, the second son of a merchant, Edward Coyne, and his wife, Maria (née Hayes). He was educated at St Stanislaus’ College, Tullabeg, and St Ignatius’ College, Temple Street, Dublin, from…...
Craig, Maurice James Waldron
Craig, Maurice James Waldron (1919–2011), architectural historian, writer and poet, was born 25 October 1919 at 11 University Square, Belfast, elder of two sons of James Andrew Craig, a leading ophthalmic surgeon, and Blanche Craig (née Alice Blanche Sara Waldron), an Englishwoman.…...
Crampton, George Hugh Cecil
Crampton, George Hugh Cecil (1901–76), engineer and building contractor, was born 21 July 1901 in Dublin, only son and second child of two children of George James Crampton (1851–1925), building contractor, originally of Ballintaggart, Co. Kildare, and Elizabeth Crampton (née Boyd)…...
Crawford, Robert
Crawford, Robert (1831–1914), civil engineer, was born 2 June 1831 at Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, the fourth child of Samuel Crawford, a solicitor, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of John Duncan of Dublin. He had two brothers and one sister. Crawford was educated at the Rev. Robert Wray…...
Crosbie, Richard
Crosbie, Richard (1756?–1800?), balloonist, was born in Co. Wicklow, second son among five children of Sir Paul Crosbie, 4th baronet and barrack master at Bray, Co. Wicklow, and Mary Crosbie (née Daniel), an Englishwoman. His elder brother was (Sir)…...
Crossland, Sir Bernard
Crossland, Sir Bernard (1923–2011), engineer and academic, was born on 20 October 1923 in Sydenham, south London, the youngest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Reginald Crossland, an engineer, and his wife Kathleen (née Ruddock). His grandfather and great-grandfather were…...
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William (1839–97), engineer and evangelist, and his brothers Sir William John (1844–1911), engineer, and (Thomas) Hastings (Henry) (1846–1926), classical scholar, were sons of Maj. Francis Crossley of the East India Company, governor of the Andaman Islands…...
Crossley, William John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William. View the original entry....
Crotty, Raymond Dominick
Crotty, Raymond Dominick (1925–94), economist, radical, author, and opponent of European integration, was born 22 January 1925 at Parliament St., Kilkenny, one of four sons and five daughters of Raymond Crotty, baker and shopkeeper of Kilkenny, and Elizabeth Crotty (née Keoghan). His…...
Crozier, Maurna
Crozier, (Rose Mary) Maurna (1942–2015), social anthropologist, was born in Belfast on 22 January 1942, the only surviving child of Robert Frizzell, the first general manager of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), and his wife Molly (née Rands), a rosarian and the daughter of…...
Cummins, Iris Ashley
Cummins, Iris Ashley (1894–1968), engineer and hockey player, was born 6 June 1894 in Woodville, Glanmire, Co. Cork, daughter of William Edward Ashley Cummins, professor of medicine at UCC, and Jane Cummins (née Hall) of Cork. Of her…...
Curran, Constantine Peter (‘Con’)
Curran, Constantine Peter (‘Con’) (1883–1972), lawyer and writer, was born 30 January 1883 in Dublin, younger of two children of Patrick Curran (d. 1924), head of the General Post Office (GPO) telegraph division, of Dublin, and Mary Elizabeth Curran (née McGahan), daughter of a Monaghan…...
Darby, John Patrick
Darby, John Patrick (1941–2012), social and political scientist, was born on 18 November 1940 at 149 Springfield Road, Belfast, where his parents Sadie (née Mackle) and Patrick Darby ran a pub. When he was a young child his family moved to Portrush, Co. Antrim, where he attended St…...
Dargan, William
Dargan, William (1799–1867), engineer, was born 28 February 1799 in Co. Carlow. His parents were Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan, his father being a well-to-do farmer who was a tenant of Lord Portarlington. Much of William's early life is obscure. Likewise the exact place of birth is…...
Darley, Frederick
Darley, Frederick (1764–1841), builder, alderman, and police magistrate, born in Dublin and baptised on 6 July 1764, was one of the many children of Henry Darley (1721?–1798), a wealthy public works contractor, and his first wife, Mary (née Steele; d. 1770). Henry's grandfather,…...
Davidson, Sir Samuel Cleland
Davidson, Sir Samuel Cleland (1846–1921), inventor and businessman, was born 18 November 1846 in Ballymachan, Co. Down, the youngest child of five sons and three daughters of James Davidson, a farmer with flour-milling interests in nearby Belfast, and Mary Davidson (née Taylor). He…...
Dawson, Joshua
Dawson, Joshua (1660?–1725), government official and property developer, was born c.1660, the third of four sons of Thomas Dawson (1630?–1683), deputy commissary of musters of the army, who in 1657 purchased from the heirs of Sir…...