Jocelyn, Percy
Jocelyn, Percy (1764–1843), disgraced bishop, was born 29 November 1764, third of four sons of Robert, 1st earl of Roden (qv), and his wife Anne, née Hamilton. Educated at TCD, he graduated…...
John Scottus Eriugena
John Scottus Eriugena (c.810–70×880), theologian. We know little about Eriugena's life: c.810 is conjectured as his date of birth, and between 870 and 880 fits with what we know for his date of death. We know he was born in Ireland: scottus was commonly…...
Johnson, Esther
Johnson, Esther (1681–1728), Jonathan Swift's ‘Stella ’, was born 13 March 1681 in Richmond, Surrey, England, daughter of Bridget Johnson, housekeeper to Sir William Temple (qv) of Moor Park in Surrey. It was rumoured, from early in her…...
Johnston, Francis
Johnston, Francis (1760/61–1829), architect, was the second of two sons of William Johnston (1728–92) of Armagh, architect and builder, and his first wife, Margaret, daughter of James Houston. The family, originally from Scotland, settled in Ireland in the early seventeenth century with…...
Joly, Jaspar Robert
Joly, Jaspar Robert (1819–92), book collector, was born at Hollywood House, Brackagh, Clonbulloge, King's Co. (Offaly), on 26 May 1819, the eldest of three sons of Henry Edward Joly (1784–1852), a clergyman, and his wife Martha, daughter of Robert Revelle of Hartwill, Co. Wicklow…...
Jones, Richard
Jones, Richard (1641–1712), 1st earl of Ranelagh , tax farmer, politician, and architect, was born 8 February 1641 in the house of his uncle, Viscount Dungarvan, in Long Acre, London, the only son of Arthur Jones and Katherine Jones…...
Joyce, Myles
Joyce, Myles (1837?–1882), victim of a miscarriage of justice, was the second of three sons of Shaun Joyce of Cappanacreha, Co. Galway, a desolate and isolated townland in the parish of Ross in the Joyce Country bordering Co. Mayo. Myles Joyce, a small farmer at Cappanacreha, who…...
Kavanagh, James Blake
Kavanagh, James Blake (1822–86), priest, nationalist, and philosophical and scientific writer, was born in Kilballyowen, in the parish of Killaveny, Co. Wicklow, son of Thomas Kavanagh and Mary Kavanagh (née McDonald). He received his early education at St Peter's College, Wexford…...
Kelly, Sarah
Kelly, Sarah (1801–56), landowner and murder victim, was born Sarah Birch in Ramsgate, Kent, England, sixth child of John Birch, husbandman and innkeeper, and his wife Elizabeth. At the age of 15 she was seduced by Joshua Paul Meredith, an Anglo-Irish gentleman who took her to…...
Kennedy, Patrick
Kennedy, Patrick (1801–73), writer, folklorist, and bookseller, was born in Kilmyshal, near Bunclody, Co. Wexford, in early 1801. Little is known of his family life other than that his father was Patrick Kennedy and that he appears to have been the fourth child born to his parents.…...
Kenny, Sean
Kenny, Sean (1932–73), set designer and architect, was born John Noel Kenny on 23 December 1932 in Portroe, Co. Tipperary, eldest among nine sons of Thomas Joseph Kenny, builder and former IRA man, and Nora Kenny (née Gleeson). He was educated…...
Kiernan, Catherine Brigid (‘Kitty’)
Kiernan, Catherine Brigid (‘Kitty’) (1893–1945), hotelier, and fiancée of Michael Collins (qv), was born 26 January 1893 in Granard, Co. Longford, fifth child and fourth daughter among six daughters and one son of Peter Kiernan, a…...
Kyteler (Kettle, Keyetler), Dame Alice
Kyteler (Kettle, Keyetler), Dame Alice (fl. 1324), accused of witchcraft and sorcery, was probably from a Kilkenny family, though nothing is known of her life prior to marriage. The Kytelers were a family of Flemish merchants who came to Ireland some time in the mid to late…...
Lamb, John George Dalkeith ('Keith')
Lamb, John George Dalkeith ('Keith') (1919–2011), horticultural scientist and plantsman, was born on 19 August 1919 in Dublin, the younger son of John Lamb, who had been a doctor in the British army, and his wife Constance (née Johnston). Constance's father, also a doctor, was a…...
Langrishe, Richard
Langrishe, Richard (1834–1922), architect and engineer, was born 6 November 1834 in Knocktopher Abbey, Kilkenny, younger son among two sons and one daughter of Rev. Sir Hercules Langrishe, politician and clergyman, and Maria Langrishe (née Cottingham) of Somerville, Co. Cavan.…...
Lanyon, Sir Charles
Lanyon, Sir Charles (1813–89), civil engineer and architect, was born 6 January 1813 at Eastbourne, Sussex, third son of John Jenkinson Lanyon, purser in the Royal Navy, and Catherine Lanyon (née Mortimer). Privately educated locally, he was articled under Jacob Owen (from 1832 of…...
Lavery, Hazel
Lavery, Hazel (1880–1935), Lady Lavery, artist, model, actress and socialite, was born 14 March 1880 at 514 North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Edward Jenner Martyn (1846–1897), a self-made man who became vice president of Armour & Co. (a successful meat packing firm)…...
Leask, Harold Graham
Leask, Harold Graham (1882–1964), architectural historian and archaeologist, was born 7 November 1882 in Dublin, probably at the family home in Harold's Cross, youngest among (at least) three sons and three daughters of Robert H. Leask, Scottish-born architect and engineer, and Anna…...
Le Caron, Henri (Thomas Billis Beach)
Le Caron, Henri (Thomas Billis Beach) (1841–94), agent provocateur and informer, was born Thomas Billis Beach on 26 September 1841 at Colchester, England, second son among thirteen children of John Joseph Billis Beach, rate-collector, and Maria Beach (née Passmore). He was…...
Leeson, John
Leeson, John (d. 1855?), architect, was probably born in Dublin. His parentage is unknown, although he may have been a direct or collateral relative of James Leeson, carpenter, who was active in Co. Dublin c.1806, and William Leeson, architect, who worked from the 1760s to…...
Legge, Thomas
Legge, Thomas (d. 1808), traveller and mystic, was born in Donaghadee, Co. Down, the son of a ship-owner who transported Irish emigrants to America. Little else is known about his family background, although towards the end of his life he reportedly told a Scottish doctor that his…...
Lever, James
Lever, James (1760–1833), architect and contractor, was born in Lancashire, England, son of a tradesman; his parents are unknown, but he always claimed to be a nephew of Sir Ashton Lever, an eccentric high sheriff who collected shells and stuffed birds. Apprenticed to a local…...
Lewis, Clive Staples (‘Jack’)
Lewis, Clive Staples (‘Jack’) (1898–1963), writer, scholar, and Christian apologist, was born 29 November 1898 in Dundela Villas, Belfast, the younger son of Albert James Lewis, police solicitor and unionist activist, and his wife, Florence (Flora) Augusta, daughter of the Rev.…...
Lovett, Ann
Lovett, Ann (1968–84), schoolgirl, was born in Cobh, Co. Cork, on 6 April 1968, the seventh of nine children (three girls and six boys) of Diarmuid Lovett (d. 1987), builder and publican, and his wife Patricia (née MacNamee, d. 2015). EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION The Lovett family moved…...
Luce, Arthur Aston
Luce, Arthur Aston (1882–1977), clergyman and philosophy professor, was born 21 August 1882 in Gloucester, England, seventh son of the Rev. John James Luce, vicar of St Nicholas church, Gloucester. He was educated initially at Eastbourne College and graduated from…...