Doggett, Thomas
Doggett, Thomas (c.1670–1721), actor and manager, was born at Castle St., Dublin, but little is known about his early life. An unsuccessful actor in Ireland (1684–8), he moved to England as a strolling player. At Drury Lane he played Solon in the first performances of ‘The…...
Dolley, (Reginald Hugh) Michael
Dolley, (Reginald Hugh) Michael (1925–83), numismatist and historian, was born 6 July 1925 in Oxford, England, the son of A. H. F. Dolley, a civil servant, and Margaret Dolley (née Horgan). His father had Co. Galway antecedents while his mother's were from west Co. Limerick. Michael…...
Dombrain, Sir James
Dombrain, Sir James (1793–1871), comptroller general of the Irish coastguard, was born in Canterbury, Kent, son of Abraham Dombrain. He was of French huguenot stock and it is believed that his family were descended from the D'Embron family of Rouen, Normandy. He joined the Royal…...
Donnelly, Donal
Donnelly, Donal (1931–2010), actor, was born on 6 July 1931 in Bradford, Yorkshire, the third son among seven children of James Donnelly (d. 1964), a general practitioner, and his wife Nora (née O'Connor). Dr Donnelly was originally from Tyrone and Nora from Kerry, and the family moved…...
Doonican, Val
Doonican, Val (1927–2015), singer and musician, was born Michael Valentine Doonican on 3 February 1927 at 10 Passage Road in Waterford, the youngest of eight children (four boys and four girls) of John Doonican, a metal worker, and his wife Agnes (née Kavanagh). To distinguish him from…...
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle (1835–1909), civil engineer, Fenian, and bibliophile, was born on 1 February 1835 at Knockanna, Co. Carlow (not as previously stated at Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow), the first of seven surviving children of John Doran and his wife Mary (née Guilfoyle). He was…...
Dowling, Vincent
Dowling, Vincent (1929–2013), theatre actor, director and producer, was born in Kimmage, Dublin, on 7 September 1929 the sixth of four sons and three daughters of William Dowling, a ship's captain, and his wife Mary (née Kelly). His father was violent towards the family and left when…...
Doyle, Henry Edward
Doyle, Henry Edward (1827–92), artist and gallery director, was born in Dublin, third of seven children and third of five sons of John Doyle (qv), political cartoonist, of Dublin, and Marianna Doyle (née Conan; d. 1832). He was the only…...
Doyle, Jack
Doyle, Jack (1913–78), boxer, actor, singer and playboy, was born Joseph Alphonsus Doyle, 31 August 1913 at 12 Queen Street, Queenstown, Co. Cork, eldest son among four sons and two daughters of Michael Doyle, sailor, of Queenstown, and Anastasia Doyle. His schooling, at St Joseph's…...
Doyle, Michael Anthony (‘Tony’)
Doyle, Michael Anthony (‘Tony’) (1935–2000), actor, was born 21 July 1935 in Ballyfarnan, near Boyle, Co. Roscommon, youngest among four children of James Doyle, garda, and his wife Nora. His father was later stationed in Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, and in the mid 1950s in Churchtown,…...
Drew, John
Drew, John (1827–62), actor, was born 3 September 1827 in Dublin, one of three sons and two daughters of Francis N. Drew, a cabinetmaker who later made pianos, and Elizabeth Drew (née Connor). The family emigrated to the US in 1837 on the SS South America and settled in…...
Drew, Sir Thomas
Drew, Sir Thomas (1838–1910), architect and antiquary, was born 18 September 1838 at Victoria Place, Belfast, into the large family of the Rev. Dr Thomas Drew (qv), son of a Limerick grocer, and Isabella Drew (née Dalton; 1802–69), daughter…...
Ducart, Davis
Ducart, Davis (fl. c.1760–85), engineer and architect, was probably born in Savoy. Contemporary variations of his name include Daviso de Arcort and Davis Duckart. His family background is obscure; one possibility is that he grew up in Piedmont and later served as a military…...
Duff, Thomas
Duff, Thomas (c.1792–1848), architect, was born in Newry, Co. Down. Nothing is known of his parentage and early life, except that he was a catholic. It is possible that he was the ‘Thomas Duffe’ who won a prize at the Dublin Society (1805) for an architectural design. It…...
Dunne, Eithne
Dunne, Eithne (1919–88), actress, was born 30 October 1919 in Market St., Belfast, daughter of Patrick Dunne, case maker, and Mary Dunne (née McDonnell). She began her theatrical career with the Abbey school of acting and established herself as a versatile performer alongside…...
Dunn, Joseph
Dunn, Joseph (1930–96), priest and television documentary-maker, was born 11 May 1930 in Sandymount, Dublin, fourth in a family of three daughters and two sons of Paul Dunn, senior partner in a wholesale fish business, and Sylvia Dunn (née May), a catholic convert and insurance…...
Dwyer, Bernie
Dwyer, Bernie (1943–2013), journalist, filmmaker and political activist, was born in Dublin on 14 December 1943 to Mary (née Fagan) and Arthur Hannon , a clerk at Dublin Corporation. She spent her early childhood in Drimnagh, before the family moved to Sutton, Co. Dublin. She left…...
Edwards, Hilton Robert Hugh
Edwards, Hilton Robert Hugh (1903–1982), actor and theatre director, was born 2 February 1903 at 1 Bathurst Mansions, Holloway Road, London. His father, George Cecil Edwards, was said to have had another son by a previous marriage, but Hilton Edwards was his only son with his second…...
Edwin (Richards), Elizabeth Rebecca
Edwin (Richards), Elizabeth Rebecca (1771?–1854), actress and singer, was the daughter of William Talbot Richards and his wife Sarah, who acted in English, Scottish and Irish provincial theatres, and at Crow Street in Dublin. Records are unclear on her date and place of birth.…...
Elliman, Louis
This is a co-subject for the entry on Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses). View the original entry....
Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses)
Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses) (1872–1952), businessman, cinema and theatre impresario, was born 9 March 1872 into a Jewish family in Kovno, Lithuania, then part of the Russian empire. His father, Moshe Hellman, died before his second son was born and named after him. His mother…...
Elliman, Max (Maxie)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Elliman, Maurice (Moshe, Moses). View the original entry....
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’)
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’) (1931–2014), actor and theatre director, was born on 15 March 1931 in his aunt’s house at 13 Gawn Street, Belfast, the younger of two children and only son of James Ellis senior, a sheet-metal worker at Harland & Wolff shipyard, and his mother Matilda (‘Tilly…...
Elrington, Thomas
Elrington, Thomas (1688–1732), actor and theatre manager, was born near Golden Square Lane, London, in June 1688, one of four sons of Thomas Elrington, an employee of the duke of Montagu. His father may have been the Thomas Elrington engaged as a scenekeeper in the King's Company in…...
Ensor, George
This is a co-subject for the entry on Ensor, John. View the original entry....