Byers, David
Byers, David (1953–2008), architect and civil servant, was born in January 1953 in Newry, Co. Down, the only son among three children of John Byers and his wife Phyllis. The family had links with Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, where Byers spent much of his childhood and youth. He was…...
Byrne, Charles
Byrne, Charles (1761–83), giant, was born in Littlebridge, Co. Londonderry, of an Irish father and a Scottish mother. All his relatives were of normal height and his growth was caused by a tumour on his pituitary gland. By August 1780 he was said to be 8 ft (2.4 m) tall, with his…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (1740/41–1814), printer, bookseller, and United Irishman, had a flourishing business in Dublin, at 35 College Green (1779–85) and 108 Grafton Street (1785–99). Byrne's business was probably the largest of its kind in Ireland in the eighteenth century. One indication…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (c.1782–1864), architect, was possibly the son of John Byrne, architect; his mother's name is not known. He entered the Dublin Society's schools in 1796, studied under Henry Aaron Baker (qv), and won premiums…...
Byrne, Ralph Henry
Byrne, Ralph Henry (1877–1946), architect, was born 25 April 1877 in Dublin, third among five sons and one daughter of William Henry Byrne (1844–1917), architect, and May Anna Gertrude Byrne (née Dillon). W. H. Byrne worked in partnership with John O'Neill of Belfast from about 1869…...
Byrne, Thomas Joseph
Byrne, Thomas Joseph (1876–1939), architect, was born 15 November 1876 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, son of Richard Byrne (d. c.1876), who served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Harriet Byrne (née Knight). He was articled (1892) to Edward Carter,…...
Caldbeck, William Francis
Caldbeck, William Francis (c.1824–1872), architect and civil engineer, was the son of Richard Caldbeck and grandson of John Frederick Caldbeck (d. 1848) of Moyle Park, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin; his mother's name is not known, but she is said to have been Roman catholic, and…...
Cameron, Robert Rupert Gibson
Cameron, Robert Rupert Gibson (1903–79), naval architect, was born 24 October 1903 at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, second of three children of Gibson Cameron, a baker, and his wife Jane, daughter of Henry Beattie, master mariner of Carrickfergus. He was educated at Carrickfergus model…...
Campbell, Patrick Gordon
Campbell, Patrick Gordon (1913–80), 3rd Baron Glenavy , journalist, wit, and television personality, was born 6 June 1913 in Dublin, the eldest of the three children (two sons and a daughter) of Gordon Campbell (qv) and his…...
Carey, Mathew
Carey, Mathew (1760–1839), author, bookseller and publisher, was born 28 January 1760 in Dublin, one of five sons to Christopher Carey, a baker who prospered provisioning the British navy, and Mary Carey (née Sheridan). Small and lame from infancy (having been dropped by his nurse),…...
Carey, Patrick
Carey, Patrick (1916–94), film-maker, was born Gerard Patrick Carey 5 September 1916 in Streatham, London, the youngest of four children of Cork-born William Denis Carey (d. 1959), a revenue commissioner (1923–44; chairman 1939–44), and May Frances (Wilkinson) Carey (d. 1966) from…...
Carson, Frank
Carson, Frank (1926–2012), comedian, was born Hugh Francis Carson on 6 November 1926 in the 'Little Italy' area of Belfast, around Great Patrick Street, one of six children of John Carson, a binman and messenger, and his wife, Josie (née Agusta), originally from Dublin, whose family…...
Carter, Cornelius
Carter, Cornelius (d. 1734), printer, was admitted to the Dublin printers’ guild in 1696 but was never sworn and, though listed until 1716, paid no quarterage. His press was housed at different addresses in Fishamble Street (1696–1727). He began his career as a pamphleteer and…...
Casson, Christopher Thorndike
Casson, Christopher Thorndike (1912–96), actor, was born 20 January 1912 at Prestwich, Manchester, Lancashire, England, younger son among two sons and two daughters of Sir Lewis Casson (1875–1969) and Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976), both of whom were among the foremost actors…...
Castle (Castles, Cassels, Cassells), Richard
Castle (Castles, Cassels, Cassells), Richard (c.1690/95–1751), was one of at least four sons in a huguenot family and was possibly born in Kassel, Hesse, Germany; his parents' names are not known. An officer (c.1715) in a regiment of engineers, he travelled…...
Chambers, John
Chambers, John (1754–1837), printer and United Irishman, was born in Dublin in January 1754, the son of a wine merchant and his wife, Elinor, daughter of Charles Carter of Chapelizod, Co. Dublin. Apprenticed to a printer by his widowed mother (1 July 1767), he was printing on his…...
Chambers, Sir William
Chambers, Sir William (1723–96), architect and writer, was born 23 February 1723 in Gothenburg, Sweden, of Scottish parents, eldest among two sons and three daughters of John Chambers (d. 1752), a merchant who had settled in Sweden, and Sara Chambers (née Elphinstone). Educated in…...
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
Cherry, Andrew
Cherry, Andrew (1762–1812), actor and playwright, was born 11 January 1762 in Limerick, eldest son of John Cherry, printer and bookseller; nothing is known of his mother. Educated at the Limerick grammar school, he left at the age of 11 to work in Dublin for…...
Chetwood, William Rufus
Chetwood, William Rufus (d. 1766), prompter, publisher, and author, was most probably born in England. Little is known of his early life, but his own accounts, and the fact that he wrote several seafaring adventures, indicate that he had travelled around the world as a young man,…...
Chevron, Philip
Chevron, Philip (1957–2013), musician, songwriter and composer, was born Philip Ryan on 17 June 1957 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, the elder of two children of (Philip) Brendan Ryan (1927–97) and Christine Ryan (née LaGrue), both born in inner city Dublin. He grew up in Lorcan Drive…...
Clancy, Basil
Clancy, Basil (1907–96), publisher, magazine editor, and journalist, was born Anthony Sebastian Clancy in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, on 7 July 1907, the seventh of the twelve children of Patrick J. Clancy, JP (d. 1947), linen merchant and…...
Clancy, Thomas (‘Tom’)
Clancy, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1924–90), folk singer and actor, was born 29 October 1924 on William St., Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, seventh child and second son among four sons and seven daughters of Robert Joseph Clancy, accountant, and Johanna Clancy (née McGrath), from a family of…...
Clarendon, Frederick Villiers
Clarendon, Frederick Villiers (c.1820–1904), architect and civil engineer, was born in Dublin, one of several sons of Thomas Clarendon (fl. 1800–20), linen draper, of Westmoreland St., and estate developer. Nothing is known of his mother. He entered…...
Clements, Nathaniel
Clements, Nathaniel (1705–77), treasury official, property developer, architect, and MP, was third of four surviving sons of Robert Clements (1664–1722), landowner, of Rathkenny, Co. Cavan, and Abbotstown, Co. Dublin, and his wife Elizabeth (d. 1742), daughter of…...