Asmal, (Abdul) Kader
Asmal, (Abdul) Kader (1934–2011), human rights jurist, anti-apartheid campaigner and South African government minister, was born on 8 October 1934 in Stanger (KwaDukuza), Natal, South Africa, the youngest of eight children (six sons and two daughters) of Ahmed Asmal, grocer, and his…...
Barbour, William Pirrie ('Bill')
Barbour, William Pirrie ('Bill') (1920–2009), teacher, and community and political activist, was born in Newtownards, Co. Down, son of Walter Terence Barbour, a director of the Combe Barbour engineering firm, and his wife Blanche (née Redman), whose father owned wine shops in London…...
Beshoff, Ivan
Beshoff, Ivan (1882?–1987), Russian immigrant and purveyor of fish and chips, was said in obituaries in the Irish Times and elsewhere to have been born in 1882 (or perhaps 1884) at Dacha Rurey, near Odessa in Ukraine, son of a magistrate, and, after briefly studying chemistry,…...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’)
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’) (1927–88), restaurateur, was born 7 May 1927 in Nairobi, Kenya, into an Islamic Indian family of one daughter and five sons of Ahmed Butt, railway engineer, and Zakia Butt. He was educated at a catholic school in Nairobi. After running a fleet of hire cars…...
Dunlop, Daniel Nicol
Dunlop, Daniel Nicol (1868–1935), businessman and esotericist, was born 28 December 1868 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, only child of Alexander Dunlop, described variously as an architect or builder, and Catherine Dunlop (née Nicol) (1847–73). His father, a stern authoritarian, was…...
Fallon, Padraic
Fallon, Padraic (1946–2012), journalist and businessman, was born on 21 September 1946 in the County Hospital, Wexford, the youngest of six sons of Padraic Fallon (qv), a poet, playwright and customs official of Rowe Street, Wexford, and his…...
Johnson, Nevill
Johnson, Nevill (1911–99), artist, was born on 23 July 1911 in the family home at Buxton, Derbyshire, England, the youngest of two sons of Arthur Ernest Johnson, a wealthy cotton merchant, and his wife Florence Isobel (née Townsend). His parents' marriage ended (c.1930) over…...
Keating, May
Keating, May (1895–1965), socialist, feminist and human rights campaigner, was born Mary Josephine Walsh on 6 October 1895, in Eadestown, Rathmore, Co. Kildare, to John Walsh, who farmed 70 acres there (28.3 hectares), and his wife Martha (née Cullen), a national school teacher. Her…...
McDowell, John William ('Jack')
McDowell, John William ('Jack') (1923?–2006), community activist and politician, was born in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. His father was a first world war veteran and member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP); although some of his relatives were active in the Orange…...
Norcott, William
Norcott, William (1773?–1820), barrister, satirist, and bon vivant, was eldest son of William Norcott of Charleville, Co. Cork, and Mary Norcott (née Knight). He entered TCD in July 1790, graduating BA…...
Pearse, James
Pearse, James (1839–1900), sculptor, was born on 8 December 1839 at 24 Plumtree Street, Bloomsbury, London, the second of three sons of James Pearse, frame-maker, and his first wife Mary Ann (née Thompson). The family was impoverished and moved to Birmingham (c.1847), where…...
Phelan, Jim (James Leo)
Phelan, Jim (James Leo) (1895–1966), writer, activist and tramp, was born in Inchicore, Dublin, the third child and eldest son of five surviving children (three daughters and two sons; two others died in childhood) of James Phelan, ironworker at the Inchicore railway works, and his wife…...
Robertson, Olivia Melian
Robertson, Olivia Melian (1917–2013), writer, artist and co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis, was born on 13 April 1917 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, to Manning Durdin Robertson (qv), urban planner and architect, and…...
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic, was born on 20 August 1949 in Falkirk, Scotland, the only child of Dionisio Tullio, a restaurant owner and his wife Irene (née Fusco). Although Tullio’s parents were Italian, his mother was raised between…...