Abercromby, Sir Ralph
Abercromby, Sir Ralph (1734–1801), soldier, was born at Menstrie, Clackmannan, Scotland, and baptised 26 October 1734, son of George Abercromby, lawyer and landowner, and Mary Abercromby (née Dundas). He studied law in Edinburgh and Leipzig before entering the British army at the…...
Acheson, Anne Crawford
Acheson, Anne Crawford (1882–1962), sculptor, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several daughters of John Acheson and Harriet Glasgow Acheson, and was educated in Victoria College and later in the School of Art (both in Belfast) and then at the Royal College of Art, London,…...
Adair, Sir William Thompson
Adair, Sir William Thompson (1850–1931), Royal Marine and UVF officer, was born 21 June 1850 (son of Gen. Sir Charles William Adair, KCB) and educated at Cheltenham College. He entered (1867) the…...
Adam (Adams), William Augustus
Adam (Adams), William Augustus (1865–1940), soldier, was born 27 May 1865 in Dublin, elder son among three children of the Rev. B. W. Adams, MRIA, author and rector of Santry, Co. Dublin, and his second wife Louisa Jane,…...
Adams, Michael
Adams, Michael (1937–2009), publisher and catholic activist, was born in Dublin on 22 June 1937, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Francis Adams, cattle dealer, victualler and JP for Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Mary or Maud (née Atteridge), a protestant and daughter…...
Águila, Don Juan del
Águila, Don Juan del (c.1541?–1603?), Spanish general, was born in Barracco in the province of Avila, Spain. He joined the army, serving in Flanders, in the Mediterranean fighting the Turks, and then in Flanders once more, rising to become a commander of a regiment.…...
Aher, David
Aher, David (c.1778–1842), cartographer and civil engineer, was probably the son of Patrick Aher, a Cork surveyor; he trained under his father, in the ‘French school of [John] Rocque’ (qv). A leading Irish surveyor-…...
Aherne, Eugene (John)
Aherne, Eugene (John) (d. 1806), radical and officer in the French army, was born at Lixnaw, Co. Kerry, probably in the 1760s. According to an informant of the Irish government identified only as ‘Jones’, Aherne studied in France at the Collège de Navarre before going to Scotland…...
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Aird, John
Aird, John (c.1760–1832), civil engineer, was born in Scotland; nothing is known of his parents or early life. In 1794 he began working for John Rennie (qv), one of the best-known engineers in Europe at the time, and remained with…...
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Aldworth, Sir Richard
Aldworth, Sir Richard (d. 1629), army officer, was second son of Richard Aldworth, verderer of Showwood forest, Oxfordshire. He served as a lieutenant in Ireland prior to 1603, was appointed provost-marshal of Munster for life (3 May 1610), with command of a troop of horse, and…...
Alen, Sir John
Alen, Sir John (d. 1561), lawyer and administrator, was the son of Warin Alen of Cotteshall, Norfolk, England, and cousin of his namesake John Alen (qv), archbishop of Dublin (1529–34) and a protégé of Cardinal Wolsey. He entered Gray…...
Alexander, (Conel) Hugh (O'Donel)
Alexander, (Conel) Hugh (O'Donel) (1909–74), chess master and code-breaker, was born 19 April 1909 in Cork, eldest child of Conel William Long Alexander (qv), professor of engineering at…...
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long (1879–1920), civil engineer and rugby footballer, was born 6 June 1879 in Imlick, Co. Donegal, youngest son of Joseph Alexander, farmer and JP, and his wife Frances Mary Long. Registered at birth as ‘…...
Alexander, Sir Jerome
Alexander, Sir Jerome (1590–1670), judge and administrator, was born at Gressenhall, Norfolk, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander of Thorpland in Norfolk. Schooled at Aylsham, he entered Furnival's Inn on 1 July 1609, and also matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, on 11…...
Alexander, Thomas A.
Alexander, Thomas A. (1847–1933), professor of civil engineering, was born 2 May 1847 in Maryhill, Glasgow; his parents' names are not known. Educated at the Normal School in Cowcaddens, Alexander entered Glasgow University in 1867, where he won prizes in mathematics, mechanics,…...
Allan, Henry
Allan, Henry (1865–1912), painter, was born 18 June 1865 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, youngest son of William Allan, distiller, of Bachelor's Walk, Dundalk, and his wife Anne, daughter of the Rev. Solomon Browne, presbyterian minister of Castledawson, Co. Londonderry. He began his…...
Allen, David
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Allen, David
Allen, David (1830–1903), printer, was born 6 June 1830 in Randalstown, Co. Antrim, eldest son of James Allen, carrier, and Margaret Allen (née Drennan). His father's business had been very extensive for several generations but suffered from the advent of railways, and when David…...
Allen, John
Allen, John (c.1780–1855), United Irishman and French army officer, was born in Dublin, son of Christopher Allen, dyer, of 44 Pimlico in the Liberties district, and in the early 1790s a member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen. He went into the woollen-drapery trade…...
Allen, William Edward
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Alleyn, Sir James
Alleyn, Sir James (fl. 1425–57), landowner in Co. Meath, lawyer, and officeholder, appears in 1425 as a justice of the liberty of Ulster, with the title of knight. At or after the end of 1427 he and Sir Henry Fortescue (d. c.1460), chief justice of the king's bench…...
Alment, Mary Martha
Alment, Mary Martha (1834–1908) artist, was born 9 April 1834 at St Mary's Abbey, Dublin, the daughter of William F. Alment, who was the son of John Alment (1740?–1787), a huguenot scientific and mathematical instrument maker. Mary studied art at the…...
Alton, Bryan Gerard
Alton, Bryan Gerard (1919–91), physician, politician and goldsmith, was born in Dublin on 5 June 1919, the only child of Norman Bindon Alton, bank inspector, and his wife, Mary Frances (née Hayes). The family lived at 119 Morehampton Road until his father died in 1925. Bryan and his…...