Ireton, Henry
Ireton, Henry (1611–51), soldier and lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son in the resolutely puritan gentry family of German and Jane Ireton of Attenborough, near Nottingham. Baptised on 3 November 1611, he was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in 1629, and…...
Irvine, Alexander Fitzgerald
Irvine, Alexander Fitzgerald (1863–1941), minister, social activist, orator, and author, was born 19 January 1863 in Scott's Entry, Antrim town, ninth among twelve children (five of whom died young) of Jamie Irvine, an illiterate protestant shoemaker, and Anna Irvine (née Gilmore), an…...
Jacob, Rosamond
Jacob, Rosamond (1888–1960), suffragist, republican, and writer, was born 13 October 1888 in Waterford city, third child of Louis Jacob (1841–1907) and Henrietta Jacob (née Harvey; 1849–1919). Louis Jacob worked in his father-in-law's house-agent and stockbroking firm in Waterford. Both…...
Jordan, Jeremiah
Jordan, Jeremiah (1829–1911), businessman, land campaigner and MP, was born in the townland of Tattinbar, parish of Aghavea, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, the eldest son of Samuel Jordan, tenant farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Warrell). He was 'a Wesleyan methodist of the third…...
Kelly, (John William) Basil
Kelly, (John William) Basil (1920–2008), barrister, politician and judge, was born 10 May 1920 in Co. Monaghan, one of two children and the only son of Thomas William Kelly and Emily Frances Kelly (née Donaldson). After the family had been burnt out of their farm they moved to Belfast,…...
Lawrence, William John
Lawrence, William John (1862–1940), drama critic, was born 29 October 1862 in Belfast, son of Joseph Lawrence, railway station manager; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at the dowager countess of Annesley's private school at Newcastle, Co. Down, and at Methodist…...
Lee, Mary Agnes
Lee, Mary Agnes (1821–1909), suffragist in Australia, was born Mary Agnes Walsh on 14 February 1821 in Co. Monaghan, the daughter of John Walsh; her mother's name is unknown. Raised in Ulster, in 1844 she married George Lee, the organist and choirmaster of Armagh Cathedral; they had…...
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard)
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard) (1590–1660), lawyer and judge, was probably the natural son of Christopher Lowther of Penrith, Cumberland. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, on 7 June 1605. He entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the bar in 1614. He was in Dublin as…...
Luke, John
Luke, John (1906–75), painter, was born 16 January 1906 at 4 Lavis St., Belfast, fourth child among seven sons and one daughter of James Luke (1874–1937), boilerman, originally from Ahoghill, Co. Antrim, and Sarah Luke (1877–1953), daughter of a weaver from near Ballymena, Co.…...
Lyttle, Richard
Lyttle, Richard (1866–1905), land campaigner, nationalist, and non-subscribing presbyterian minister, was born 6 March 1866 at Barnhill, a farm near Dromore, Co. Down, owned by his father, Richard Lyttle, a merchant in Dromore whose family had been gentlemen farmers near…...
Malcolm, Andrew George
Malcolm, Andrew George (1818–56), physician and social reformer, was born 17 December 1818 in Newry, Co. Down, sixth child and fourth son among five sons and two daughters of the Rev. Andrew George Malcom (1782–1823), presbyterian minister, and Eleanor Malcom (née Hunter). Andrew…...
McArthur, Sir William
McArthur, Sir William (1809–87), politician, was born on 6 July 1809 in Malin, Co. Donegal, the fifth child of the five sons and two daughters of John McArthur, Wesleyan minister, and his wife, Sarah (née Finlay), of Malin. He was educated at private schools in Stranorlar, Co.…...
McCusker, (James) Harold
McCusker, (James) Harold (1940–90), politician, was born 7 February 1940 in William Street, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, son of James Harold McCusker and his wife Lily. His early life was overshadowed by his father's premature death (aged thirty-seven), which left the family in straitened…...
McGrath, William
McGrath, William (1916–91), loyalist and paedophile, was born 11 December 1916 in Belfast, son of Abraham McGrath and Jane McGrath (née Warrington). McGrath came from a methodist background; in later years he worked with presbyterian and Free Presbyterian churches while operating as a…...
McGregor, John James
McGregor, John James (c.1773–1834), historian and topographer, was born 24 February c.1773 in Limerick city, the seventh son and youngest of seventeen children (many of whom did not survive to adulthood) of John McGregor (d. 1796), native of Scotland, probably by…...
McIvor, (William) Basil
McIvor, (William) Basil (1928–2004), politician, barrister and judge, was born 17 June 1928 in Tullyhommon, Co. Fermanagh (the southern side of Pettigo – 'I am a British citizen with about 120 feet to spare' (McIvor, 8)), second of three sons of Frederick McIvor, methodist minister, and…...
Mitchel, John
Mitchel, John (1815–75), nationalist and journalist, was born on 3 November 1815 at Camnish, near Dungiven, Co. Londonderry, eldest surviving child among two sons and four daughters of John Mitchel (1781–1840), presbyterian minister of the Dungiven congregation, and his wife Mary…...
Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa)
Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa) (1917–2008), politician, tribal elder and nurse, was born Bridget Wren on 11 November 1917 in Tarmons, Tarbert, Co. Kerry, one of five daughters and two sons of John Wren, a small-holding farmer, and his wife Johanna (née…...
Nixon, John William
Nixon, John William (1877–1949), policeman and politician, was born 1 June 1877 in Graddum, Co. Cavan, into a methodist family; other family details are unknown. He joined the RIC in 1899, served in Belfast, Donegal, Antrim, Mayo,…...
Parker, Henry
Parker, Henry (1604–52), parliamentarian pamphleteer, was born in 1604, the fifth son of Sir Nicholas Parker (d. 1619) and his third wife, Katherine Temple. His family, important Sussex gentry, was based at Ratton. Little is known of his early life until he attended Oxford, where…...
Pinkerton, John
Pinkerton, John (1845–1908), tenant farmer, magistrate, and MP, was the son of John Pinkerton of Seacon, near Ballymoney, north Antrim, and his wife Nancy (née Pinkerton). John Pinkerton senior was a unitarian tenant farmer and linen merchant who died young after falling from his…...
Rocque, John (Jean)
Rocque, John (Jean) (c.1704–1762), cartographer, surveyor, and landscape designer, was born in France into a huguenot family of four children. After spending some time in Geneva, Rocque arrived in England (c.1709). His earliest published works, consisting mainly…...
Rylett, Harold
Rylett, Harold (1851–1936), non-subscribing presbyterian minister, journalist, land leaguer, and home ruler, was born 4 February 1851 in Boston Road, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, the son of Henry Rylett, a book binder, and later a commercial traveler, of Boston Road, and his wife Mary Jane…...
Shaw, William
Shaw, William (1823–95), home rule MP and congregational minister, was born at Moy, Co. Tyrone, on 4 May 1823, the son of Samuel Shaw, congregational minister, of Passage Cork. Privately educated, he entered TCD, but took no degree, and…...
Shearman, Hugh
Shearman, Hugh (1915–99), man of letters, Ulster unionist and theosophist, was born in Belfast, the only child of John Nicholson Shearman, teacher at Belfast Royal Academy (BRA), and his wife Margaret (née Morrison). His uncle T. E. C. Shearman was also employed at BRA (as registrar…...