Abell, Abraham
Abell, Abraham (1783–1851), antiquary and public figure at Cork, was born 11 April 1783 in Pope's Quay, Cork, son of Richard Abell, a quaker merchant. Abraham Abell too was a merchant, but he is to be remembered for his prominence in voluntary bodies, both cultural and…...
Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Bax, Sir Arnold Edward Trevor
Bax, Sir Arnold Edward Trevor (1883–1953), composer, was born 8 November 1883 in Streatham, London, the son of prosperous quaker parents. His father, Alfred Ridley Bax, was a barrister of the Middle Temple, who, possessed of private means, devoted the greatest part of his attention to…...
Blanshard, Paul
Blanshard, Paul (1892–1980), journalist and author, was born 27 August 1892 at Fredericksburg, Ohio, USA, one of twin sons of Francis George Blanshard, a congregational clergyman, and his wife Emily (née Coulter), both of whom had been born in Canada. His maternal grandfather came…...
Cole, Sir William
Cole, Sir William (1571?–1653), English soldier and planter, was the only son of Emmanuel Cole, third son of Thomas Cole of London, and appears to have been raised in Devonshire. He may have studied at Cambridge, graduating BA and…...
Cromwell, Henry
Cromwell, Henry (1628–74), soldier and administrator, was born 20 January 1628 at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, fourth son of Oliver Cromwell (qv) and Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier). He fought only in the closing stages of…...
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert (1913–82), portrait and landscape painter, was born 15 April 1913 in van Mierlestraat, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, eldest of three children of Solomon Delmonte, banker, and his wife Nanetha, daughter of Simon Speyer, diamond merchant. His younger brother…...
Denny, Sir Edward
Denny, Sir Edward (1796–1889), MP and hymn-writer, was born 2 October 1796 in Dublin, eldest son of Sir Edward Denny, 3rd baronet, of Tralee Castle, Co. Kerry, and Elizabeth Denny, daughter and heir of Robert Day, MP. Educated at Eton, and later Exeter College, Oxford, he…...
Dunlop, Ronald Ossory ('R. O.', 'ROD')
Dunlop, Ronald Ossory ('R. O.', 'ROD') (1894–1973), artist, was born 28 June 1894 at 71 Lower Drumcondra Road, Dublin, second of three children and only son of Daniel Nicol Dunlop (qv), a Scottish-born clerk and theosophist, and Eleanor…...
Fleetwood, Charles
Fleetwood, Charles (d. 1692), soldier and lord deputy of Ireland, was third son of Sir Miles Fleetwood of Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England, and his wife Anne, daughter of Nicholas Luke of Woodend, Bedfordshire. After being admitted to Gray's Inn (30 November 1638), he became a…...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Herzog, Chaim (‘Vivian’)
Herzog, Chaim (‘Vivian’) (1918–97), Israeli soldier, lawyer, businessman, diplomat, and politician, was born 17 September 1918 at 2 Norman Villas, Cliftonville Rd, Belfast, elder of two sons of Isaac Herzog (qv), rabbi,…...
Hovenden, Thomas
Hovenden, Thomas (1840–95), painter, was born 28 December 1840 in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, second child and younger son among two sons and one daughter of Robert Hovenden, a protestant of English ancestry who was keeper of the Dunmanway bridewell, and Ellen Hovenden (née Bryan). After…...
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…...
La Touche, David Digues I
La Touche, David Digues I (1671–1745), soldier and businessman, was born 15 November 1671, fourth son among six sons and three daughters of Denis Digues, seigneur de la Touche et de la Motte, nobleman, and his second wife Madeleine Digues (née Deplanche) of Château de la Touche,…...
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…...
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’)
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’) (1907–84), historian, was born 26 November 1907 in Belfast, only son (there was one older daughter) of William John Moody of Co. Londonderry, iron turner at Harland & Wolff's shipyard and trade unionist, and Ann Isabella Moody (née…...
Nathan, Sir Matthew
Nathan, Sir Matthew (1862–1939), soldier and administrator, was born 3 January 1862, second son among nine children of Jonah Nathan and Miriam Nathan (née Jacobs) of London. Both his parents were Jewish; his father – of German origin and a partner in the paper-making firm of Thomas de…...
O'Connally, Owen, (O'Connolly, Connolly)
O'Connally, Owen, (O'Connolly, Connolly) (d. 1649), plot discloser and parliamentarian army officer, was born into a Gaelic Irish family, probably in Co. Monaghan. He converted to protestantism in the household of the English planter Sir Hugh Clotworthy (d. 1630), and served both…...
Poole, Jacob
Poole, Jacob (1774–1827), philologist and antiquarian, who was descended from an old-established quaker family, was born 11 February 1774 in Growtown, Co. Wexford, son of Josiah Poole and his wife Sarah, daughter of Jacob Martin of Aghfad, Co. Wexford. The Pooles, originally from…...
Porter, Classon Emmett
Porter, Classon Emmett (1814–85), non-subscribing presbyterian minister and writer of local history and biography, particularly that of Irish presbyterianism, was born in Artikelly, near Limavady (then called Newtonlimavady), Co. Londonderry, first child of …...
Rosen, Hans Waldemar
Rosen, Hans Waldemar (1904–94), music teacher and choral conductor, was born 15 July 1904 in Dresden, Germany, the only child of Ferdinand Rosetzka and Hedwig Rosetzka (née Thiele). In 1919 his father changed the family name to Rosen. Primarily of German extraction, he was reared in…...
Rutty, John
Rutty, John (1698–1775), physician, writer, diarist, and historian of Irish quakers, was born 25 December 1698 in Wiltshire, to quaker parents John and Esther Rutty. He may have been orphaned young, for he spoke of spending the ages 13 to 18 at various schools,then being ‘…...
Scriven, Joseph Medlicott
Scriven, Joseph Medlicott (1819–86), preacher and hymn writer, was born 10 September 1819 at Ballymoney Lodge, near Banbridge, Co. Down, son of John Scriven, captain in the army and later churchwarden of Seapatrick parish church, and Jane Scriven (née Medlicott), possibly related…...
Snoddy, Theodore John ('Theo')
Snoddy, Theodore John ('Theo') (1922–2008), art critic and historian, was born in Lurgan hospital, Co. Armagh, on 30 November 1922, one of two sons of John Snoddy and his wife Emily Elizabeth (née Sinton), residing at that date in Boconnel House, Lurgan. Emily Sinton was the daughter…...