Angulo, Gilbert de
Angulo, Gilbert de (d. 1213), lord of Morgallion and Anglo-Norman adventurer, belonged to a family of possible Flemish origin which had adopted its toponymic from Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Gilbert and his brothers Philip and William were sons of Jocelin, baron of Navan, whose…...
Annesley, Francis
Annesley, Francis (1663–1750), barrister and politician, was born 14 October 1663, eldest son of the Hon. Francis Annesley (1628–a.1705) of Castlewellan, Co. Down, and his wife Deborah (d. 1672), daughter of Henry Jones (qv),…...
Annesley, Mabel Marguerite
Annesley, Mabel Marguerite (1881–1959), wood engraver and watercolourist, was born 25 February 1881 at Castlewellan, Co. Down, only daughter among two children of Hugh, 5th earl of Annesley, of Castlewellan, and his first wife, Mabel Wilhelmina Frances (née Markham). She was educated at…...
Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Archbold, John Frederick
Archbold, John Frederick (1785–1870), legal author, was second son of John Archbold of Boldbrook and Turvey, Co. Dublin. He entered Lincoln's Inn (1809) and became a barrister (1814). Unmarried, with no known interests other than the law, he became a prolific writer of treatises and…...
Archdale (Archdall), Mervyn
Archdale (Archdall), Mervyn (1763–1839), army officer and MP, was born 27 April 1763, eldest son among four sons and eight daughters of Col. Mervyn Archdall (1725–1813) of Castle Archdall, Co. Fermanagh, and Trillick, Co. Tyrone, and his wife the Hon. Mary (eldest daughter of…...
Archdale, Mervyn Edward
Archdale, Mervyn Edward (1812–95), army officer, politician, and landowner, was born 27 January 1812 in Dublin, the eldest of nine sons of Edward Archdall of Riversdale, Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Matilda, daughter of William Humphrys of Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan. Edward Archdall (1775…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Archer, William (Liam) Aloysius
Archer, William (Liam) Aloysius (1892–1969), Irish Volunteer, army officer, and chief of staff, was born 18 June 1892 at 19 Aughrim St., Dublin, son of Edward Archer, post office telegraph inspector, and Susan Archer (née Matthews). Educated at St Peter's national school, Phibsborough,…...
Armstrong, Arthur
Armstrong, Arthur (1924–96), painter, was born 12 January 1924 at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, one of three sons among six children of James Charlton Armstrong, house-painter and decorator, and his wife Margaret (née Howard). Soon after his birth the family moved to Belfast. He…...
Armstrong, Henry Bruce
Armstrong, Henry Bruce (1844–1943), politician and lawyer, was born 27 July 1844 at Hull House, Shoulden, Kent, England, second son of William Jones Wright Armstrong, JP, DL, and high sheriff of Co.…...
Armstrong, John Warneford
Armstrong, John Warneford (1770–1858), soldier and informant, was born 28 August 1770 at Ballycumber, near Clara, King's Co. (Offaly), eldest among two sons and three daughters of George Armstrong (1734–80), landed gentleman, of Ballycumber, and his wife Constantia Maria (d. 1826),…...
Armstrong, Richard
Armstrong, Richard (1815–80), MP and lawyer, was born 10 May 1815 in Co. Armagh, fifth but eldest surviving son of William Armstrong, engineer, of Roxborough, Co. Armagh, and Eliza Armstrong (née Steacy or Stracy). He was educated by a Mr Hawkesworth, entered…...
Armstrong, Sir Walter
Armstrong, Sir Walter (1850–1918), art historian and gallery director, was born 7 February 1850 in Roxburghshire, Scotland, eldest son of Walter Armstrong of Hawick, and educated at Harrow and Oxford (BA 1873). He taught at art schools in London…...
Arnold, Sir Nicholas
Arnold, Sir Nicholas (1507×1509–1580), lord justice, was second son of John Arnold of Churcham, Gloucestershire (protonotary and clerk of the crown in Wales, and holder of two manors in Gloucestershire), and his wife Isabel (née Hawkins). Nicholas entered Henry VIII's service in…...
Arnott, Sir Lauriston John
Arnott, Sir Lauriston John (1890–1958), soldier, newspaper proprietor, and philanthropist, was born 27 November 1890, second (and eldest surviving) son of Sir John Alexander Arnott (d. 1940), 2nd baronet, and his wife Caroline Sydney, eldest daughter of Sir Frederick Martin Williams…...
Ashbourn, Ellis de
Ashbourn, Ellis de (c.1290–c.1357), chief justice of the justiciar's bench, was the son of Roger de Ashbourn, one-time provost of Dublin and serjeant-at-law. He spent some of his turbulent early life in Northamptonshire in England and was involved in a feud with…...
Ashford, William
Ashford, William (1746–1824), artist, was christened on 20 May 1746 in St Martin's parish church, Birmingham, the son of Richard Ashford of Birmingham. Nothing is recorded of his early life in England but he almost certainly had some form of technical and/or artistic education. He…...
Ash, Thomas
Ash, Thomas (1660?–p. 1735), diarist and defender of Derry, was born in Killylane, near Muff, Co. Donegal, before his family moved to Corrinerin, later known as Ashbrook, Co. Londonderry. One of twenty-four children of John Ash, he was the third son of John's second wife…...
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…...
Assicus (T'Assach)
Assicus (T'Assach) (d. c.508), an artisan – i.e. coppersmith – of supposed Gaulish origin, came to Ireland at some stage during the mission of St Patrick (qv) and was later consecrated a bishop by him.…...
Aston, Sir Arthur
Aston, Sir Arthur (c.1590–1649) royalist army officer, governor of Drogheda, was the younger of the two sons of Sir Arthur Aston, knight, of Fulham, Middlesex, and his first wife, Christiana, daughter of John Ashton of Penrith in Cumberland. There is nothing on record…...
Atkinson, John
Atkinson, John (1841–1932), lawyer, politician, and judge, was born 13 December 1841 at Ballynoe, Drogheda, Co. Louth, the elder son of Dr Edward Atkinson (1801–76), of Glenwilliam Castle, Co. Limerick, and Skea House, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and his first wife, Rosetta McCulloch (d…...
Atkinson, Joseph
Atkinson, Joseph (c.1743–1818), army officer, poet, and dramatist, was born in Dublin and served in the English army, reaching the rank of captain. He wrote a comedy and two comic operas, all of which were produced in Dublin. His first play, ‘The mutual deception’,…...
Aungier, Sir Francis
Aungier, Sir Francis (1558–1632), lawyer and administrator, eldest son of Richard Aungier of Cambridgeshire, barrister and treasurer of Gray's Inn, and Rose Aungier (née Stewart/Steward) of Ely, was baptised 14 May 1558 at Coton, Cambs. He was a queen's scholar at Westminster School…...