Crone, Robert
Crone, Robert (c.1718–1779), landscape painter, was born in Dublin. He trained under Robert West (qv) in the Dublin Society's drawing-school in George's Lane, receiving prizes in 1748 and 1750. He was also a pupil of the portrait…...
Crowley, Nicholas Joseph
Crowley, Nicholas Joseph (1819–57), portrait and subject painter, was born 6 December 1819 in Dublin, the third son of Peter Crowley (d. 1835), a propertied gentleman. As a child he was something of an artistic prodigy. He received his first art training in 1827 at the…...
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira (1796–1848), Royal Navy captain and polar explorer, was born in September 1796 in Banbridge, Co. Down, one of thirteen children of George Crozier, attorney-at-law, and his wife Jane Elliot Crozier (née Graham). He joined the RN…...
Cuming, William
Cuming, William (1769–1852), portrait and history painter, was the youngest of four sons of William Cuming of Dublin and his wife, whose maiden name was Hamilton. As a child he visited the workshops of the coach and herald painters in Moore Street, Dublin, and decided that he wanted…...
Cunningham, Andrew Browne
Cunningham, Andrew Browne (1883–1963), naval commander, was born 7 January 1883 in Rathmines, Dublin, second son of Daniel John Cunningham (qv), professor of anatomy at TCD, and…...
Cusack, Ralph Desmond Athanasius
Cusack, Ralph Desmond Athanasius (1912–65), artist, was born 28 October 1912 at Drumnigh House, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin, the only child of Maj. James Robert Roland Cusack, banker (later stockbroker), and Eileen Cusack, daughter of Capt. Watson of the 7th Dragoon Guards and widow of Hugo…...
Danby, Francis
Danby, Francis (1793–1861), landscape painter, was born 16 November 1793 at Common, Killinick, Co. Wexford. The family had been established in this area since the 1730s. His father, James Danby, landowner, married first (1762) Susannah, daughter of the Rev. Ambrose Harvey of…...
Davis, William
Davis, William (1812–73), painter, was born in August 1812 in Dublin. Nothing is known of his family except that he was the son of a solicitor, and was originally intended to follow his father's profession; however, he chose instead to become an artist and received his training at…...
Dawson, George William Percy
Dawson, George William Percy (1927–2004), geneticist, art lover and philanthropist, was born 7 August 1927 in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England, the only child of Percy John Fritz Stanley Dawson, fishmonger, and his wife Edith Helen (née Fildes). Education He was…...
Dean, Hugh Primrose
Dean, Hugh Primrose (1746–84), landscape painter, was one of the three sons of Alexander Dean and Grizell Kennedy of Donaghadee, Co. Down, both of Scottish descent. The family moved to Kinsale, Co. Cork. Dean is recorded as living with his brother, David, a carpenter and builder, in…...
De Chenu, (Roger) Noël
De Chenu, (Roger) Noël (1924–2002), architect, artist and actor, was born on 25 December 1924 in Drumcondra, Dublin, the son of Roger Louis de Chenu (1891–1964) and his wife Aileen (née McShane; b. 1893). Roger, a dress designer, originally came from Poitiers in France, and is said…...
De Keyser, William
De Keyser, William (c.1603–p.1685), sculptor and architect, was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, one of four sons of Hendrik de Keyser, an architect and sculptor in Amsterdam; all four sons trained with their father in the family workshop. An elder sister, Maria…...
Delamain, Henry
Delamain, Henry (1713–57), delft manufacturer, was the eldest son of at least four sons and one daughter of Henry Delamain (1688–1781) of Dublin, latterly of Co. Kildare, and his wife, Sarah (Mary?) Steele, the daughter of the deputy clerk of the Irish privy council. A French…...
Delane, Solomon
Delane, Solomon (c.1727–1812), landscape painter, was the son of Robert Delane, clergyman, of Co. Tipperary, and his wife Sarah. He appears to have spent his childhood in Upper Coombe, Dublin. He studied art under Robert West (qv)…...
Delaney, Edward
Delaney, Edward (1930–2009), sculptor, was born 1 August 1930 (registered as Edmund Vincent Delaney) at Farmhill, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, seventh among nine children of Patrick Delaney (d. 1955), a small farmer who also tended beehives and a wood mill on the estate of Lord Oranmore…...
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…...
De Robeck, Sir John Michael
De Robeck, Sir John Michael (1863–1928), admiral, was born 10 June 1863 at Gowran Grange, Naas, Co. Kildare, second son of John Henry Edward Fock, 4th Baron de Robeck, and Sophia Charlotte de Robeck (née Burton) of Burton Hall, Co. Carlow. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1875…...
Digby, Simon
Digby, Simon (c.1645–1720), miniature-painter and bishop of Elphin, was born at Kilminchy, Queen's Co. (Laois), youngest son of Essex Digby and his wife Thomasine, daughter of Sir William Gilbert of Kilminchy, Queen's Co. Essex Digby became dean of Cashel in 1661 and…...
Dillon, (Francis) Gerard
Dillon, (Francis) Gerard (1916–71), painter, was born 20 April 1916 in Belfast, eighth and youngest child of Joseph Henry Dillon, postal sorter, and Amie Dillon. The family lived at 26 Clonard St. in the Falls Road area of Belfast. Dillon was educated at the Raglan St. public…...
Dixon, James
Dixon, James (1887–1970), painter, was born 2 June 1887 on Tory Island, one of seven children of Denis Dixon, a farmer from Meenlaragh, Co. Donegal, and Madgey Dixon (née Diver) of Tory island. He spent almost all his life on the island working as a farmer and a fisherman, painting…...
Dixon, John
Dixon, John (c.1740–1811), engraver, was born in Dublin, youngest of four sons of Thomas Dixon (d. 1758), hosier, of Cork Hill, Dublin. He studied at the drawing school of the Dublin Society. He may have worked with his elder brother …...
Dixon, Samuel
Dixon, Samuel (d. 1769), watercolour painter and textile designer, was third of four sons of Thomas Dixon (d. 1758), hosier, of Cork Hill, Dublin. His younger brother, John Dixon (qv), became a noted mezzotint engraver in London. By 1748…...
Dobbs, Francis
Dobbs, Francis (1750–1811), Volunteer, author, and MP, was born 27 April 1750, second son among four sons and a daughter of the Rev. Richard Dobbs (c.1694–1775), rector (1743–75) of Lisburn cathedral, Co. Antrim, and his wife Mary (d. 1796), widow of Cornet McMannus, and…...
Dombrain, Sir James
Dombrain, Sir James (1793–1871), comptroller general of the Irish coastguard, was born in Canterbury, Kent, son of Abraham Dombrain. He was of French huguenot stock and it is believed that his family were descended from the D'Embron family of Rouen, Normandy. He joined the Royal…...
Doyle, Henry Edward
Doyle, Henry Edward (1827–92), artist and gallery director, was born in Dublin, third of seven children and third of five sons of John Doyle (qv), political cartoonist, of Dublin, and Marianna Doyle (née Conan; d. 1832). He was the only…...