Anderson, Sir James Caleb
Anderson, Sir James Caleb (1792–1861), baronet and steam-coach promoter, was born 21 July 1792 in Cork, eldest of two sons and one daughter of John Anderson (1747–1820), banker of Cork, and his second wife, Elizabeth (d. 1830), daughter of James Semple, merchant of Waterford.…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1873–1912), shipbuilder, was born 7 February 1873 at Ardara, Comber, Co. Down, where his family, members of the non-subscribing presbyterian church, had been prominent in business for several generations. He was the second son of Thomas Andrews (1843–1916), for…...
Baillie, George
Baillie, George Lockhart (c. 1848–1922), pioneer of Irish golf, was born around 1848 in Inveresk, Scotland, the son of Lockhart Baillie, an Inland Revenue official of Inveresk, and his wife Margaret (née Telfer). From the age of ten George played golf at the nearby Royal…...
Bell, Sir William Ewart
Bell, Sir William Ewart (1924–2001), rugby international and civil servant, was born 13 November 1924 in Belfast, son of the Rev. Dr Frederick George Bell, an ordained minister of the presbyterian church, and Margaret Jane Bell (née Ewart), a qualified teacher. He was the eldest…...
Best, George
Best, George (1946–2005), professional footballer, was born 22 May 1946 in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, eldest child among two sons and four daughters of Richard 'Dickie' Best (1919–2008), a shipyard iron turner with Harland and Wolff, and his wife Ann Mary 'Annie' Best (née…...
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery (1854–1926), ship designer and businessman, and his two brothers John Carlisle (1856–1945), engineer and shipowner, and Henry Montgomery Carlisle (1863?–1945), shipowner, were sons of John Carlisle (d. 1884), teacher, and Catherine Carlisle (née…...
Craig, James Humbert
Craig, James Humbert (1877–1944), landscape painter, was born 12 July 1877 at 16 Brougham St., Belfast, second of five children and the only son of Alexander Craig, wholesale merchant, and his wife Marie Metezzen, a Swiss national, who had married in Belfast in 1874. Soon after…...
Dunlop, Robert
Dunlop, Robert (1960–2008), motorcycle racer, was born 25 November 1960, fourth child among three sons and four daughters (including his twin sister Margaret) of William Dunlop, a motor mechanic, and his wife May (née Barkley), of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, where Robert attended school.…...
Dunlop, William Joseph (‘Joey’)
Dunlop, William Joseph (‘Joey’) (1952–2000), racing motorcyclist, was born 25 February 1952 at Unshinagh, near Dunloy, Co. Antrim, second among seven children of William Dunlop, motor mechanic, and his wife May (née Barkley). Joey received his early education at Ballymoney High School,…...
Edwards, William Victor (‘Billy’)
Edwards, William Victor (‘Billy’) (1887–1917), rugby, swimming, and water polo international, was born 16 October 1887 in Strandtown, Belfast, the son of Alfred Edwards, merchant, from Strandtown, and Mary Edwards (née Wilson). He was educated at Thanet College, Margate, England;…...
Evans, Emyr Estyn
Evans, Emyr Estyn (1905–89), Ireland's first professor of geography, was born 29 May 1905, youngest of four sons and one daughter of the Rev. George Owen Evans, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Wales, and Elizabeth Evans (née Jones). Born in Shrewsbury, he spent his early…...
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec')
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec') (1890–1972), rugby international, schoolmaster and political activist, was born on 22 June 1890 in Derry city, the younger son among two sons and four daughters of John Foster and his wife Christina ('Chrissie') (née Roulston(e)). John Foster was…...
Hone, Nathaniel
Hone, Nathaniel (1718–84), portrait painter, was born 24 April 1718, third among five sons of Nathaniel Hone, merchant of Wood Quay, Dublin, and Rebeckah Hone (née Brindley). The Hone family was presbyterian and their ancestors, some of whom were Dutch goldsmiths, had emigrated…...
Hunter, Mercy
Hunter, Mercy (1910–89), artist, was born 22 January 1910 in Belfast and christened Martha Saie Kathleen, one of the youngest of four daughters of the Rev. William Hunter, presbyterian minister; there was also at least one son. His wife was a Russian woman, Alice Beyer; on the day…...
Irwin, Sir Samuel Thompson
Irwin, Sir Samuel Thompson (1877–1961), surgeon, rugby player, and politician, was born 3 July 1877 in Limavady, Co. Londonderry, son of John Irwin of Limavady. He was educated at Foyle College, Derry, and QCB, where he graduated…...
McCready, Samuel Maxwell (‘Max’)
McCready, Samuel Maxwell (‘Max’) (1918–95), amateur golfer, was born 8 March 1918 in Belfast, only son among three children of Samuel McCready, clothing manufacturer, originally from Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and Sarah Williamina McCready (née Thompson) originally of Annesborough,…...
Montgomery, Sir Frank Percival (‘Monty’)
Montgomery, Sir Frank Percival (‘Monty’) (1892–1972), rugby player and radiologist, was born 10 June 1892 at 3 Lower Crescent, Belfast, son of Henry Montgomery, presbyterian clergyman and moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1912, and Euphemia Anne Montgomery (née…...
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’)
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’) (‘MacNamara, Gerald’) (1865–1938), playwright, writer and artist, was born in Co. Down on 27 August 1865, the second eldest of eight sons of George Morrow, a painter, decorator and founder of Morrow & Sons Ltd, and his wife Catherine (née MacNamara).…...
Morrow, John Love
Morrow, John Love (1859–1940), presbyterian minister and golfer, was born 14 December 1859 in Dundermott House, near Cloughmills, Co. Antrim, a younger son of Matthew Morrow, a prosperous farmer, and Margaret Morrow (née Love). John was educated locally and at Ballymena Academy.…...
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’)
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’) (1921–71), rugby international and broadcaster, was born on 26 May 1921 in Belfast, the son of Ernest Strathdee and his wife Nellie (née Moore). Educated at Belfast High School and Queen's University Belfast (QUB), he was a talented scrum-half throughout the…...
Wylie, William Evelyn
Wylie, William Evelyn (1881–1964), judge and doyen of the RDS, was born 26 June 1881 at Kenilworth House, Kenilworth Square, Dublin (the residence of his maternal uncle John Girdwood Drury), son of the Rev. Robert Beatty Wylie, LLD, minister (…...