Campbell, Thomas
Campbell, Thomas (1733–95), Church of Ireland clergyman and miscellaneous writer, was born at Glack, Co. Tyrone, on 4 May 1733, the eldest son of the Rev. Moses Campbell (1695?–1772) and his wife, Elizabeth (née Johnston) of Tully, Co. Monaghan. He entered…...
Carew, Sir George
Carew, Sir George (1555–1629), earl of Totnes , general, and antiquarian, was born 29 May 1555, second son of George Carew, a clergyman from Cockington, Devon, England, and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Nicholas Harvey. Admitted (c.1570–72) to Broadgates Hall (later…...
Carney, Sir Richard
Carney, Sir Richard (d. 1692?), herald and painter, is said by Strickland to have been the son of Edward Carney, a Dublin tailor, and to have been appointed a herald in 1652 and principal herald of arms in Ireland in 1655. He was certainly the Richard Carney who was appointed…...
Carte, Thomas
Carte, Thomas (1686–1754), biographer, was born in April 1686 in Warwickshire, son of Samuel Carte, clergyman and antiquary. He graduated BA (1702) from University College, Oxford, and MA (1706) from King's…...
Casson, Christopher Thorndike
Casson, Christopher Thorndike (1912–96), actor, was born 20 January 1912 at Prestwich, Manchester, Lancashire, England, younger son among two sons and two daughters of Sir Lewis Casson (1875–1969) and Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976), both of whom were among the foremost actors…...
Caulfield, Richard
Caulfield, Richard (1823–87), antiquary and local historian, was born 23 April 1823 in Cork, one of five sons of a merchant, William Caulfield, and his wife Catherine, who was the daughter of Henry Gosnell, a Cork doctor and surgeon. Richard was educated at Bandon endowed school,…...
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
Clare, Wallace George
Clare, Wallace George (1895–1963), priest and genealogist, was born 9 August 1895 in Ipswich, Suffolk, the only son of Frederick Clare, wine buyer, and Agnes Clare (née Keegan). His father died when Wallace was 2 years old, and his mother brought him and his sister up in…...
Clarke, Maud Violet
Clarke, Maud Violet (1892–1935), historian, was born 7 May 1892 in Belfast, second child and only daughter of Richard James Clarke, rector of Trinity church, Belfast, and Anne Nugent Clarke (née Jessop), of Mount Jessop, Co. Longford. In 1903 the family moved to Coole Glebe,…...
Clayton, Robert
Clayton, Robert (1695–1758), Church of Ireland bishop of Clogher, antiquary, and religious controversialist, was born in England, possibly at Fulwood, near Preston, Lancashire, the eldest of eight children and first of four sons of John Clayton (1657–1725) and his wife, Eleanor (…...
Coffey, Hugh Diarmid James
Coffey, Hugh Diarmid James (1888–1964), author and public servant, was born 24 December 1888 in Dublin, the only child of George Coffey (qv) (d. 1916) and his wife Jane Sophia Frances (d. 1921), daughter of Sir George Burdett L'Estrange. The…...
Collis, Peter
Collis, Peter (1929–2012), artist, was born in London on 16 November 1929, the son of Herbert Collis, an architect, and Phyllis Collis (née Clark). Growing up in Guildford, Surrey, and later at Esher, Surrey, he received a formal academic training in oil painting at Epsom College (…...
Connor (O'Connor), Bernard
Connor (O'Connor), Bernard (c.1666–1698), royal physician, anatomist, and historian, was born into a catholic family in Co. Kerry, one of at least three children of Bernard O'Connor, possibly a member of the branch of the lords of Kerry, whose seat was at Carrigafoyle;…...
Conolly, Thurloe
Conolly, Thurloe (1918–2016), artist, was born in Cork city on 21 July 1918, the younger of two sons to William Joseph Conolly, a structural engineer, and his wife Constance Elizabeth Conolly (née Jeffares). According to family lore, the Conollys were descended from the eighteenth-…...
Cooper, Austin
Cooper, Austin (1759–1830), antiquary, was born 15 February 1759 at Killinure, Co. Tipperary, third son among fourteen children of William Cooper, registrar of the diocese of Cashel, and his wife Jane (née Wayland). Cooper was educated in Cashel, and in 1774 entered the treasury…...
Cox, Sir Richard
Cox, Sir Richard (1650–1733), historian and lord chancellor of Ireland, was born 25 March 1650 in Bandon, Co. Cork, only child of Richard Cox (d. 1651), a captain in the English army, and Katherine, daughter of Walter Bird of Clonakilty, Co. Cork. His grandfather Michael had moved…...
Craig, Maurice James Waldron
Craig, Maurice James Waldron (1919–2011), architectural historian, writer and poet, was born 25 October 1919 at 11 University Square, Belfast, elder of two sons of James Andrew Craig, a leading ophthalmic surgeon, and Blanche Craig (née Alice Blanche Sara Waldron), an Englishwoman.…...
Croker, John Wilson
Croker, John Wilson (1780–1857), politician and author, was born in Galway 20 December 1780, eldest among two sons and a daughter of John Croker (1743–1814), exciseman and surveyor general of Dublin port 1800–07, and his second wife, Hester (née Rathbone), daughter of a Co. Galway…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Curran, Amelia
Curran, Amelia (1775–1847), artist, was born in Redmond's Hill, Dublin, eldest child of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, lawyer, and parliamentarian, and Sarah Curran (née Creagh), both of Newmarket, Co. Cork. Her artistic…...
Currey, Frances Wilmot (‘Fanny’)
Currey, Frances Wilmot (‘Fanny’) (1848–1917), artist and horticulturalist, was born 30 May 1848 at Lismore castle, Co. Waterford, the daughter of Francis Edmund Currey and his wife, Anna. Her father, who for many years was land agent to the dukes of Devonshire, was also an early…...
Curtis, Edmund
Curtis, Edmund (1881–1943), historian, was born 25 March 1881 at Bury, Lancashire, England, fifth child among five sons and a daughter of Francis Curtis, architectural draughtsman, of Rathmullen, Co. Donegal, and Elizabeth Curtis (née Elliott) of Belfast. The family's circumstances were…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Daborne, Robert
Daborne, Robert (c.1580–1628), playwright and cleric, was the son of Robert Daborne (1551–1612), a tradesman of Guildford, Surrey, and his wife, Susan (née Travis; d. 1626). He states in the preface to A Christian turn'd Turke (1612) that his descent was ‘not…...
Daly, Richard
Daly, Richard (1758–1813), theatrical manager, was born in Co. Galway, second son of Joseph Daly, a prosperous farmer. He entered TCD in 1773, but there is no record of his taking a degree. A reckless and violent character, he was said…...