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…...
Delany, Mary
Delany, Mary (1700–88), artist, was born 14 May 1700 in Coulston, Wiltshire, England, elder daughter and second among four children of Col. Bernard Granville and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Martin Westcomb, former consul at Cadiz. Her father, the younger brother of George…...
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…...
Dering, Henrietta
Dering, Henrietta (c.1674–1729), portrait painter, was born in France, the only daughter among two children of Francis and Suzanne de Branlieu , a huguenot family who came to England in 1687. The will of her daughter, Mary Dering, dated 23 April 1746 and proved 13 June…...
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…...
Dixon, Frederick E.
Dixon, Frederick E. (1913–88) meteorologist, historian, and philatelist, was born 27 March 1913 in Oundle, near Peterborough, England, a son of Nathan Dixon and his wife, Edith, née Howitt, who also had another son and a daughter. He attended Deacon's School, Peterborough, and…...
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus)
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus) (c.1544–1628), ecclesiastic and annalist, was a member of the Dowling family of Laois (Co. Laois). According to his own testimony, he was fostered in Leighlin, and received some basic education locally. He then went to Dublin, where he stayed for four…...
Drew, Sir Thomas
Drew, Sir Thomas (1838–1910), architect and antiquary, was born 18 September 1838 at Victoria Place, Belfast, into the large family of the Rev. Dr Thomas Drew (qv), son of a Limerick grocer, and Isabella Drew (née Dalton; 1802–69), daughter…...
Duhigg, Bartholomew
Duhigg, Bartholomew (c.1751–1813), political activist, antiquarian, and barrister, was the fourth son of Bartholomew Duhigg, ‘gent.’, of Ballyhigh, Co. Limerick, who seems to have been a Roman catholic who conformed in 1725. Bartholomew the younger entered the Middle…...
Ervine, St John Greer
Ervine, St John Greer (1883–1971), Ulster dramatist, critic, and biographer, was born John Greer Ervine on 28 December 1883 in Belfast, son of William Ervine, printer, and Sarah Jane Ervine (née Greer), who may have been a deaf-mute. Ervine's father died soon after his birth. He…...
Ferguson, Lady Mary Catherine
Ferguson, Lady Mary Catherine (1823–1905), antiquarian and biographer, was born 13 September 1823 in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, eldest child and only daughter of Robert Rundell Guinness (1789–1857), founder of the banking firm of Guinness Mahon, and Mary Anne Guinness (née Seymour; d…...
French, (William) Percy
French, (William) Percy (1854–1920), songwriter, humourist, entertainer, and painter, was born 1 May 1854 in Cloonyquin House, parish of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, second son and third child among four sons and five daughters of Christopher French (1821–97), landowner, and Susan Emma French…...
Froude, James Anthony
Froude, James Anthony (1818–1894), historian, was born 23 April 1818 at Dartington, Devonshire, England, youngest among eight children of Archdeacon Robert Hurrell Froude, anglican clergyman, and Margaret Froude (née Spedding). He was educated at Westminster and at Oriel College,…...
Gahan, (Winifred) Muriel Françoise
Gahan, (Winifred) Muriel Françoise (1897–1995), promoter of cooperation and traditional crafts, was born 27 October 1897 at Magherabeg House, near Donegal town, the second daughter of (Fredrick George) Townsend Gahan, a civil engineer with the Congested Districts Board, and…...
Godley, John Raymond
Godley, John Raymond (1920–2005), 3rd Baron Kilbracken of Killegar , pilot, journalist, traveller, landowner and environmentalist, was born 17 October 1920 in Chester Street, Belgravia, London, England, the eldest of two sons (Wynne being the younger) and a daughter (Kathleen) of…...
Gordon, James Bentley
Gordon, James Bentley (1750–1819), clergyman and historian, was son of the Rev. James Gordon of Neeve Hall, Co. Londonderry, and his wife, a daughter of Thomas Neeve. He entered TCD in 1768, graduating BA…...
Goulding, Sir William Basil
Goulding, Sir William Basil (1909–82), 3rd baronet, businessman and modernist, was born 4 November 1909 at Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, the elder of two sons of Sir William Lingard Amphlett Goulding (qv) and his wife Nesta Violet (née Wright). Educated at Winchester…...
Graham, John
Graham, John (1775/6–1844), clergyman and writer, was born in Co. Fermanagh or Co. Longford, son of James Graham, gentleman. John, most likely a younger son, was educated by a Mr Robinson, and entered TCD in 1794, graduating…...
Grainger, John
Grainger, John (1830–1891), clergyman and antiquarian, was born 19 March 1830 in Queen St., Belfast the eldest of six children (four boys and two girls) of David Grainger, a wealthy shipowner, and Maria (or Mary) Belinda Grainger (née Parke) of Whiteabbey, near Belfast. He…...
Graves, Charles
Graves, Charles (1812–99), clergyman, mathematician, and antiquarian, was born 6 November 1812 at 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, youngest child among four sons and one daughter of John Crosbie Graves, chief police magistrate of Dublin, and his wife Helena, daughter of the Rev. Charles…...
Graves, James
Graves, James (1815–86), clergyman, archaeologist, and historian, was born 11 October 1815 in Kilkenny town, son of Rev. Richard Graves (1785–1857), rector of Coolcullen, Co. Kilkenny, and vicar choral (1817–26) of St Canice's cathedral, Kilkenny, and Joanna Graves (née Anderson…...
Green, Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford
Green, Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford (1847–1929), historian and nationalist, was born on either 30 or 31 May 1847 in Kells, Co. Meath, seventh among nine children of Edward Adderly Stopford , archdeacon of Meath, and Anne Catherine Stopford (neé Duke) from Sligo. With the exception of…...
Gregory, (William) Robert
Gregory, (William) Robert (1881–1918), painter, theatre designer, sportsman, and airman, was born 20 May 1881 in London, only child of Sir William Gregory (qv) of Coole Park, Co. Galway, and his second wife, Isabella Augusta…...
Grierson, Philip
Grierson, Philip (1910–2006), historian and numismatist, was born in Dublin on 15 November 1910, only son and second of three surviving children (another child had died in infancy) of Philip Henry Grierson (1859–1952) and his wife Roberta Ellen Jane (née Pope), a doctor's…...
Guiney, David
Guiney, David (1921–2000), athlete, sports journalist, sports historian, and author, was born 31 January 1921 in Kanturk, Co. Cork, one of four sons of John Guiney, solicitor and nationalist MP for Cork North (1913–18), and Mary Guiney (née Buckley) of O'Brien St., Kanturk. Guiney…...