Addison, Joseph
Addison, Joseph (1672–1719), writer and politician, was born 1 May 1672 at Milston, near Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, eldest son of Lancelot Addison (1632–1703), vicar of Milston and chaplain to Charles II and James II (qv), and his…...
Alexander, Cecil Frances
Alexander, Cecil Frances (1818–95), hymn-writer, known in her family as Fanny, was born in Eccles Street, Dublin, second daughter (and third among seven children) of John Humphreys and Elizabeth Frances Humphreys (née Reed). Her mother's brother was Thomas Reed (1796–1883), a general…...
Alexander, Eleanor Jane (Nell)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Alexander, Cecil Frances. View the original entry....
Alexander, Sir Jerome
Alexander, Sir Jerome (1590–1670), judge and administrator, was born at Gressenhall, Norfolk, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander of Thorpland in Norfolk. Schooled at Aylsham, he entered Furnival's Inn on 1 July 1609, and also matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, on 11…...
Altman, Albert Liebes Lascar
Altman, Albert Liebes Lascar (c.1853–1903), businessman and nationalist politician, was born c.1853 in Prussian Poland, the son of Moritz Altman (born Shagra Moshe ben Aharon) and his wife Deborah (born Devorah bat Chaim Liebes). He was the eldest of four surviving…...
Ancketill (Anketell), Henry
Ancketill (Anketell), Henry (1855–1930), writer, journalist and politician, was born 4 May 1855 in Ancketill's Grove, Co. Monaghan, the fourth son of Major Matthew John Anketell, deputy lieutenant and JP, and his wife, Catherine Frances…...
Andrews, William (‘Billy’,‘Bill’) Nathaniel
Andrews, William (‘Billy’,‘Bill’) Nathaniel (Mac Andrieu, Liam) (1873–1939), musician, was born 9 January 1873 in Dublin, son of Arthur Andrews, printer, and Elizabeth Andrews (née Dunne), both protestants. He studied classical music and was instructed on the piano by his aunt (…...
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),…...
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…...
Armstrong, Edmund John
Armstrong, Edmund John (1841–65), poet, was born 23 July 1841 in Mornington House, Upper Merrion St., Dublin, the second of three sons of Edmund John Armstrong, a clerk in the ecclesiastical commission, and his wife Jane, daughter of the Rev. Henry Savage (d. 1815) of Glastry, Co…...
Armstrong, George Francis Savage
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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.…...
Arnold, Thomas
Arnold, Thomas (1823–1900), literary scholar and teacher, was born at Laleham, Middlesex, on 30 November 1823, the third child and second son of Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), later famous as the headmaster of Rugby School, and his wife, Mary, née Penrose (1791–1873). Throughout his life…...
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’,…...
Aylmer, Sir Gerald
Aylmer, Sir Gerald (1484?–1560), lawyer and administrator, was one of nine children of Bartholomew Aylmer of Lyons, Co. Kildare, and Margaret Aylmer (née Chevers) of Macetown, Co. Meath, a granddaughter of William Welles (qv), lord…...
Babington, Anthony Patrick
Babington, Anthony Patrick (1920–2004), judge, writer, and disability advocate, was born at 4 Mount Verdon Terrace, Cork city, on 4 April 1920, the youngest of two sons and two daughters of Oscar John Gilmore Babington (1879–1930), engineer and army officer, and his wife Annie Honor…...
Baillie, William
Baillie, William (1723–1810), printmaker and art dealer, was born 11 June 1723 at Kilbride, Co. Carlow, the second son of the upholsterer Robert Baillie of Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and his wife Susanna (née Antrobus). After his education at Dr…...
Balfour, Mary E.
Balfour, Mary E. (fl. 1789–1810), poet, was born on 24 January; one source gives the year as 1755. However, if – as seems likely – she was the eldest daughter of John Balfour (who seems to have been a doctor in Derry city before becoming a clergyman in 1789, and who…...
Ball, John Thomas
Ball, John Thomas (1815–98), lord chancellor of Ireland and MP, was born 24 July 1815 in Portmarnock, Co. Dublin, eldest of six sons and four daughters of Maj. Benjamin Marcus Ball and Elizabeth Ball (née Feltus). He was educated at Dr Smith's school, Rutland Square, Dublin, and…...
Barnes, William
Barnes, William (1801-86), poet and philologist, was born at Bagber Common in the Blackmore Vale, Dorset, England, and baptised on 20 March 1801, son of John Barnes, tenant farmer, and Grace Barnes (née Scott). After a variety of occupations, including the making of woodcuts, he…...
Barrett, Eaton Stannard
Barrett, Eaton Stannard (1785/6–1820), satirical writer, was born in Cork city, eldest son of Richard Barrett, gentleman; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at a private school in Surrey (where he wrote a play, which was performed at the school), and at…...
Barrington, Samuel
Barrington, Samuel (d. 1693), clockmaker, may have been a son of Francis Barrington, a Cromwellian settler, who died in Limerick in 1683. He was flourishing in Dublin from 1665 to 1674 and had a contract for the maintenance of the Tholsel clock. He moved to Galway and then (1691…...
Barrington, Sir Jonah
Barrington, Sir Jonah (1756/7–1834), memoirist, judge, and MP, was born at Knapton, near Abbeyleix, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son among sixteen children of John Barrington, country gentleman, and his wife Sibella, daughter of Patrick French of Peterswell, Co. Galway. He spent his…...
Barrington, Sir Matthew
Barrington, Sir Matthew (1788–1861), 2nd baronet, benefactor, lawyer, and landowner, was born 21 May 1788 in Limerick, eldest of five sons and two daughters of Joseph Barrington (qv), pewterer, and Mary Barrington (née Baggott…...
Barry, James
Barry, James (1603–73), 1st Baron Barry of Santry , lawyer and judge, was the eldest surviving son of the six sons and three daughters of Richard Barry, merchant, of Dublin, and his wife, Anne, daughter of James Cusack of Rathgar. Richard Barry served as sheriff (1604–5), alderman…...