Abernethy, William
Abernethy, William (1864–1930), professional photographer, was the son of Robert Abernethy, farmer, from Comber, Co. Down. Details of his early life are lacking, even in obituaries published in the Belfast press. He learned his trade in Belfast, in the studio of a successful…...
Acheson, Anne Crawford
Acheson, Anne Crawford (1882–1962), sculptor, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several daughters of John Acheson and Harriet Glasgow Acheson, and was educated in Victoria College and later in the School of Art (both in Belfast) and then at the Royal College of Art, London,…...
Adrian (Bor), Max
Adrian (Bor), Max (1903–73), actor, was born 1 November 1903 in Ireland, the son of Edward Norman Cavendish Bor, a Bank of Ireland agent (or manager), and Mabel Lloyd (née Thornton). The family lived successively at Maryborough, Callan, and Waterford. Max was educated at Portora…...
Aickin (Aikin), Francis
Aickin (Aikin), Francis (c.1736–1812) and his younger brother James (d. 1803), actors, were born in Dublin and apprenticed to their father, a weaver, before leaving him to begin their acting careers. Francis joined Philip Lewis's company of strolling players in 1754; his…...
Aickin, James
This is a co-subject for the entry on Aickin (Aikin), Francis. View the original entry....
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Alen, Sir John
Alen, Sir John (d. 1561), lawyer and administrator, was the son of Warin Alen of Cotteshall, Norfolk, England, and cousin of his namesake John Alen (qv), archbishop of Dublin (1529–34) and a protégé of Cardinal Wolsey. He entered Gray…...
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…...
Allan, Henry
Allan, Henry (1865–1912), painter, was born 18 June 1865 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, youngest son of William Allan, distiller, of Bachelor's Walk, Dundalk, and his wife Anne, daughter of the Rev. Solomon Browne, presbyterian minister of Castledawson, Co. Londonderry. He began his…...
Allen, Dave
Allen, Dave (1936–2005), comedian, was born David Edward Tynan O'Mahony on 6 July 1936 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, youngest of three sons of (Gerard John) Cullen Tynan O'Mahony (nicknamed 'Pussy'), journalist, manager of the Irish Times, and raconteur,…...
Alleyn, Sir James
Alleyn, Sir James (fl. 1425–57), landowner in Co. Meath, lawyer, and officeholder, appears in 1425 as a justice of the liberty of Ulster, with the title of knight. At or after the end of 1427 he and Sir Henry Fortescue (d. c.1460), chief justice of the king's bench…...
Allgood, Sara
Allgood, Sara (1883–1950), actress, was born 31 October 1883 in Dublin, daughter of George Allgood and Margaret Allgood (née Harold). Her father was a protestant printing compositor, son of an English army officer; her mother's family were catholic, owners of a junk shop. There were…...
Alment, Mary Martha
Alment, Mary Martha (1834–1908) artist, was born 9 April 1834 at St Mary's Abbey, Dublin, the daughter of William F. Alment, who was the son of John Alment (1740?–1787), a huguenot scientific and mathematical instrument maker. Mary studied art at the…...
Alton, Bryan Gerard
Alton, Bryan Gerard (1919–91), physician, politician and goldsmith, was born in Dublin on 5 June 1919, the only child of Norman Bindon Alton, bank inspector, and his wife, Mary Frances (née Hayes). The family lived at 119 Morehampton Road until his father died in 1925. Bryan and his…...
Anderson, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee. View the original entry....
Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee
Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee (1837–86), and Sir Robert (1841–1918), lawyers and secret-service administrators, were sons of Matthew Anderson of Londonderry, crown solicitor for Dublin. Samuel Lee, the elder, was named after an ancestor member of the apprentice boys of Derry in 1688;…...
Andrews, Sir James
Andrews, Sir James (1877–1951), lord chief justice of Northern Ireland, was born 3 January 1877 in Comber, Co. Down, third among five sons of Thomas Andrews of Comber, industrialist, and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of James Alexander Pirrie of Clandeboye, Co. Down, and sister…...
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),…...
Annesley, Mabel Marguerite
Annesley, Mabel Marguerite (1881–1959), wood engraver and watercolourist, was born 25 February 1881 at Castlewellan, Co. Down, only daughter among two children of Hugh, 5th earl of Annesley, of Castlewellan, and his first wife, Mabel Wilhelmina Frances (née Markham). She was educated at…...
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…...
Archbold, John Frederick
Archbold, John Frederick (1785–1870), legal author, was second son of John Archbold of Boldbrook and Turvey, Co. Dublin. He entered Lincoln's Inn (1809) and became a barrister (1814). Unmarried, with no known interests other than the law, he became a prolific writer of treatises and…...
Arden, John
Arden, John (1930–2012), playwright and novelist, was born on 26 October 1930 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, to Charles Arden, a manager in a glass manufacturer, and Annie (‘Nancy’) Elizabeth Arden (née Layland), a primary school teacher. He was educated at the local primary school, Terringham…...
Armstrong, Arthur
Armstrong, Arthur (1924–96), painter, was born 12 January 1924 at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, one of three sons among six children of James Charlton Armstrong, house-painter and decorator, and his wife Margaret (née Howard). Soon after his birth the family moved to Belfast. He…...
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.…...
Armstrong, Richard
Armstrong, Richard (1815–80), MP and lawyer, was born 10 May 1815 in Co. Armagh, fifth but eldest surviving son of William Armstrong, engineer, of Roxborough, Co. Armagh, and Eliza Armstrong (née Steacy or Stracy). He was educated by a Mr Hawkesworth, entered…...