Anderson, John
Anderson, John (1815–1905), woollen merchant, geologist, bibliographer, and local politician, was born 8 July 1815 near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. After moving to Belfast he entered (1840) the woollen business in Donegall St. founded by James Young in 1795. Anderson's eminence…...
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…...
Bryce, James
Bryce, James (1806–77), geologist and teacher, was born 22 October 1806 at Killaig, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, third son of James Bryce (qv) (1767–1857) and Catherine Bryce (née Annan). His father had recently been appointed…...
Burkitt, James Parsons
Burkitt, James Parsons (1870–1959), ornithologist and engineer, was born 20 August 1870 at Killybegs, Co. Donegal, second son among five sons and two daughters of Thomas Henry Burkitt, presbyterian minister, and Emma Eliza Burkitt (née Parsons). He was educated at Galway grammar…...
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…...
Crawford, Adair
Crawford, Adair (1748–96), doctor and chemist, was born in Ballytromery, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, third son among four sons and two daughters of Thomas Crawford, presbyterian minister in Crumlin 1724–82, and Anne Crawford (née Mackay). His brothers were Thomas Crawford,…...
Crofton, Sir John Wenman
Crofton, Sir John Wenman (1912–2009), physician, scientist and public health campaigner, was born on 27 March 1912 at the family home, 55 Merrion Square South, Dublin, the only son (between two sisters) of William Mervyn Crofton, physician and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary…...
Drummond, James
Drummond, James (1786?–1863), botanist, was born near Forfar, Angus, Scotland, probably in late 1786 or early 1787, as he was baptised in the parish church of Inverarity on 8 January 1787. He was the eldest child among two sons and two daughters of Thomas Drummond (b. 1757), a…...
Duncan, George Alexander
Duncan, George Alexander (1902–2006), economist, was born 15 May 1902 in the family home in Bridge Street, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, the second son of Alexander Duncan, a physician and surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth (née Linn). He was educated at Ballymena Academy and Campbell College…...
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;…...
Fearon, William Robert
Fearon, William Robert (1892–1959), biochemist, was born 14 October 1892 in Holles St., Dublin, the only son of a presbyterian minister, William Fearon of Kells, Co. Meath, and Nannie Fearon (neé Morrow). His father died when he was very young and from the age of 3 he lived with…...
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…...
Gamble, Josias (or Josiah) Christopher
Gamble, Josias (or Josiah) Christopher (1778–1848), presbyterian minister and chemical manufacturer, was born in August 1778, fourth of five sons of David Gamble, farmer, from near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, whose wife's maiden name was Rutherford, and who also had a daughter.…...
Gowan, Thomas
Gowan, Thomas (1631–83), presbyterian minister and philosophy teacher, was born in Caldermuir, Scotland, an undeveloped region on the western border of Edinburghshire. His parentage is not known. He studied at the College of Edinburgh, where he graduated…...
Halliday, Fred (Simon Frederick Peter)
Halliday, Fred (Simon Frederick Peter) (1946–2009), academic, writer and public intellectual, was born on 22 February 1946 in Dublin, the youngest of three sons of Arthur Halliday, a quaker shoe manufacturer, and Margaret Mary 'Rita' Halliday (née Finigan), of Dundalk. He was educated…...
Hincks, Thomas Dix
Hincks, Thomas Dix (1767–1857), presbyterian minister, naturalist, and scholar, was born 24 June 1767 at Bachelor's Quay, Dublin, son of Edward Hincks (d. 1772), a customs officer from Chester, England. His mother's maiden name was Dix, and after the premature death of her…...
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…...
Houlihan, Con
Houlihan, Con (1925–2012), sportswriter, was born on 6 December 1925 in Reineen, near Castleisland, Co. Kerry, the middle child among two boys and a girl of Michael Houlihan and his wife Ellen ('Nell') (née Cronin). His parents farmed a small holding (about five acres of arable land),…...
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…...
Hutcheson, Francis
Hutcheson, Francis (1694–1746), philosopher, was born 8 August 1694 in Drumalig, Co. Down, second among three sons of John Hutcheson – at the time presbyterian minister of Downpatrick – and his first wife, the daughter of an army officer, James Trail of Killyleagh. The Hutcheson…...
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…...