Abbadie, Jacques (James)
Abbadie, Jacques (James) (1654?–1727), huguenot dean of Killaloe, preacher, and apologist of the Christian religion, was born in Nay in Béarn, France, third child of Pierre Abbadie and Violente Abbadie (née de Fortaner). He received his early education at the local protestant…...
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill (1829–1913), scholar and clergyman, was born 26 March 1829 in Dublin, son of Joseph Abbott, clerk of the peace, and his wife Jane Kingsmill. Thomas entered TCD 9 June 1846 as a sizar (his father being dead),…...
Abernethy, John
Abernethy, John (1680–1740), presbyterian minister of Scots descent, was born 19 October 1680, probably at Brigh, Co. Tyrone, where his father, also John (d. 1703), was minister 1674–84. His mother was a daughter of John Walkinshaw of Walkinshaw, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Abernethy…...
Acheson, Robert
Acheson, Robert (1763–1824), presbyterian minister and United Irish leader, was born near Clough, Co. Antrim, son of James Acheson, farmer, and his second wife, Elizabeth; her brother Thomas Reid was minister of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. Robert Acheson graduated in medicine from…...
Adair, Archibald
Adair, Archibald (d. 1647), Church of Ireland bishop, was fourth son of Ninian Adair and Helen or Elizabeth Adair (née Gordon) of Kinhilt, Wigtownshire, Scotland, and was thus connected to leading families in Scotland and Co. Antrim. He graduated MA…...
Adair, Patrick
Adair, Patrick (c.1624–1694), presbyterian minister and historian, was the third son of John Adair, of Genoch in Galloway. He graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1642 and proceeded in 1644 to study divinity in the University of Glasgow. When licensed he travelled to…...
Adams, Bernard
Adams, Bernard (1566–1626), Church of Ireland bishop of Limerick, was born in Middlesex. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford (BA 1586, MA 1590), and elected fellow. Appointed bishop of Limerick (1603…...
Adams, Michael
Adams, Michael (1937–2009), publisher and catholic activist, was born in Dublin on 22 June 1937, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Francis Adams, cattle dealer, victualler and JP for Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Mary or Maud (née Atteridge), a protestant and daughter…...
Adrain, Robert
Adrain, Robert (1775–1843), mathematician, was born 30 September 1775 in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, eldest among five children of a schoolteacher; his parents' names are not known. He received a good education, though he was self-taught in the higher mathematics. He lost both…...
Áed
Áed (d. 700), bishop of Sléibte (Sletty, on the border of Co. Carlow and Co. Laois), which belonged to the Uí Bairrche sept of Laois, was son of Broccán according to the genealogies. Because of the growth in Armagh's influence and claims to metropolitan status in the latter half of…...
Áed
Áed (982/3–1056), son of Cróngille Ua Foirréid and bishop and scholar at Armagh, belonged, like many bishops of Armagh, to the Cenél nÉogain, the most powerful of the dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill. He is best known as the subject of the poem ‘Uasal epscop Éirenn Áed’: here the…...
Áedán (Aidan)
Áedán (Aidan) (d. 651), founder and first bishop of Lindisfarne, was effectively ruler of the church of Northumbria from c.635 till his death. The mission of Paulinus from Canterbury (begun in 625) was superficially successful, culminating in the establishment of an…...
Áed Dub
Áed Dub (‘black [haired]’) (d. 639), bishop of Kildare, belonged to the ruling Uí Dúnlainge dynasty of north Leinster; his father Colmán Már and his brother Fáelán (qv) were overkings of Leinster. Another of his brothers, Áed Find, was ancestor…...
Agar, Charles
Agar, Charles (1735–1809), 1st earl of Normanton and Church of Ireland archbishop, was born 22 December 1735 at Gowran Castle, Co. Kilkenny, third son among four sons and a daughter of Henry Agar (1707–46), MP for Gowran, and his wife Anne (1707–65), daughter of Welbore Ellis (…...
Ailbe
Ailbe (d. 527?), patron of the church of Imlech Ibair (Emly, on the Limerick/Tipperary border), Munster's most important church till it was superseded by Cashel in the early twelfth century, was Munster's premier saint, whence the saying Mumu uili . . . iar cúl Ailbe, ‘…...
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens)
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens) (d. 665), fer léigind (lector or chief scholar) of the monastery of Clonard, Co. Meath, died in the great cholera or plague, termed the Buide Conaill (AU 665). His obit is given as 29 December in the Martyrology of Tallaght and in the…...
Airbertach
Airbertach (d. 1016), son of Cos Dobráin, was at the time of his death airchinnech or superior of the monastery of Ros Ailithir (Ross Carbery, Co. Cork). The only other reference to him in historical sources, an entry in the Annals of Inisfallen, states that in the year 990 Ros…...
Airechtach
Airechtach (d. 794), abbot of Armagh, belonged to the line of Fáelán within the ecclesiastical lineage of Uí Bressail, which in turn represented a discard segment of the ruling dynasty of Airthir (baronies of Upper and Lower Orior, Co. Armagh). He was a priest at Armagh when Affiath was…...
Alen (Allen), John
Alen (Allen), John (1476–1534), archbishop and administrator, was the son of Edward Alen and his wife Catherine (daughter of Sir John St Leger), and cousin of Sir John Alen (qv). He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge (…...
Alexander, William
Alexander, William (1824–1911), Church of Ireland bishop of Derry and Raphoe, and archbishop of Armagh, was born 13 April 1824 in Derry city, eldest of three sons and third child among eight children of Robert Alexander, rector of Termoneeny and subsequently prebendary of…...
Algar, Joseph
Algar, Joseph (1890–1958), chemist, was born 15 April 1890 at 22 Arnott St, Dublin, eldest of eight children of Herbert Okell Algar, originally from Warwickshire, and Celia Algar (née Kelly) from Dublin. His father, who converted to catholicism on his marriage, was a master tailor…...
Alibrandi, Gaetano
Alibrandi, Gaetano (1914–2003), papal diplomat, was born 14 January 1914 in Castiglione, Sicily, to an aristocratic family. After secondary education at the diocesan seminary in Acireale, Alibrandi attended the Pontifical Seminary, Rome, and was ordained priest on 1 November 1936; he…...
Alison, Francis
Alison, Francis (1705–79), presbyterian minister and educator in America, was born in the parish of Leck, Co. Donegal, son of Robert Alison, weaver, who may have been fairly well off, and who seems to have died in 1725; his mother's name is unknown, but her first name was possibly…...
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, Robert
Allen, Robert (1904–68), presbyterian minister, was born 30 March 1904 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, son of Robert Allen (1865–1951), farmer, from near Cullybackey, Co. Antrim, and Emma Allen (née Crooks), from a farming family in Co. Armagh. Although born in Ballymena, he grew up and…...