Arbuckle, James
Arbuckle, James (d. 1742), poet and essayist, came from Belfast. His parentage is unknown, but he may have been a nephew of the merchant James Arbuckle (d. March 1736), who was a lay elder in the Second Presbyterian congregation. His date of birth cannot be reliably determined,…...
Armstrong, James
Armstrong, James (1781?–1839), unitarian minister and educationist, was born at Ballynahinch, Co. Down, where his father John Armstrong (1754?–1837) was a merchant; his mother, Margaret (1751?–1836), was a daughter of John Strong (d. 1780), presbyterian minister at Ballynahinch (…...
Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Belrieu, Jacques de
Belrieu, Jacques de (c.1630–1719), Seigneur de St Laurans, Baron de Virazel , huguenot colonist, was born at Bordeaux, France, and married (1651) Marie de Gaumont, with whom he had at least three children: Daniel, Charles, and Marie Ann. Virazel became a lawyer and…...
Blanshard, Paul
Blanshard, Paul (1892–1980), journalist and author, was born 27 August 1892 at Fredericksburg, Ohio, USA, one of twin sons of Francis George Blanshard, a congregational clergyman, and his wife Emily (née Coulter), both of whom had been born in Canada. His maternal grandfather came…...
Brooke, Stopford Augustus
Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1832–1916), clergyman and author, was born 14 November 1832 at ‘Glendoen’, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, eldest of eight children of the Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, the local curate, and Anna Brooke (née Stopford). When his maternal grandfather and…...
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’)
Butt, Mahmood (‘Mike’) (1927–88), restaurateur, was born 7 May 1927 in Nairobi, Kenya, into an Islamic Indian family of one daughter and five sons of Ahmed Butt, railway engineer, and Zakia Butt. He was educated at a catholic school in Nairobi. After running a fleet of hire cars…...
Carnduff, Thomas
Carnduff, Thomas (1886–1956), writer, was born 30 January 1886 in Sandy Row, Belfast, youngest among six children of James Graham Carnduff (1842?–1900), an invalided army schoolteacher, and his second wife Jane (née Bollard; d. 1891). The family were poor, and living on their father…...
Charters, John
Charters, John (1796–1874), millowner and philanthropist, was born 24 June 1796 in Gobrana, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, son of Alexander Charters and Eleanor Charters (née Mackey). He possibly attended the Belfast Academical Institution; in 1836, with two partners, he established…...
Cole, Sir William
Cole, Sir William (1571?–1653), English soldier and planter, was the only son of Emmanuel Cole, third son of Thomas Cole of London, and appears to have been raised in Devonshire. He may have studied at Cambridge, graduating BA and…...
Drummond, William Hamilton
Drummond, William Hamilton (1778–1865), unitarian minister, theologian, poet, scholar, and controversialist, was born in August or September 1778 at Larne, Co. Antrim. He was the second of three children of William Drummond, a Royal Navy surgeon, and his wife Rose (née Hare), a native…...
Duffin, Adam
Duffin, Adam (1841–1924), stockbroker and public figure, was born 6 December 1841, second son of Charles Duffin of Belfast, a linen manufacturer, and linen and flaxseed merchant, and his wife Theodosia (née Grimshaw), granddaughter of …...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Henry, Robert Mitchell
Henry, Robert Mitchell (1873–1950), classicist and university administrator, was born 11 February 1873 in Belfast, son of Robert Mitchell Henry (1824–91), who was himself son of a Reformed Presbyterian minister, William Henry (1789–1852). Robert M. Henry sen., having started his…...
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy (1911–2006), socialist, activist, teacher, and maritime historian, was born 19 October 1911 in Lucknow, India, only child of De Courcy Ireland (1873–1915), a British army major of Irish ancestry, and his English-born wife Gabrielle (née Byron). …...
Laffan, William Mackay
Laffan, William Mackay (1848–1909), journalist, newspaper owner, and art connoisseur, was born 24 January 1848 at 41 Philipsburgh Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, eldest of six children of Michael Laffan, clerk in the Custom House, and Ellen Sarah Laffan (née Fitzgibbon). William's…...
La Touche, David Digues I
La Touche, David Digues I (1671–1745), soldier and businessman, was born 15 November 1671, fourth son among six sons and three daughters of Denis Digues, seigneur de la Touche et de la Motte, nobleman, and his second wife Madeleine Digues (née Deplanche) of Château de la Touche,…...
Lavit, Joseph
Lavit, Joseph (d. c.1728), merchant, appears to have settled in Cork around 1690. He was a huguenot, but nothing more is known of his life in France (where his name was probably Lavitte) except that when he arrived in Ireland he was apparently a man of little or no…...
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’)
Moody, Theodore William Dippie (‘Theo’) (1907–84), historian, was born 26 November 1907 in Belfast, only son (there was one older daughter) of William John Moody of Co. Londonderry, iron turner at Harland & Wolff's shipyard and trade unionist, and Ann Isabella Moody (née…...
Norcott, William
Norcott, William (1773?–1820), barrister, satirist, and bon vivant, was eldest son of William Norcott of Charleville, Co. Cork, and Mary Norcott (née Knight). He entered TCD in July 1790, graduating BA…...
Porter, Classon Emmett
Porter, Classon Emmett (1814–85), non-subscribing presbyterian minister and writer of local history and biography, particularly that of Irish presbyterianism, was born in Artikelly, near Limavady (then called Newtonlimavady), Co. Londonderry, first child of …...
Shearman, Hugh
Shearman, Hugh (1915–99), man of letters, Ulster unionist and theosophist, was born in Belfast, the only child of John Nicholson Shearman, teacher at Belfast Royal Academy (BRA), and his wife Margaret (née Morrison). His uncle T. E. C. Shearman was also employed at BRA (as registrar…...
Teate, Faithful
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Teate, Faithful
Teate, Faithful (d. 1660) puritan minister and vice-provost of TCD, was born around the start of the seventeenth century. Little is known of his background but he was probably born in England, possibly in Kent, before coming to…...
White, William John (‘Jack’)
White, William John (‘Jack’) (1920–80), broadcaster, editor, journalist, and novelist, was born 30 March 1920 in Cork, second child of William Luke White, accountant, and Mary White (née Tyler). In his book Minority report (1975) he described himself as ‘a member of a…...