McDougall, Margaret Moran
McDougall, Margaret Moran (1826–99), author and journalist, was born 25 December 1826, according to family records (though her obituary said 25 December 1828), probably in Co. Antrim. Her father, J. Moran (or William Henry) Dixon , tailor, died in Galgorm, Co. Antrim, when…...
McGrath, William
McGrath, William (1916–91), loyalist and paedophile, was born 11 December 1916 in Belfast, son of Abraham McGrath and Jane McGrath (née Warrington). McGrath came from a methodist background; in later years he worked with presbyterian and Free Presbyterian churches while operating as a…...
Mellon, Thomas
Mellon, Thomas (1813–1908), judge, investor, and banker, was born 3 February 1813 at Camp Hill Cottage, Castletown, near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, eldest of two sons and three daughters of Andrew Mellon (1785–1856), farmer, and his wife Rebecca (1789–1868), daughter of Samuel Wauchob,…...
Mitchel, John
Mitchel, John (1815–75), nationalist and journalist, was born on 3 November 1815 at Camnish, near Dungiven, Co. Londonderry, eldest surviving child among two sons and four daughters of John Mitchel (1781–1840), presbyterian minister of the Dungiven congregation, and his wife Mary…...
Mitchell, Alexander
Mitchell, Alexander (1780–1868), civil engineer, was born 13 April 1780 in South William St., Dublin, eighth son among thirteen children of William Mitchell, inspector general of barracks in Ireland, and Jane Mitchell (née Fergusson or Ferguson), remembered in the family as ‘…...
Neilson, William (Mac Néill, Uilliam)
Neilson, William (Mac Néill, Uilliam) (1774–1821), presbyterian minister, classical and Irish-language scholar and writer, was born 12 September 1774 at Rademon, Kilmore, Co. Down, fourth among seven sons of the Rev. Moses Neilson (1739?–1823), schoolmaster and presbyterian minister of…...
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…...
Payne, Davy (Hugh David)
Payne, Davy (Hugh David) (1948?–2003), loyalist paramilitary, was born in Belfast, where he was brought up in the Woodvale area of the Shankill Road. He was involved in loyalist activism from his teens (although he later falsely claimed to have been radicalised by IRA bombings in the…...
Perry (Shaw), Alice Jacqueline
Perry (Shaw), Alice Jacqueline (1885–1969), engineer and Christian Scientist, was born in Wellpark, Co. Galway, one of five daughters and one son of James Perry, engineer and county surveyor for Galway, originally from Garvagh, Co. Londonderry, and Martha Perry (née Park), from…...
Porter, James
Porter, James (1752/3–1798), presbyterian minister and satirist, was born in the townland of Tamnawood, near Ballindrait in the Laggan district of Co. Donegal. His parents, who were presbyterians, were natives of the place and had three younger sons and four daughters. The father…...
Porter, William
Porter, William (1805–80), attorney general of the Cape Colony, was the second son of the Rev. William Porter (qv), presbyterian minister of Limavady, Co. Londonderry, and his first wife Mary (née Scott), both of them the offspring of tenant farmers near…...
Rentoul, James Alexander
Rentoul, James Alexander (1845–1919), presbyterian minister, lawyer and politician, was born at Errity House, Manorcunningham, Co. Donegal, on 7 August 1845, eldest son (of three sons and five daughters) of Alexander Rentoul, presbyterian minister, and his wife Erminda (née Chittick…...
Robb, John Hanna
Robb, John Hanna (1873–1956), politician and barrister, was born 4 November 1873 in Clogher, Co. Tyrone, second son among ten children of the Rev. James Gardner Robb (d. 1891), presbyterian minister, and Martha Robb (née Hanna). As a child he spent five years in Toronto, Canada,…...
Ross, Sir John
Ross, Sir John (1853–1935), judge, politician, and last lord chancellor of Ireland, was born 11 December 1853 in Derry, eldest son among eight children of the Rev. Robert Ross (d. 1894), presbyterian minister and moderator (1886–7) of the general assembly of the Presbyterian…...
Rylett, Harold
Rylett, Harold (1851–1936), non-subscribing presbyterian minister, journalist, land leaguer, and home ruler, was born 4 February 1851 in Boston Road, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, the son of Henry Rylett, a book binder, and later a commercial traveler, of Boston Road, and his wife Mary Jane…...
Shaw, James Johnston
Shaw, James Johnston (1845–1910), economist, barrister, and judge, was born 4 January 1845 at Kirkcubbin, Co. Down, second son of John Maxwell Shaw (d. 1852), merchant and farmer, and Anne Shaw (née Johnston). His father died when he was only seven, leaving his mother to raise a…...
Sibbett, Robert Mackie
Sibbett, Robert Mackie (1868–1941), journalist and author, was born 4 September 1868 in the townland of Killycoogan, Portglenone, Co. Antrim, the only son of James Mackie and Agnes Ann Mackie (née Sibbett; b. 1832, d. 4 November 1916), who were married on 20 November 1867. After…...
Smith, Col. James
Smith, Col. James (c.1713–1806), lawyer, soldier in America, and signatory of the American declaration of independence, was born in the north of Ireland, second son of John Smith, a farmer with a large family. There are few details extant about his background or date of…...
Smyllie, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Smyllie, Robert Maire. View the original entry....
Smyllie, Robert Maire
Smyllie, Robert Maire (1893–1954), journalist and editor of the Irish Times, was born 20 March 1893 at Hill St., Shettleton, Glasgow, eldest among four sons and one daughter of Robert Smyllie (fl. 1900), a presbyterian, and Elisabeth Follis, originally from Cork…...
Steele, William
Steele, William (1610–80), barrister, privy counsellor, and lord chancellor of Ireland, was born in Sandbach, Cheshire, England, eldest among three sons of Richard Steele of Finchley, Middlesex, and his wife Laetitia (née Shaw). Steele matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, in…...
Stevenson, John
Stevenson, John (1850–1931), printer, inventor, antiquary, and author, was born in Rostrevor, Co. Down, in 1850, eldest among three to five sons of John Stevenson (d. 1881) and Harriet Stevenson (née Walsh; d. 1891). One brother died in childhood and one as a young man; there may…...
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’)
Strathdee, Ernest (‘Ernie’) (1921–71), rugby international and broadcaster, was born on 26 May 1921 in Belfast, the son of Ernest Strathdee and his wife Nellie (née Moore). Educated at Belfast High School and Queen's University Belfast (QUB), he was a talented scrum-half throughout the…...
Thompson, James
Thompson, James (1863–1945), civil engineer, was born 22 August 1863 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, son of Thomas Thompson, supervisor, and his wife, Mary Henderson (née Logan). Moving to Cork in 1870, he was educated at Carmichael's School and at QCC…...
Thomson, James
Thomson, James (1822–92), engineer and inventor, was born 16 February 1822 at 17 College Square, east Belfast, third child and eldest son among four daughters and three sons of James Thomson (qv), of a presbyterian tenant-farming family…...