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),…...
Abercromby, Sir Ralph
Abercromby, Sir Ralph (1734–1801), soldier, was born at Menstrie, Clackmannan, Scotland, and baptised 26 October 1734, son of George Abercromby, lawyer and landowner, and Mary Abercromby (née Dundas). He studied law in Edinburgh and Leipzig before entering the British army at the…...
Adair, Sir William Thompson
Adair, Sir William Thompson (1850–1931), Royal Marine and UVF officer, was born 21 June 1850 (son of Gen. Sir Charles William Adair, KCB) and educated at Cheltenham College. He entered (1867) the…...
Adam (Adams), William Augustus
Adam (Adams), William Augustus (1865–1940), soldier, was born 27 May 1865 in Dublin, elder son among three children of the Rev. B. W. Adams, MRIA, author and rector of Santry, Co. Dublin, and his second wife Louisa Jane,…...
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…...
Águila, Don Juan del
Águila, Don Juan del (c.1541?–1603?), Spanish general, was born in Barracco in the province of Avila, Spain. He joined the army, serving in Flanders, in the Mediterranean fighting the Turks, and then in Flanders once more, rising to become a commander of a regiment.…...
Aher, David
Aher, David (c.1778–1842), cartographer and civil engineer, was probably the son of Patrick Aher, a Cork surveyor; he trained under his father, in the ‘French school of [John] Rocque’ (qv). A leading Irish surveyor-…...
Aherne, Eugene (John)
Aherne, Eugene (John) (d. 1806), radical and officer in the French army, was born at Lixnaw, Co. Kerry, probably in the 1760s. According to an informant of the Irish government identified only as ‘Jones’, Aherne studied in France at the Collège de Navarre before going to Scotland…...
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…...
Aird, John
Aird, John (c.1760–1832), civil engineer, was born in Scotland; nothing is known of his parents or early life. In 1794 he began working for John Rennie (qv), one of the best-known engineers in Europe at the time, and remained with…...
Aldworth, Sir Richard
Aldworth, Sir Richard (d. 1629), army officer, was second son of Richard Aldworth, verderer of Showwood forest, Oxfordshire. He served as a lieutenant in Ireland prior to 1603, was appointed provost-marshal of Munster for life (3 May 1610), with command of a troop of horse, and…...
Alexander, (Conel) Hugh (O'Donel)
Alexander, (Conel) Hugh (O'Donel) (1909–74), chess master and code-breaker, was born 19 April 1909 in Cork, eldest child of Conel William Long Alexander (qv), professor of engineering at…...
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long
Alexander, Conel William (O'Donel) Long (1879–1920), civil engineer and rugby footballer, was born 6 June 1879 in Imlick, Co. Donegal, youngest son of Joseph Alexander, farmer and JP, and his wife Frances Mary Long. Registered at birth as ‘…...
Alexander, Thomas A.
Alexander, Thomas A. (1847–1933), professor of civil engineering, was born 2 May 1847 in Maryhill, Glasgow; his parents' names are not known. Educated at the Normal School in Cowcaddens, Alexander entered Glasgow University in 1867, where he won prizes in mathematics, mechanics,…...
Allen, John
Allen, John (c.1780–1855), United Irishman and French army officer, was born in Dublin, son of Christopher Allen, dyer, of 44 Pimlico in the Liberties district, and in the early 1790s a member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen. He went into the woollen-drapery trade…...
Alton, Ernest Henry
Alton, Ernest Henry (1873–1952), classical scholar and public representative, was born 21 September 1873 at Marlinstown, near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, eldest son of James Poë Alton, banker, of Limerick and Marguerite Alton (née Keely). His abiding passion for classical literature was…...
Anderson, Emily
Anderson, Emily (1891–1962), academic, civil servant, and translator, was born 17 March 1891 at Taylor's Hill, Galway, second daughter of Alexander Anderson (qv), professor of natural philosophy and later president of…...
Anderson, Sir John D'Arcy
Anderson, Sir John D'Arcy (1908–1988), army officer, was born 23 September 1908 in Ballyhosset, Downpatrick, Co. Down, the only child of Major Reginald D'Arcy Anderson of Ballyhosset, Downpatrick, and his wife, Norah, daughter of Colonel Thomas Gracey of Blackheath, London. He won…...
Angulo, Gilbert de
Angulo, Gilbert de (d. 1213), lord of Morgallion and Anglo-Norman adventurer, belonged to a family of possible Flemish origin which had adopted its toponymic from Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Gilbert and his brothers Philip and William were sons of Jocelin, baron of Navan, whose…...
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…...
Archdale (Archdall), Mervyn
Archdale (Archdall), Mervyn (1763–1839), army officer and MP, was born 27 April 1763, eldest son among four sons and eight daughters of Col. Mervyn Archdall (1725–1813) of Castle Archdall, Co. Fermanagh, and Trillick, Co. Tyrone, and his wife the Hon. Mary (eldest daughter of…...
Archdale, Edward
This is a co-subject for the entry on Archdale, Mervyn Edward. View the original entry....
Archdale, Mervyn Edward
Archdale, Mervyn Edward (1812–95), army officer, politician, and landowner, was born 27 January 1812 in Dublin, the eldest of nine sons of Edward Archdall of Riversdale, Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Matilda, daughter of William Humphrys of Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan. Edward Archdall (1775…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Archer, Patrick
Archer, Patrick (1866–1949), writer and Gaelic League activist, was born 19 December 1866 in Oldtown, Co. Dublin, the son of Patrick Archer, a shoemaker, and his wife, Jane Donoghue, a teacher. Having secured a postion in the civil service in 1891, he was appointed to the customs and…...