Connor (O'Connor), Bernard
Connor (O'Connor), Bernard (c.1666–1698), royal physician, anatomist, and historian, was born into a catholic family in Co. Kerry, one of at least three children of Bernard O'Connor, possibly a member of the branch of the lords of Kerry, whose seat was at Carrigafoyle;…...
Cooper, Austin
Cooper, Austin (1759–1830), antiquary, was born 15 February 1759 at Killinure, Co. Tipperary, third son among fourteen children of William Cooper, registrar of the diocese of Cashel, and his wife Jane (née Wayland). Cooper was educated in Cashel, and in 1774 entered the treasury…...
Cox, Sir Richard
Cox, Sir Richard (1650–1733), historian and lord chancellor of Ireland, was born 25 March 1650 in Bandon, Co. Cork, only child of Richard Cox (d. 1651), a captain in the English army, and Katherine, daughter of Walter Bird of Clonakilty, Co. Cork. His grandfather Michael had moved…...
Craig, Maurice James Waldron
Craig, Maurice James Waldron (1919–2011), architectural historian, writer and poet, was born 25 October 1919 at 11 University Square, Belfast, elder of two sons of James Andrew Craig, a leading ophthalmic surgeon, and Blanche Craig (née Alice Blanche Sara Waldron), an Englishwoman.…...
Croker, John Wilson
Croker, John Wilson (1780–1857), politician and author, was born in Galway 20 December 1780, eldest among two sons and a daughter of John Croker (1743–1814), exciseman and surveyor general of Dublin port 1800–07, and his second wife, Hester (née Rathbone), daughter of a Co. Galway…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Curtis, Edmund
Curtis, Edmund (1881–1943), historian, was born 25 March 1881 at Bury, Lancashire, England, fifth child among five sons and a daughter of Francis Curtis, architectural draughtsman, of Rathmullen, Co. Donegal, and Elizabeth Curtis (née Elliott) of Belfast. The family's circumstances were…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Dixon, Frederick E.
Dixon, Frederick E. (1913–88) meteorologist, historian, and philatelist, was born 27 March 1913 in Oundle, near Peterborough, England, a son of Nathan Dixon and his wife, Edith, née Howitt, who also had another son and a daughter. He attended Deacon's School, Peterborough, and…...
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus)
Dowling, Thady (Thaddeus) (c.1544–1628), ecclesiastic and annalist, was a member of the Dowling family of Laois (Co. Laois). According to his own testimony, he was fostered in Leighlin, and received some basic education locally. He then went to Dublin, where he stayed for four…...
Drew, Sir Thomas
Drew, Sir Thomas (1838–1910), architect and antiquary, was born 18 September 1838 at Victoria Place, Belfast, into the large family of the Rev. Dr Thomas Drew (qv), son of a Limerick grocer, and Isabella Drew (née Dalton; 1802–69), daughter…...
Duhigg, Bartholomew
Duhigg, Bartholomew (c.1751–1813), political activist, antiquarian, and barrister, was the fourth son of Bartholomew Duhigg, ‘gent.’, of Ballyhigh, Co. Limerick, who seems to have been a Roman catholic who conformed in 1725. Bartholomew the younger entered the Middle…...
Ervine, St John Greer
Ervine, St John Greer (1883–1971), Ulster dramatist, critic, and biographer, was born John Greer Ervine on 28 December 1883 in Belfast, son of William Ervine, printer, and Sarah Jane Ervine (née Greer), who may have been a deaf-mute. Ervine's father died soon after his birth. He…...
Ferguson, Lady Mary Catherine
Ferguson, Lady Mary Catherine (1823–1905), antiquarian and biographer, was born 13 September 1823 in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, eldest child and only daughter of Robert Rundell Guinness (1789–1857), founder of the banking firm of Guinness Mahon, and Mary Anne Guinness (née Seymour; d…...
Froude, James Anthony
Froude, James Anthony (1818–1894), historian, was born 23 April 1818 at Dartington, Devonshire, England, youngest among eight children of Archdeacon Robert Hurrell Froude, anglican clergyman, and Margaret Froude (née Spedding). He was educated at Westminster and at Oriel College,…...
Gordon, James Bentley
Gordon, James Bentley (1750–1819), clergyman and historian, was son of the Rev. James Gordon of Neeve Hall, Co. Londonderry, and his wife, a daughter of Thomas Neeve. He entered TCD in 1768, graduating BA…...
Graham, John
Graham, John (1775/6–1844), clergyman and writer, was born in Co. Fermanagh or Co. Longford, son of James Graham, gentleman. John, most likely a younger son, was educated by a Mr Robinson, and entered TCD in 1794, graduating…...
Grainger, John
Grainger, John (1830–1891), clergyman and antiquarian, was born 19 March 1830 in Queen St., Belfast the eldest of six children (four boys and two girls) of David Grainger, a wealthy shipowner, and Maria (or Mary) Belinda Grainger (née Parke) of Whiteabbey, near Belfast. He…...
Graves, Charles
Graves, Charles (1812–99), clergyman, mathematician, and antiquarian, was born 6 November 1812 at 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, youngest child among four sons and one daughter of John Crosbie Graves, chief police magistrate of Dublin, and his wife Helena, daughter of the Rev. Charles…...
Graves, James
Graves, James (1815–86), clergyman, archaeologist, and historian, was born 11 October 1815 in Kilkenny town, son of Rev. Richard Graves (1785–1857), rector of Coolcullen, Co. Kilkenny, and vicar choral (1817–26) of St Canice's cathedral, Kilkenny, and Joanna Graves (née Anderson…...
Green, Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford
Green, Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford (1847–1929), historian and nationalist, was born on either 30 or 31 May 1847 in Kells, Co. Meath, seventh among nine children of Edward Adderly Stopford , archdeacon of Meath, and Anne Catherine Stopford (neé Duke) from Sligo. With the exception of…...
Grierson, Philip
Grierson, Philip (1910–2006), historian and numismatist, was born in Dublin on 15 November 1910, only son and second of three surviving children (another child had died in infancy) of Philip Henry Grierson (1859–1952) and his wife Roberta Ellen Jane (née Pope), a doctor's…...
Guiney, David
Guiney, David (1921–2000), athlete, sports journalist, sports historian, and author, was born 31 January 1921 in Kanturk, Co. Cork, one of four sons of John Guiney, solicitor and nationalist MP for Cork North (1913–18), and Mary Guiney (née Buckley) of O'Brien St., Kanturk. Guiney…...
Gwynn, Stephen Lucius
Gwynn, Stephen Lucius (1864–1950), man of letters, politician, and soldier, was born 13 February 1864 at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, Dublin, eldest child of John Gwynn (qv), warden of St Columba's and later professor of divinity Trinity…...
Halloran (O'Halloran), Laurence Hynes
Halloran (O'Halloran), Laurence Hynes (1765–1831), schoolmaster, clergyman, writer, and forger, was born 29 December 1765 in Co. Meath. Orphaned while still a young child, he was raised by his uncle, Judge William Gregory, before attending Westminster School. In 1785 he opened a…...