Ray, Joseph
Ray, Joseph (d. 1709), printer, bookseller, newspaper publisher, and ‘deputy king's printer’, was son of Giles Ray, of London, woodmonger; nothing is known of his mother. Serving his apprenticeship under his kinsman John North, bookseller, Ray was made free of the London…...
Reilly, Alice
Reilly, Alice (1702/3–1778), printer and publisher, born Alice Abbot , was the widow (m. 10 October 1733) of Richard Reilly; she took over his business on his death in July 1741. Paying quarterage fees to the printers guild (the Guild of St Luke the Evangelist), she was unable to…...
Roberts, George
Roberts, George (1873–1953), actor, publisher, and poet, was born 8 January 1873 in Clarkill, Kilmegan, Castlewellan, Co. Down, son of Oliver Goldsmith Roberts, a warehouse manager, and Margaret Roberts (née Gray). On leaving school he worked briefly in the linen trade, and later in the…...
Roddy, Martin
Roddy, Martin (1883–1948), politician, publisher, and farmer, was born 9 December 1883 at Breeogue, Kilmacowen, Co. Sligo, eldest son among at least four sons and two daughters of Patrick Roddy, farmer, and Jane Roddy (née O'Hara). The family were long established and prominent in…...
Ryan, Luke
Ryan, Luke (1750–89), privateer and smuggler, was born on 14 February 1750 in Rush, Co. Dublin, the son of Michael Ryan, a farmer of Kenure, near Rush, and his wife Mary (née Taylor). As a child he attended the country school at Hackettstown, near Skerries, Co. Dublin. In 1762 he…...
Sadleir, John
Sadleir, John (1813–56), banker, politician, speculator, and swindler, was born 17 November 1813 at Shronell House in the parish of Shronell near Tipperary town, fifth of seven children born to Clement William Sadleir, a protestant farmer and middleman, whose earliest known…...
Saunders, Henry
Saunders, Henry (c.1725–1787), publisher, printer, and bookseller, was probably born in Dublin; nothing else is known of his family background. He lived and worked in the city throughout his life. In the late 1740s he was a journeyman to the printer and newspaper proprietor…...
Shackleton, Francis Richard (‘Frank’)
Shackleton, Francis Richard (‘Frank’) (1876–1941), Dublin Herald of Arms (1905–7), was born 19 September 1876 at Kilkea House, Kilkea, Co. Kildare, second son of Henry Shackleton and Henrietta Letitia Sophia Shackleton (née Gavan). His elder brother was Sir…...
Share, Bernard Vivian
Share, Bernard Vivian (1930–2013), writer and editor, was born on 31 May 1930 in London to Irish parents Frederick Share, a civil servant, and May Share, who had emigrated there from Dublin. He lived in England until he was seventeen, attending school in Pinner, Middlesex, before moving…...
Sheehy, Edmund
Sheehy, Edmund (1733–66), farmer executed for murder, of Lodge (parish of Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary), was the son of Ellin Fitzpatrick. He was otherwise known as ‘Buck’ Sheehy, a term indicative of semi-gentleman status, as he had an income of £300 or £400 a year, and was a person…...
Smith, John
Smith, John (d. 1771), presbyterian bookseller, was a native of Ulster. Nothing is known of his parents, but he was probably a kinsman of William Smith (1698–1741), one of his business partners. William was a son of Samuel Smith, a Belfast merchant and an associate of…...
Smyth, Brendan
Smyth, Brendan (1927–97), catholic priest and paedophile, was born John Gerard Smyth in Nansen Street, off the Falls Road, west Belfast, on 6 June 1927. He was educated at Barracks Street CBS, Belfast. In 1945 he joined the Norbertine…...
Staunton, Michael
Staunton, Michael (1788–1870), editor and publisher, was born in Co. Clare into a liberal protestant family (nothing more is known of his parents). As a young man he moved to Dublin, where he succeeded in 1813 to the editorship of the Freeman's Journal, then owned by…...
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…...
Stewart, John Watson
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Stockdale, John
Stockdale, John (d. 1813), printer and bookseller, may have been born in Dublin; nothing is known of his family background. He was a printer's apprentice to Henry Saunders (qv), and in 1772 was admitted free of the guild of St Luke by…...
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’)
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner, is thought to have been born in Co. Kerry into a tenant farming family between 1740 and 1750. The location of her birth and names of her parents are not known, and available details of her life are largely anecdotal or…...
Sweeney, John Anthony (Tony)
Sweeney, John Anthony (Tony) (1931–2012), horse-racing journalist and bibliophile, was born on 26 June 1931 in London, son of John Sweeney (1887–1940), GPO surveyor, and his wife Kitty, daughter of James Joseph ('J. J.')…...
Swiney, Eugene
Swiney, Eugene (c.1730–1781), printer, publisher, and bookseller, was probably born in Limerick city, son of Miles Sweeny (Swiney); nothing is known of his mother. He appears to have been born as Owen Sweeney but later became known as Eugene Swiney. He was apprenticed to…...
Taylor, William Desmond
Taylor, William Desmond (1872–1922), silent film director and celebrity murder victim, was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner at Straw Hill House, Carlow town, Co. Carlow, on 26 April 1872, second child and oldest son among two daughters and three sons (one of whom died in infancy) of…...
Tempest, Henry Godfrey (Harry)
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Tempest, William
Tempest, William (1835–1918), antiquary and publisher, was born 13 November 1835 in Rostrevor, Co. Down, son of William Tempest and Esther Tempest (née Broughden), originally from Ramelton, Co. Donegal. He was apprenticed at the age of 13 to a newspaper printer in Newry. In 1859,…...
Thom, Alexander
Thom, Alexander (1801–79), printer and founder of Thom's Almanac, was born 18 April 1801 in Scotland (sources variously name Bervie, Findhorn, or Aberdeen as his place of birth), son of Walter Thom, writer, editor, and journalist. He was educated at the High School in…...
Tooke, Benjamin
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Tooke, Benjamin
Tooke, Benjamin (c.1642–1716), bookseller and printer, was born in England, probably the son of the Rev. Thomas Tuke, vicar of St Olave's, though he always spelt his name Took or Tooke. In 1657 he was apprenticed to John Crooke…...