Dabzac, Henry Joseph
Dabzac, Henry Joseph (1737–90), academic, was born in Minorca, son of Henry d'Abzac (1677–1750) and his wife (m. 1711 in Dublin) Magdalen, daughter of Capt. D'Artoux. Henry d'Abzac, naturalised as a subject of the crown in Ireland, was the son of Marc Dabzac by Jane (b. 1703 at…...
Dalgarno, Alexander
Dalgarno, Alexander (1928–2015), mathematician, physicist and astrophysicist, was born, along with his twin sister Pamela, on 5 January 1928 in Wood Green, London, at the home of their parents William Dalgarno and Margaret (née Murray). Alexander and Pamela had an older brother, Murray…...
Daly, Patrick Thomas
Daly, Patrick Thomas (1870–1943), republican and trade unionist, was born 2 December 1870 in Cumberland St., Dublin, son of John Daly, tailor, and Mary Daly (née Murphy). After attending a local national school he served an apprenticeship as a compositor. In 1892 he began working in…...
Darby, John Patrick
Darby, John Patrick (1941–2012), social and political scientist, was born on 18 November 1940 at 149 Springfield Road, Belfast, where his parents Sadie (née Mackle) and Patrick Darby ran a pub. When he was a young child his family moved to Portrush, Co. Antrim, where he attended St…...
Darby, Tom
Darby, Tom (1928–2009), trade unionist, was born in Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, on 28 February 1928, one of seven children of James Darby, a labourer, and his wife Rachel (née Keenan). His family was poor and, after leaving Kinnegad national school at age 14, he worked locally as a turf…...
Darling, Sisson Putland
Darling, Sisson Putland (1737–1817), schoolmaster, was the son of Richard Darling (1685–1766) of North Strand, Dublin, and his wife, Anne (née Davis). Richard's great-grandfather was John Darling (d. 1620), protestant dean of Emly (1608–20). The family pedigree gives no clue to…...
Darlington, Joseph
Darlington, Joseph (1850–1939), Jesuit and academic, was born 5 November 1850 in Wigan, Lancashire, second son of Ralph Darlington (occupation unknown). He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford (2 December 1869) and graduated BA (1874)…...
Davidson, Lilian Lucy (‘Ulick Burke’; ‘Jennifer Maude’)
Davidson, Lilian Lucy (‘Ulick Burke’; ‘Jennifer Maude’) (1879–1954), landscape and portrait artist, art teacher, and writer, was born 26 January 1879 at Castle Terrace, Bray, Co. Wicklow, the sixth of ten children of Edward Ellice Davidson, a clerk of petty session, and Lucy Rising…...
Davin, William
Davin, William (1890–1956), trade unionist and politician, was born 19 February 1890 at Grogan, Rathdowney, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of Timothy Davin, farmer, and Ellen Davin (née Costigan). He was educated at Rathdowney national school, at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, and later…...
Dawson, George William Percy
Dawson, George William Percy (1927–2004), geneticist, art lover and philanthropist, was born 7 August 1927 in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England, the only child of Percy John Fritz Stanley Dawson, fishmonger, and his wife Edith Helen (née Fildes). Education He was…...
Deasy, Joseph ('Joe')
Deasy, Joseph (‘Joe’) (1922–2013), left-wing activist, was born on 12 July 1922 in Ballyfermot, Dublin, the eldest of two boys and two girls born to Dick Deasy, a train driver with the Great Southern Railway (GSR), and Mary Deasy (née O’Connor). Educated at St Michael’s National School…...
De Brún, Pádraig (Browne, Patrick)
De Brún, Pádraig (Browne, Patrick) (1889–1960), priest, scholar, and academic administrator, was born 13 October 1889 in Grangemockler, Co. Tipperary, third child and second son among four sons and two daughters of Maurice Browne (1844–1911), a national school teacher from Cappoquin, Co…...
De Lacy, Hugh
De Lacy, Hugh (1916–2010), educationalist, was born Laurence Hugh de Lacey on 2 June 1916 in San Francisco, the elder of two sons of Laurence (Larry) de Lacey (qv) (the spelling Lacy was later adopted by Hugh), a journalist and…...
Delany, William
Delany, William (1835–1924), Jesuit and president of UCD, was born 4 June 1835 at Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, second of ten children (of whom five survived) born to John Delany and Mary Delany (née Brennan). As with many Irish catholic families of farming stock, there was an…...
De Paor, Liam
De Paor, Liam (1926–98), archaeologist, historian, and academic, was born 13 April 1926 in Dublin, son of Paul Power of Tramore, Co. Waterford, and Kathleen Power (née Burke) of Dublin. His father was a railway official and de Paor grew up in Drumcondra, Dublin, where he attended the…...
Derrig, Thomas (Ó Deirig, Tomás)
Derrig, Thomas (Ó Deirig, Tomás) (1897–1956), revolutionary, teacher, and politician, was born 26 November 1897 at High St., Westport, Co. Mayo, son of Patrick Derrig (d. 1927), a carrier or carman, formerly of Knappaghbeg, Westport, and Winifred Derrig (née Sammon), seamstress,…...
Derry, Valentine
Derry, Valentine (b. c.1760–d. p.1806), United Irishman, soldier, and teacher. Nothing is known about his early life. His brother was Father Edmund Derry (c.1747–1819), parish priest of Clonduff and later catholic bishop of Dromore (1801–19). Valentine…...
De Valera, Éamon (‘Dev’)
De Valera, Éamon (‘Dev’) (1882–1975), teacher, revolutionary, taoiseach, and president of Ireland, was born 14 October 1882 in the Nursery and Child's Hospital, Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York, the only child of Juan Vivion de Valera and Catherine (‘Kate’) Coll (1856–1932); he was…...
De Valera, Sinéad
De Valera, Sinéad (1875–1975), teacher, folklorist, and writer, was born Jane Flanagan , 1 June 1875, in Ballbriggan, Co. Dublin, one of three daughters and four children of Laurence Flanagan, a carpenter, and Margaret Flanagan (née Byrne). When she was seven the family moved to Munster…...
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman (1926–2012), lecturer in English, was born on 21 September 1926, in Swords, Co. Dublin, the youngest among three sons and two daughters of Hugh Gaw and Eva Gaw (née Newman). Her mother was a teacher in a Church of Ireland primary school, and her father, who…...
Devlin, Paddy
Devlin, Paddy (1925–99), politician and trade unionist, was born 8 March 1925 at 46 Lady St. in the Falls Road area of Belfast, eldest child among four daughters and three sons of Patrick Devlin, ex-serviceman and later flour-mill worker, and his wife Anna, of Belfast, daughter of…...
Dillon, Brian Francis (Father Matthew)
Dillon, Brian Francis (Father Matthew) (1905–79), Benedictine monk and headmaster, was born in Dublin on 13 March 1905, the fifth and youngest son of John Dillon (qv) and his wife, Elizabeth…...
Dill, Sir Samuel
Dill, Sir Samuel (1844–1924), classical scholar, historian, and educationalist, was born 26 March 1844 at Hillsborough, Co. Down, eldest son of the Rev. Marcus Dill, DD, presbyterian minister of Hillsborough, and Anna Dill (née Moreland). He…...
Dobbs, Francis
Dobbs, Francis (1750–1811), Volunteer, author, and MP, was born 27 April 1750, second son among four sons and a daughter of the Rev. Richard Dobbs (c.1694–1775), rector (1743–75) of Lisburn cathedral, Co. Antrim, and his wife Mary (d. 1796), widow of Cornet McMannus, and…...
Doherty, John
Doherty, John (c.1798–1854), trade union pioneer, radical activist, journalist, and factory reformer, was born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal; nothing is known of his parents. His birth place and date are uncertain. A son said it was ‘Buncrana, Inishowel’ (sic) in…...