Barbour, Sir John Milne
Barbour, Sir John Milne (1868–1951), industrialist and politician, was born 4 January 1868 at The Fort, Dunmurry, near Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of John Doherty Barbour (chairman of one of Ulster's biggest flax-spinning firms) and Elizabeth Law Milne Barbour of Edinburgh. He was…...
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’)
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’) (1753–1821), eccentric scholar, was born in Ballyroan, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of the Rev. Daniel Barrett, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife Rossamund Gofton. Educated by a Mr Sheils in Dublin, he entered TCD…...
Beamish, Francis Bernard
Beamish, Francis Bernard (1802–68), politician and brewer, was born 5 April 1802, eighth son among twelve children of William Beamish (qv), founder of the Beamish & Crawford porter brewery, and his wife Anne, daughter of Robert…...
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick (1942–90), founder of ALONE, was born 29 March 1942 in Inchicore, Dublin, third among seven children of William Bermingham, bellman on a fuel cart, and Mary Bermingham (née Dalgarno). He was educated at St Michael's School, Inchicore, and…...
Bulkeley, Sir Richard
Bulkeley, Sir Richard (1660–1710), politician and eccentric philanthropist, was born 17 August 1660 in Dublin. His great-grandfather was Archbishop Lancelot Bulkeley (qv), while his father, Richard Bulkeley (1634–85), MP for…...
Charley, William
Charley, William (1826–90), linen bleacher, was born 11 April 1826, second of three sons of William Charley, a prominent linen bleacher, and Isabella Charley (née Hunter) of Seymour Hill, near Dunmurry, Co. Antrim. His father, one of the founders of the Northern Banking Company of…...
Cleeve, Sir Thomas Henry
Cleeve, Sir Thomas Henry (1844–1908), industrialist, was born 5 June 1844 in Richmond, Quebec, Canada, eldest son among six sons and one daughter of Edward Elms Cleeve (1814–85), originally of Woolwich, England, and later of Cleveland, Quebec, and his wife Sophia Olivia (d. 1904),…...
Crawford, William Horatio
Crawford, William Horatio (1812×1818–1888), brewer and philanthropist, was first-born son of William Crawford (d. 1840), brewer, and Dulcibella Crawford (née Morris) of Lakelands House, Blackrock, Cork; a brother died young. The family was originally from Co. Down, related to the…...
Crommelin, (Samuel) Louis
Crommelin, (Samuel) Louis (1652–1727), huguenot businessman, settler of Lisburn, Co. Antrim, and putative founder of the Irish linen industry, was born in Armancourt, near St Quentin, in the French province of Picardy, the son of Louis Crommelin and Marie Mettayer. The Crommelin…...
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…...
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…...
Elmes, Mary
Elmes, Mary (1908–2002), humanitarian worker 'righteous among the nations', was born Marie Elizabeth Jean Elmes on 5 May 1908, at Culgreine, 120 Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, Cork, the home of her parents, Edward Thomas Elmes, a pharmacist, and his wife Elizabeth Octavia (née Waters…...
Foreman, Sir Philip Frank
Foreman, Sir Philip Frank (1923–2013), engineer and chief executive, was born on 16 March 1923 in Exning, Suffolk, England, the only child of Frank Foreman, a farm labourer of Exning, and his wife Mary (née Chapple), the daughter of a Manchester police officer. His family soon moved to…...
Graves, Alfred Perceval
Graves, Alfred Perceval (1846–1931), writer, folklorist, and schools inspector, was born 22 July 1846 at 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, the second son of nine children of Charles Graves (qv), clergyman and mathematician, and Selina…...
Grimshaw, Nicholas
Grimshaw, Nicholas (1747–1805), pioneer of the cotton industry in Ireland, was born 10 July 1747 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, one of three known sons of Nicholas Grimshaw and his wife Susannah Briercliffe, who both died in 1777. The family seems to have been connected to…...
Guinness, Arthur
Guinness, Arthur (1725–1803), brewer and iconic pioneer of Ireland's most famous alcoholic beverage, was born 12 March 1725, eldest of four sons of Richard Guinness of Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and his wife, Elizabeth Read (1698–1742). His father was for many years the estate agent…...
Guinness, Arthur
This is a co-subject for the entry on Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee. View the original entry....
Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee
Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee (1798–1868), 1st baronet, brewer, politician, and philanthropist, was born 1 November 1798 in Dublin, third son of Arthur Guinness, head of the brewing firm Arthur Guinness & Co., and his wife, Anne, eldest daughter of Benjamin Lee of Dublin.…...
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy')
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy') (1928–2008), singer, folklorist, television producer and documentary maker, was born on 5 December 1928 in Miss Kells's nursing home on the Castlereagh Road in Belfast, the son of Leslie Hammond, a tram driver, and his wife Annie (née Lamont). His parents…...
Hudson, Henry
Hudson, Henry (1798–1889), collector of traditional music, was born 23 March 1798, probably in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, third son of Edward Hudson and Frances Hudson (née Barton). Family tradition states that he was given the middle name ‘Philerin’ (‘love of Ireland’), which suggests…...
Longfield, Mountifort
Longfield, Mountifort (1802–84), economist and lawyer, was second son of the Rev. Mountifort Longfield (d. 1850), JP and vicar of Desert Serges, Co. Cork, of the Anglo-Irish Longfield family of Longueville, near Mallow, Co. Cork, and his…...
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis)
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician, was born 23 October 1929 at the family home at 5 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest of three children (he had a sister, Marion, and a brother, John) born to Thomas Henry…...
Megaw, Basil
Megaw, Basil (1913–2002), archaeologist and folklife scholar, was born in Belfast on 22 June 1913, the third of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw, solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith). Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961) was a younger son of Robert Megaw…...
Mulholland, Andrew
Mulholland, Andrew (1792–1866), textile manufacturer, was born 15 March 1792, probably in Belfast. His father, Thomas Mulholland, is believed to have been of humble origins and probably illiterate; he started as a dealer, and then invested in property. In 1784 he married Anne Doe…...
Price, Liam
Price, Liam (1891–1967), district justice and antiquary, was born 23 February 1891 and christened William George (‘Willie’), the only surviving son of George Price (d. 1915), QC (queen's counsel), of 84 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, prominent in the legal profession as registrar of the…...