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…...
Prior, Sir James
Prior, Sir James (1790?–1869), naval surgeon and author, was born at Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of Matthew Prior (nothing is known of his mother), and trained as a surgeon. On 22 June 1810 he sailed from Plymouth as ship's surgeon on the RN frigate …...
Ranelagh, Elaine Lambert Lewis O'Beirne-
Ranelagh, Elaine Lambert Lewis O'Beirne- (1914–96), writer and folklorist, was born 6 July 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, the only child of Josephine Lambert Lewis and Harry Lewis, who worked in real estate. She studied classics at Vassar College and majored in Greek. Her interest in…...
Rebbeck, Denis
This is a co-subject for the entry on Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest). View the original entry....
Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest)
Rebbeck, Sir Frederick (Ernest) (1877–1964), shipbuilder and marine engineer, was born near Swindon, Wiltshire, only son of Albert Ernest Rebbeck and Jeanette Rebbeck. He was educated privately, serving his engineering apprenticeship in the English midlands, followed by employment at…...
Reeves, William
Reeves, William (1815–92), Church of Ireland bishop, antiquary, and librarian, was born 16 March 1815 at his grandfather's house in Charleville, Co. Cork, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of Boles D'Arcy Reeves, solicitor, and his wife Mary (d. of cholera, 1832), daughter…...
Reid, Thomas
Reid, Thomas (1791–1825), naval surgeon and author, was one of four sons of Thomas Reid, farmer, from Cadian, near Eglish, Co. Tyrone. He received a classical education from the family pastor, the presbyterian minister Hugh Bell, before attending the Royal College of Surgeons in…...
Renehan, Laurence F.
Renehan, Laurence F. (1797/8–1857), priest, bibliophile, and president of Maynooth College 1845–57, was born at Longford Pass, in the parish of Gurtnahoe, Co. Tipperary, second son of Laurence Renehan, farmer, and Catherine Renehan (née Borden). Destined for the church from an…...
Ritchie, William
Ritchie, William (1756–1834), shipbuilder, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and had a shipbuilding practice at Saltcoats. In March 1791 he visited Belfast and, seeing the potential of the port, returned on 3 July 1791, with ten men, apparatus, materials, and his younger brother…...
Roberts, Richard
Roberts, Richard (1803–41), sailor, was third son of Richard Roberts, JP and captain of the Passage Yeomanry, of Ardmore, Passage West, Co. Cork, and his second wife, Mary Anne Neville, daughter of Norcott d'Esterre of Killura and Castle…...
Roe, Helen Maybury
Roe, Helen Maybury (1895–1988), librarian and antiquary, was born 18 December 1895 in Mountrath, Queen's Co. (Laois), the only child of William Ernest Roe and Anne Roe (neé Lambert Shields). Her father's family had lived in the Mountrath area since the seventeenth century and her…...
Ross, Jane
Ross, Jane (1810–79), folksong collector, was born 5 August 1810 in or near Limavady, Co. Londonderry, eldest child among four daughters and two sons of John Ross (1781–1830), captain in the Limavady yeomanry and owner of land, flour mills, and a bleach green, and his second wife…...
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…...
Sampson, John
Sampson, John (1862–1931), scholar and librarian, was born 25 February 1862 in Schull, Co. Cork, third child and eldest of three sons of James Sampson, metallurgical chemist and mining engineer born in Cornwall of a long Cornish lineage, and Sarah Anne Sampson (née Macdermott), who…...
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’)
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’) (1894–1968), sailor and pioneer aviator, was born into a Church of Ireland family in Skerries, Co. Dublin, son of a Dublin contractor, Thomas Saul, and his wife Catherine; he had at least three sisters and three brothers. Educated at St Patrick's…...
Sayers, Peig (‘Peig Mhór’)
Sayers, Peig (‘Peig Mhór’) (1873–1958), storyteller, was born in Vicarstown, Dunquin, Co. Kerry, one of thirteen children of Tomás Sayers, storyteller and small farmer, and his wife Peig (née Ní Bhrosnacháin). She was baptised 29 March 1873 in Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry. Of English…...
Simms, Samuel
Simms, Samuel (1894–1967) medical doctor, bibliophile, and local historian, was born in Belfast, son of Rev. S. Simms of 22 Oldpark Crescent. After attending RBAI from 1905, he was a brilliant scholar in the school of…...
Singer, Paul
Singer, Paul (1911–85), philatelist, was born 31 July 1911 in Bratislava, Slovakia, son of Auriel Singer, financier. The family moved to Vienna in 1925 where he was educated at high school before studying French and international law in Paris. He later graduated…...
Skeffington, Clotworthy
Skeffington, Clotworthy (1743–1805), 2nd earl of Massereene, eccentric, was born 28 January 1743, eldest son of Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st earl of Massereene (c.1713–1757) and his second wife, Anne (c.1715–1805), daughter of Henry Eyre of Row Tor, Derbyshire. At 14 he…...
Sloane, Sir Hans
Sloane, Sir Hans (1660–1753), physician-general, collector, and founder of the British Museum, was born 16 April 1660 at Killyleagh, Co. Down, youngest of seven sons (of whom only three survived infancy) of Alexander Sloane (d. 1666), receiver-general of taxes for Co. Down, and…...
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend (1863–1936), naval officer, hydrographer, and author, was born 7 September 1863 on his family's historic estate at Drishane, Castletownshend, near Castle Haven, Co. Cork, third son of Lt.-col. Thomas Henry Somerville (later high sheriff of Cork) and his…...
Southern, Rowland
Southern, Rowland (1882–1935), marine zoologist, was born 9 May 1882 in Lancashire. He trained in chemistry at the Ramsay Laboratory, Bolton, and in 1902 obtained a position in the laboratory of the Dublin city analyst, Sir …...
Spratt, James
Spratt, James (1771–1853), seaman and inventor, was born 3 May 1771 at Harold's Cross, Dublin, son of James Spratt of Ballybeg, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. His family was descended from the Rev. Devereux Spratt (d. 1688) of Mitchelstown. He initially served in the merchant navy, and…...
Stafford, James Joseph snr
Stafford, James Joseph snr (1860–1947), merchant and ship owner, was born in Wexford town, eldest son among two sons and four daughters of Patrick Stafford of Wexford, merchant, and Elizabeth Stafford (née Cullenmore) of Yoletown, Co. Wexford. He was educated (1867–78) at the…...
Stephenson, Patrick Joseph
Stephenson, Patrick Joseph (1895–1960), librarian and Irish Volunteer, was born on 10 April 1895 at 25 Upper Tyrone Street, in Dublin's north inner city, the second of nine children (four girls and five boys) of Patrick Stephenson, a coachman, and his wife Alice (née Tynan). The family…...