Dudley, Thomas (‘Bang Bang’)
Dudley, Thomas (‘Bang Bang’) (1906–81), eccentric, was born on 13 February 1906 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin. Raised in an orphanage in Cabra, he lived for much of his adult life on Mill Lane near The Coombe in the Liberties. Although he worked briefly as a kitchen porter in Rialto…...
Ennis, Séamus
Ennis, Séamus (1919–82), musician, folklorist, singer, and broadcaster, was born 5 May 1919 in Jamestown Lodge, Finglas, Dublin, son of James Ennis, civil servant and warpiper from Dublin, and Mary Josephine Ennis (née McCabe) from Co. Monaghan. He had three sisters and two brothers.…...
Farran, George Philip
Farran, George Philip (1876–1949), marine taxonomist and fisheries scientist, was born 21 November 1876 at Knocklyon House, Templeogue, Co. Dublin, eldest among two sons and two daughters of Edmond Chomley Farran, a man of private income, of Belcamp Park, Raheny, Co. Dublin, and…...
Feiritéar, Piaras (Ferriter, Pierce)
Feiritéar, Piaras (Ferriter, Pierce) (c.1600–c.1653), Gaelic poet, royalist and folk hero, was the son of Edmund Ferriter (c.1568–1628) of Ballysyble and Ballyferriter, west Co. Kerry; nothing is known of his mother. The Ferriters, a minor landed family of…...
Fitzpatrick, Richard
Fitzpatrick, Richard (1662–1727), 1st Baron Gowran , Royal Navy officer and MP, was the son or grandson of Andrew Fitzpatrick of Castle Fleming, Queen's Co. (Laois), and his wife Ellice, daughter of Richard Butler, Viscount Mountgarret. Entering the Royal Navy he was appointed to…...
Flanagan, Edward Joseph
Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…...
Forbes, George
Forbes, George (1685–1765), 3rd earl of Granard , diplomat, and admiral, was born 21 October 1685, third but eldest surviving son of Arthur Forbes (qv), 2nd earl, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir…...
Gailey, Robert Alan
Gailey, Robert Alan (1935–2013), folklife scholar and museum director, was born on 4 October 1935 in Galway. Known by his middle name, Alan was the second child of Andrew J. Gailey (d. 1963), a presbyterian minister in Galway, and Mary Gailey (née Porter). He had two sisters. From…...
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…...
Green, William Spotswood
Green, William Spotswood (1847–1919), marine scientist, was born 10 September 1847 in Youghal, Co. Cork, the only son and eldest of six children of Charles Green, JP, merchant of Youghal, and his wife Catherine Frances, daughter of Walter…...
Halpin, George
Halpin, George (1774×1779–1854), civil engineer and lighthouse designer, was probably born in Leinster. Little is known of his life before his appointment (1800) by the ballast board (Dublin's port authority, which replaced the ballast office in 1786) as its engineer or inspector of…...
Halpin, Robert Charles
Halpin, Robert Charles (1836–94), sea captain, was born 16 February 1836 at Wicklow town, the youngest of thirteen children of James Halpin, tavern owner, and his wife, Anne Halpin (née Halbert). Educated locally at Leitrim Place, he left school at the age of eleven, with the…...
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…...
Hanger, George
Hanger, George (1751–1824), army officer, author, and eccentric, was born 13 October 1751 in Co. Londonderry, third son of Gabriel Hanger, 1st Lord Coleraine, MP and merchant, and Elizabeth Hanger (née Bond) of Cowbury, Hereford, England. Educated at Reading School and Eton, he…...
Hardebeck, Carl Gilbert
Hardebeck, Carl Gilbert (1869–1945), collector and arranger of traditional songs, teacher of music, and composer, was born 10 December 1869 in Clerkenwell, London, son of Carl Joseph Hardebeck, an expatriate German and a successful jeweller, and Catherine Hardebeck (née Jones), who was…...
Hardy, Philip Dixon
Hardy, Philip Dixon (1794–1875), printer, bookseller, and author, was probably born in Dublin of protestant parents; nothing else is known of his origins. In 1818 a Philip Dixon Hardy was a wine merchant at 20 Great Longford St.; this was probably either the subject or his father.…...
Harnett, Philip
Harnett, Philip (1943–96), Jesuit priest, was born 6 January 1943 in Dublin, the third child of Patrick Harnett and Ursula Treacy. He had two brothers, John and Patrick, and three sisters, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. Following an education at Pembroke School, Ballsbridge, and…...
Harte, Francis ('Frank')
Harte, Francis ('Frank') (1933–2005), architect, lecturer, singer, and collector of traditional songs, was born 14 May 1933 in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte (d. 1977), was originally from a farm in Co. Sligo, but moved to Dublin and bought a pub, The Tap, in Chapelizod, then still…...
Hayes, (Francis) Mahon (Joseph)
Hayes, (Francis) Mahon (Joseph) (1930–2011), lawyer and diplomat, was born on 2 March 1930 at Verdun, Wellington Road, Cork, the second of three sons of Francis Mahon Hayes (d. 1968), official with the Munster and Leinster Bank, and his wife Aileen (née Walsh). The family moved with…...
Henderson, John
Henderson, John (1757–88), eccentric scholar, was born 27 March 1757 in Co. Limerick (sources say at Ballygarran or Ballegarance, which may be the townland of Ballycarrane), the only son of Richard Henderson, Wesleyan lay preacher, and his first or second wife, whose name may have been…...
Henderson, Oscar
This is a co-subject for the entry on Henderson, James. View the original entry....
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’)
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’) (1878–1952), folk-song collector, was born in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, youngest among five sons of William Henry and Mary Henry (née Biggart). He had two sisters; one of his brothers became town clerk of Coleraine. Educated locally, he entered the customs…...
Hobson, William
Hobson, William (1793–1842), naval officer and first governor of New Zealand, was born 26 September 1793 in Newtown Lodge, Waterford city, third among five sons of Samuel Hobson, assistant barrister for Co. Cork, and his wife Martha Jones, who was a member of a family that had…...
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy')
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy') (1918–90), musician, journalist and bohemian, was born 25 February 1918 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, son of George Pope Hodnett (1890–1982), soldier, and Lauré Hodnett (née Faschnacht), a native of Switzerland; he had at least one sibling, a brother…...
Holland, John Philip
Holland, John Philip (1841–1914), inventor of the submarine, was born 24 February 1841 at Castle Street, Liscannor, Co. Clare, son of John Holland, a coast guard officer, and his second wife, Mary (née Scanlon). He was educated at St Macreehy's national school, Liscannor, and by the…...