Abbadie, Jacques (James)
Abbadie, Jacques (James) (1654?–1727), huguenot dean of Killaloe, preacher, and apologist of the Christian religion, was born in Nay in Béarn, France, third child of Pierre Abbadie and Violente Abbadie (née de Fortaner). He received his early education at the local protestant…...
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill (1829–1913), scholar and clergyman, was born 26 March 1829 in Dublin, son of Joseph Abbott, clerk of the peace, and his wife Jane Kingsmill. Thomas entered TCD 9 June 1846 as a sizar (his father being dead),…...
Abernethy, John
Abernethy, John (1680–1740), presbyterian minister of Scots descent, was born 19 October 1680, probably at Brigh, Co. Tyrone, where his father, also John (d. 1703), was minister 1674–84. His mother was a daughter of John Walkinshaw of Walkinshaw, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Abernethy…...
Abernethy, William
Abernethy, William (1864–1930), professional photographer, was the son of Robert Abernethy, farmer, from Comber, Co. Down. Details of his early life are lacking, even in obituaries published in the Belfast press. He learned his trade in Belfast, in the studio of a successful…...
Acheson, Archibald
Acheson, Archibald (1776–1849), 2nd earl of Gosford, landowner, politician, and colonial governor, was born 1 August 1776, probably on the Acheson estate at Markethill, Co. Armagh, elder son among two sons and three daughters of Arthur Acheson (c.1742–1807), who succeeded as…...
Acheson, Robert
Acheson, Robert (1763–1824), presbyterian minister and United Irish leader, was born near Clough, Co. Antrim, son of James Acheson, farmer, and his second wife, Elizabeth; her brother Thomas Reid was minister of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. Robert Acheson graduated in medicine from…...
Adair, Archibald
Adair, Archibald (d. 1647), Church of Ireland bishop, was fourth son of Ninian Adair and Helen or Elizabeth Adair (née Gordon) of Kinhilt, Wigtownshire, Scotland, and was thus connected to leading families in Scotland and Co. Antrim. He graduated MA…...
Adair, John George
Adair, John George (1823–85), land speculator and evicting landlord, was born 3 March 1823 at Bellegrove, near Monasterevan, Co. Kildare, son of George Adair, landowner and agricultural improver, and his wife, Elizabeth Trench, sister of…...
Adair, Patrick
Adair, Patrick (c.1624–1694), presbyterian minister and historian, was the third son of John Adair, of Genoch in Galloway. He graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1642 and proceeded in 1644 to study divinity in the University of Glasgow. When licensed he travelled to…...
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto (1811–86), 2nd baronet, Baron Waveney, MP and author, was born 25 August 1811, elder son of Sir Robert Shafto Adair (1st baronet, of Flixton Hall, Suffolk, and Ballymena, Co. Antrim) and Elizabeth Adair (née Strode), and educated at Harrow (1823–8).…...
Adams, Bernard
Adams, Bernard (1566–1626), Church of Ireland bishop of Limerick, was born in Middlesex. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford (BA 1586, MA 1590), and elected fellow. Appointed bishop of Limerick (1603…...
Adams, Michael
Adams, Michael (1937–2009), publisher and catholic activist, was born in Dublin on 22 June 1937, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Francis Adams, cattle dealer, victualler and JP for Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Mary or Maud (née Atteridge), a protestant and daughter…...
Adderley, Thomas
Adderley, Thomas (1715–91), landowner, MP, and entrepreneur, the only son of two children of Francis Adderley, Cork landowner, and Elizabeth Adderley (née Fowkes), was educated at TCD (BA 1735,…...
Áed
Áed (d. 700), bishop of Sléibte (Sletty, on the border of Co. Carlow and Co. Laois), which belonged to the Uí Bairrche sept of Laois, was son of Broccán according to the genealogies. Because of the growth in Armagh's influence and claims to metropolitan status in the latter half of…...
Áed
Áed (982/3–1056), son of Cróngille Ua Foirréid and bishop and scholar at Armagh, belonged, like many bishops of Armagh, to the Cenél nÉogain, the most powerful of the dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill. He is best known as the subject of the poem ‘Uasal epscop Éirenn Áed’: here the…...
Áedán (Aidan)
Áedán (Aidan) (d. 651), founder and first bishop of Lindisfarne, was effectively ruler of the church of Northumbria from c.635 till his death. The mission of Paulinus from Canterbury (begun in 625) was superficially successful, culminating in the establishment of an…...
Áed Dub
Áed Dub (‘black [haired]’) (d. 639), bishop of Kildare, belonged to the ruling Uí Dúnlainge dynasty of north Leinster; his father Colmán Már and his brother Fáelán (qv) were overkings of Leinster. Another of his brothers, Áed Find, was ancestor…...
Affraic
Affraic (d. 743) was abbess of Kildare 733–43. Her rare personal name, a borrowing of the Latin Africa, was also borne by a later abbess of Kildare who died in 834 and by an obscure minor saint, daughter of one Cumlachtach, associated with Imlech Tuascirt (LL…...
Affrica (Affraic)
Affrica (Affraic) (fl. 1180–c.1219), daughter of Gofraid and wife of John de Courcy (qv), was a member of the royal family of Man and the Isles. Her father Gofraid (d. 1187), king of Man and the Isles, was a grandson of…...
Agar, Charles
Agar, Charles (1735–1809), 1st earl of Normanton and Church of Ireland archbishop, was born 22 December 1735 at Gowran Castle, Co. Kilkenny, third son among four sons and a daughter of Henry Agar (1707–46), MP for Gowran, and his wife Anne (1707–65), daughter of Welbore Ellis (…...
Agar, James
Agar, James (1713–69), of Ringwood, Co. Kilkenny, MP and landowner, was born 7 September 1713, younger son of James Agar (1672–1733) of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, MP, and his second wife, Mary (née Wemys). He was educated at the Rev. Edmund Lewis's school, Kilkenny, before graduating…...
Agar, James
Agar, James (1735–88), 1st Viscount Clifden , MP and landowner, was born 25 March 1735, eldest among four sons and one daughter of Henry Agar (1707–46) of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Anne, daughter of Welbore Ellis (qv), bishop of Meath 1732–4. He was…...
Aífe (Aoife, Eva)
Aífe (Aoife, Eva) (fl. c.1153–1189) was the daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada (qv) (d. 1171), king of Leinster, and of his wife Mór, daughter of …...
Aikenhead, Mary
Aikenhead, Mary (1787–1858), foundress of the congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity and of St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, was born 19 January 1787 in Cork city, eldest of four children – three daughters and one son – of David Aikenhead, apothecary, son of a Scottish…...
Ailbe
Ailbe (d. 527?), patron of the church of Imlech Ibair (Emly, on the Limerick/Tipperary border), Munster's most important church till it was superseded by Cashel in the early twelfth century, was Munster's premier saint, whence the saying Mumu uili . . . iar cúl Ailbe, ‘…...