Cook, Robert
Cook, Robert (1646?–c.1726), eccentric, was the son of Robert Cook of Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. During the reign of James II (qv) he fled to England and lived at Ipswich. In its act of attainder the 1689 Jacobite parliament…...
Cooper, Herbert Frederick Thomas
Cooper, Herbert Frederick Thomas (1874–1960?), photographer, was born in London, possibly in Hammersmith; virtually no biographical details are known. In 1913 he bought a photographic business in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. He sold stationery, framed pictures, and travelled widely in the…...
Coppinger, Richard William
Coppinger, Richard William (1847–1910), naval surgeon, naturalist, and explorer, was born 11 October 1847 in Dublin, youngest among six sons of Joseph William Coppinger, solicitor, of Farmley, Dundrum, Co. Dublin, and Agnes Mary Coppinger (née Cooke), a native of Co. Tipperary. He…...
Coppin, William
Coppin, William (1805–95), sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor, was born 9 October 1805 in Kinsale, Co. Cork; no details of his parents are known. From his childhood he displayed a strong affinity to the sea, and at the age of 15 was involved in the rescue of six customs men from a…...
Cormac
Cormac (fl. 6th cent.) of the Uí Liatháin was a pilgrim monk mentioned several times by Adomnán (qv) in his ‘Vita Columbae’. He appears in the genealogies as ‘priest’, son of Dímma, grandson of Commán, and belonging to the tribe of…...
Costigan, Daniel
Costigan, Daniel (1911–79), civil servant and Garda commissioner, was born 18 February 1911 in Derryfada, Kealkil, Bantry, Co. Cork (where the Costigan family had lived for many generations), elder surviving son and third among six children of James Costigan (d. 1956) and Anne…...
Coulter, William Alexander
Coulter, William Alexander (1849–1936), painter, was born on 7 March 1849 in Glenariff, Co. Antrim, the son of James Coulter, a coastguard, originally from Co. Down, and his wife Sarah, an Irish-speaker from the glens of Antrim. He grew up in a catholic family along the east Antrim…...
Crane, Charles Paston
Crane, Charles Paston (1857–1939), RIC officer, resident magistrate, and soldier, was born at Holden Clough, Holden, Yorks. (now Lancs.), son of William Crane (d. 1903), anglican curate, and was educated at home and Exeter College, Oxford (BA…...
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’)
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1877–1938), sailor and Antarctic explorer, was born either on or shortly before 16 February 1877 at Gurtuchrane, near Anascaul, Co. Kerry, one of eight sons and three daughters of Patrick Crean, farmer, and Catherine Crean (née Courtney). (His birth certificate…...
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira (1796–1848), Royal Navy captain and polar explorer, was born in September 1796 in Banbridge, Co. Down, one of thirteen children of George Crozier, attorney-at-law, and his wife Jane Elliot Crozier (née Graham). He joined the RN…...
Crozier, Frank Percy
Crozier, Frank Percy (1879–1937), soldier and RIC officer, was born 9 January 1879, probably in India, only son of Maj. Burrard R. Crozier, Royal Scots Fusiliers, and his wife Rebecca Frances, daughter of J. W. Percy, RM.…...
Cunningham, Andrew Browne
Cunningham, Andrew Browne (1883–1963), naval commander, was born 7 January 1883 in Rathmines, Dublin, second son of Daniel John Cunningham (qv), professor of anatomy at TCD, and…...
Darley, Frederick
Darley, Frederick (1764–1841), builder, alderman, and police magistrate, born in Dublin and baptised on 6 July 1764, was one of the many children of Henry Darley (1721?–1798), a wealthy public works contractor, and his first wife, Mary (née Steele; d. 1770). Henry's grandfather,…...
De Robeck, Sir John Michael
De Robeck, Sir John Michael (1863–1928), admiral, was born 10 June 1863 at Gowran Grange, Naas, Co. Kildare, second son of John Henry Edward Fock, 4th Baron de Robeck, and Sophia Charlotte de Robeck (née Burton) of Burton Hall, Co. Carlow. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1875…...
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…...
Dombrain, Sir James
Dombrain, Sir James (1793–1871), comptroller general of the Irish coastguard, was born in Canterbury, Kent, son of Abraham Dombrain. He was of French huguenot stock and it is believed that his family were descended from the D'Embron family of Rouen, Normandy. He joined the Royal…...
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…...
Dunseith, David Lumsden
Dunseith, David Lumsden (1934–2011), policeman and broadcaster, was born on 2 October 1934 in Derry city, the eldest child of Robert Dunseith, a flour miller, and his wife Mary Dunseith (née Lumsden), formerly a factory worker. David grew up in the protestant Waterside area of Derry…...
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…...
Fields, Arthur
Fields, Arthur (1901–94), photographer, known as the 'man on the bridge', was born Abraham Feldman on 27 October 1901 at home in Dublin to Ukrainian Jewish parents Malka (also known as 'Molly' or 'Mary'; née Sweed) and Simon Feldman, a draper, of 6 Raymond Street, Dublin 8. He had four…...
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, James Bernard (‘Jamie’)
Flanagan, James Bernard (‘Jamie’) (1914–99), policeman, was born 15 January 1914 at 68 Bridge St., Derry city, son of James Flanagan, RIC sergeant, and Susan Flanagan (née McFeely). Educated locally, he joined the…...
Foley, Gerald Robert Edward
Foley, Gerald Robert Edward (1886–1982), soldier and policeman, was born 10 May 1886 at the rectory, Askeaton, Co. Limerick, son of William Foley, the incumbent, and Josephine Foley (née Clarke). After completing his Bachelor of Arts (BA) at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), he joined the…...
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…...
French, Robert
French, Robert (1841–1917), photographer, was born 11 November 1841 in Dublin, eldest of the seven children of William French, a court messenger, and Ellen French (née Johnson). At the age of nineteen, in September 1860, he joined the Constabulary (later…...