Daly, Emily Lucy de Burgh
Daly, Emily Lucy de Burgh (1859–1935), traveller and writer, was born at her father's residence at Clooneyquin, Co. Roscommon, fourth daughter among nine children of Christopher French , JP, DL, and…...
Deasy, Henry Hugh Peter
Deasy, Henry Hugh Peter (1866–1947), soldier, explorer, and pioneer motorist, was born 29 June 1866 in Dublin, second son of Rickard Deasy (qv), privy councillor for Ireland and previously lord justice of appeal, of Carysfort,…...
Dingley, Thomas
Dingley, Thomas (d. 1695?), antiquary and traveller, a native of Southampton, England, is known in Ireland for his account of a tour he made in Leinster and Munster in 1681. It contains much on Irish ways of life, particularly diet, dress, pastimes, customs, language, money,…...
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…...
Downes, George
Downes, George (1790–1846), travel writer and topographer, was born in South King St., Dublin, son of John Downes; no details of his mother are known. He worked as a draper's assistant in his youth before being befriended by one of the Shackletons of Ballitore, Co. Kildare, who…...
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…...
Eustace, John Chetwode
Eustace, John Chetwode (1762/3–1815), catholic priest and writer, was born in Co. Kildare. Both his parents were reputed to belong to gentry families, his father's in that county. It seems likely that through his father, whose name is not known, he was descended from Benjamin…...
Ferrar, Hartley Travers
Ferrar, Hartley Travers (1879–1932), geologist and explorer, was born 28 January 1879 at 3 Grosvenor Place, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, son of John Edgar Ferrar, bank clerk, and Mary Holmes Ferrar (née Hartley). While he was still a small child, his family moved to Holywood, Co. Down, where…...
Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington
Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington (1830–1925), writer, sculptor, and barrister, was born 26 April 1830 at Fane Valley, near Dundalk, Co. Louth, the younger son of Thomas Fitzgerald. His father, a pro-repeal MP for Co. Louth (1830–4), had made his fortune from properties in the West…...
Fitzpatrick, Sir Bernard Edward Barnaby
Fitzpatrick, Sir Bernard Edward Barnaby (1848–1937), 2nd Baron Castletown, landlord, soldier, sportsman, and adventurer, was born 29 July 1848 in London, only son and eldest of six children of John Wilson Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Castletown, soldier and landlord, of Abbeyleix, Queen's Co…...
Fitzpatrick, Thomas (‘Broken Hand’)
Fitzpatrick, Thomas (‘Broken Hand’) (1799–1854), American frontier fur trapper, guide, and agent to the tribes of the central plains, was born in Co. Cavan, one of three sons and four daughters of Mary Fitzpatrick (née Kiernan) and her husband, whose forename is not known. A catholic,…...
Gamble, John
Gamble, John (1770?–1831), physician, traveller, and writer, was born at Strabane, Co. Tyrone, into a local presbyterian family and reared by an uncle (perhaps John Sproull of Strabane), an apothecary. It is likely that he came under the influence of…...
Gann, Thomas William Francis
Gann, Thomas William Francis (1867–1938), archaeologist and explorer, was born 13 May 1867 in Murrisk Abbey, Co. Mayo, son of William Gann, gentleman, and Elizabeth Rose Gann (nèe Garvey). His family moved to England and he was educated at King's School, Canterbury, Kent, before…...
Gibbings, Robert John
Gibbings, Robert John (1889–1958), engraver, illustrator, and author, was born 23 March 1889 in Co. Cork, son of the Rev. Edward Gibbings, rector of Carrigrohane, and Caroline Gibbings (née Day). He was educated at boarding schools in Fermoy and Cork before entering…...
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey (1537–83), soldier and explorer, was second son of Otho Gilbert (d. 1547) of Compton, near Dartmouth. Sir Walter Ralegh (qv) was his half-brother from the second marriage of his mother, Catherine, daughter of Sir…...
Godley, John Raymond
Godley, John Raymond (1920–2005), 3rd Baron Kilbracken of Killegar , pilot, journalist, traveller, landowner and environmentalist, was born 17 October 1920 in Chester Street, Belgravia, London, England, the eldest of two sons (Wynne being the younger) and a daughter (Kathleen) of…...
Grattan, Thomas Colley
Grattan, Thomas Colley (1781–1864), novelist, travel writer, and diplomat, was born in Dublin, the son of Colley Grattan, a solicitor, and his wife Elizabeth (neé Warren). His father retired early and settled in Clayton Lodge, near Castle Carberry, Co. Kildare, but the family's home was…...
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre)
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre) (1940–2006), broadcaster and travel writer, was born 11 February 1940 in Dundonald, east Belfast. Her father was a civil servant employed in the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland and her mother was a dressmaker. She had one brother. Anne attended Strathearn…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Gubbins, Beatrice
Gubbins, Beatrice (1878–1944), watercolour artist and traveller, was born 19 September 1878 in Co. Limerick, the youngest of the two sons and five daughters of Thomas Wise Gubbins, distiller, and his wife, Frances Gertrude (née Russell) of Askeaton, Co. Limerick. The family moved to…...
Guinness, Walter Edward
Guinness, Walter Edward (1880–1944), 1st Baron Moyne , soldier, politician, traveller, and anthropologist, was born 29 March 1880 in Dublin, third son of Edward Cecil Guinness (qv), 1st earl of Iveagh, and Adelaide Maria Guinness…...
Gwynn, Arthur Montagu
Gwynn, Arthur Montagu (1908–2008), medical doctor, naturalist, explorer and editor, was born 5 August 1908 in the family home, St Dymphna's, Clontarf, Dublin, second eldest of three sons and two daughters of Edward John Gwynn (qv),…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...
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…...
Hayward, (Harold) Richard
Hayward, (Harold) Richard (1892–1964), author and singer, was born 25 October 1892, one among five sons and a daughter of Walter Scott Hayward and Louise Ivy Hayward. The family was English, but settled in Larne, Co. Antrim, and Richard attended Larne grammar school. After his marriage…...