Praeger, Robert Lloyd
Praeger, Robert Lloyd (1865–1953), naturalist, author, and librarian, was born 25 August 1865 at the Crescent, Holywood, Co. Down, second son among five sons and one daughter of Willem Emilius Praeger (1835–81), linen merchant, and Maria Praeger (d. 1930; née Patterson). His father, a…...
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 …...
Quin, Michael Joseph
Quin, Michael Joseph (1796–1843), journalist and travel writer, was born in Co. Tipperary, the son of Morty Quin, a catholic distiller from Thurles. He entered TCD in 1811, but there is no record of his graduation. Called to the bar at…...
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…...
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly-
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly- (1905–81), aviation pioneer, was born 8 February 1905 at Raven Lodge, Sandycove, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, second child of Capt. Theodore Rogers, RN (later of the Dublin–Liverpool passenger service), and Violet…...
Sabine, Sir Edward
Sabine, Sir Edward (1788–1883), soldier, polar explorer, and physicist, was born 14 October 1788 in Great Britain St. (Parnell St.), Dublin, youngest of five sons and four daughters of Joseph Sabine and his wife Sarah, daughter of Rowland Hunt of Shropshire. He was the great-…...
Sadleir, George Forster
Sadleir, George Forster (1789–1859), army officer and explorer, was born 19 January 1789 in Cork, third son of James Sadleir, cotton manufacturer and sheriff of Cork (1791), of Tipperary and later Shannon Vale House, Clonakilty, Co. Cork, and his wife Joanna, daughter of George Forster…...
Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry
Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry (1874–1922), sailor and Antarctic explorer, was born 15 February 1874 at Kilkea House, Kilkea, Co. Kildare, second child and eldest son of Henry Shackleton, gentleman farmer and later a physician, and his wife Henrietta Letitia Sophia, daughter of Henry John…...
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…...
Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de
Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de (1797–1873), explorer and humanitarian, was born 20 July 1797 into the Polish aristocracy in Prussian-occupied Poland, the son of Francis Strzelecki and his wife Anna (née Raczynski). The family went into exile in the UK in the early 1800s. Strzelecki was…...
Sullivan, Sir Richard Joseph
Sullivan, Sir Richard Joseph (1752–1806), traveller and writer, was born 10 December 1752, third son of Benjamin Sullivan of Dromeragh, Co. Cork, landed gentleman and clerk of the crown for Co. Cork and Co. Waterford, and his wife Bridget (d. 8 July 1802), daughter of the Rev. Paul…...
Tennent, Sir James Emerson
Tennent, Sir James Emerson (1804–69), politician, author, and traveller, was born in North St., Belfast, on 7 April 1804, third and only surviving son of William Emerson (d. 1821), of Ardmore, Co. Armagh, a successful Belfast tobacco merchant, and Sarah Emerson, youngest daughter of…...
Thomas, George
Thomas, George (1756–1802), military adventurer in India, was born in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. There are few details of his early life, but he appears to have come from a poor background and worked for some time in a corn warehouse in Youghal, Co. Cork. Around 1776 he left Ireland…...
Treacy, Raymond Christopher Patrick (‘Ray’)
Treacy, Raymond Christopher Patrick (‘Ray’) (1946–2015), footballer and travel agent, was born on 18 June 1946 in Dublin. He was reared in Sandymount and educated at Westland Row Christian Brothers School and Ringsend College. At thirteen he was expelled from Westland Row for kicking a…...
Trotter, John Bernard
Trotter, John Bernard (1774–1818), publicist, secretary to Charles James Fox, and pedestrian traveller, was the second of the three sons of Edward Trotter (1729?–77), prebendary of St Andrew's, Downpatrick, and rector of Inch, Co. Down, as well as agent to the Southwell estate, and…...
Tuckey, James Hingston
Tuckey, James Hingston (1771–1816), naval officer and explorer, was born at Greenhill, near Mallow, Co. Cork, son of the Reverend Thomas Tuckey (1708–72), rector of Litter and Marshallstown, and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Reverend James Hingston, prebendary of…...
Uniacke, John James FitzGerald
Uniacke, John James FitzGerald (1797–1825), explorer, writer, and early official in New South Wales, was born 4 July 1797 on Charlotte's Quay, Cork, second son and sixth of nine children of Robert Uniacke (1756–1802) of Woodhouse, Stradbally, Co. Waterford, MP for Youghal 1777–…...
Walsh, Robert
Walsh, Robert (1772–1852), clergyman and writer, was born in Waterford, son of John Walsh (1720–85), merchant, of Ballymountain House, Waterford. He was a younger brother of the physician Edward Walsh (qv). He entered…...
WARBURTON, Bartholomew Elliott George (‘Eliot Warburton’)
Warburton, Bartholomew Elliott George (‘Eliot Warburton’) (1810–52), author, landowner, and traveller, was born near Tullamore, King's Co. (Offaly), eldest son of George Warburton, of Aughrim, Co. Galway, a former inspector-general of the constabulary in Ireland, and Anna Warburton (née…...
Weld, Isaac
Weld, Isaac (1774–1856), writer and vice-president of the RDS, was born 15 March 1774 in Dublin, eldest son of Isaac Weld (d. 1824), official in the Irish customs, and his first wife, Elizabeth (née Kerr). Isaac Weld senior was a noted bon viveur who was given his lucrative position…...
Wilmot, Katherine
Wilmot, Katherine (c.1773–1824), traveller and diarist, was eldest daughter among three sons and six daughters of Edward Wilmot (1747–1815), army captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Cork, and his wife Martha, daughter of the Rev. Charles Moore, rector of…...
Wilmot, Martha
Wilmot, Martha (1775–1873), diarist and travel writer, was born at Glanmire, Co. Cork, one of six daughters and three sons of Edward Wilmot, of Derbyshire, England, a former captain of the 40th Regiment of Foot, and port surveyor of the revenue board in Drogheda and Cork, and Martha…...
Wingfield, Lewis Strange
Wingfield, Lewis Strange (1842–91), traveller, writer, actor, and painter, was born 25 February 1842 at Powerscourt, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, third and youngest son of Richard Wingfield, 6th Viscount Powerscourt, and his wife (and first cousin) Lady Elizabeth Frances Charlotte, eldest…...
Wood, Robert
Wood, Robert (1717?–1771), traveller, author, and politician, was born at Riverstown Castle near Trim, Co. Meath, eldest son of the Rev. James Wood of Summerhill, Co. Meath. He matriculated at Glasgow University in 1732 and entered the Middle Temple on 15 November 1736. In 1742–3 he…...
Workman, Thomas
Workman, Thomas (1843–1900), naturalist, traveller, and businessman, was born 14 August 1843, third son among fifteen children of Robert Workman and Jane Workman (née Service) of Ceara, Malone Road, Belfast. His father's family was originally from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland,…...