Alexander, James
Alexander, James (d. 1815?), historian of the battle of New Ross and miscellaneous writer, was a native of Harristown, near Monastereven, Co. Kildare. Nothing has been ascertained of his family other than that he had a brother, Wentworth, and that he was a cousin-german of Sir…...
Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Bender, Philipp Philip Phineas
Bender, Philipp Philip Phineas (c.1831–1901), Jewish minister and teacher, was born in Germany, and moved (c.1851) to Hull, England, where he was appointed minister to the Jewish community. He settled (1862) in Dublin and was appointed (1863–81) a preacher at…...
Blachford, Theodosia
Blachford, Theodosia (1744–1817?), philanthropist and leading methodist, was born at her father's residence in Rosanna, Co. Wicklow, only daughter of William Tighe (qv), landowner and MP, and Lady Mary Tighe of Rathmore, Co. Meath,…...
Coade, Thorold Francis
Coade, Thorold Francis (1896–1963), educational innovator and headmaster of Bryanston school, Dorset, was born 3 July 1896 at Glebe House, Syndenham Terrace, Brighton Rd, Rathgar, Dublin, only son of two children of the Rev. Charles Edward Coade, methodist minister, and Jessie…...
Cole, Richard Lee
Cole, Richard Lee (1878–1963), methodist minister and historian, was born 24 January 1878 in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, second of five sons of the Rev. Richard Cole (1847–1925), methodist minister and editor of the Irish Christian Advocate, and Margaret Anne Cole (née Lee). He…...
Crawford, William
Crawford, William (1843–1926), methodist minister and principal of Wesley College, was born 17 April 1843, son of William Crawford, a civil servant in Dublin Castle; no details of his mother are known. Educated at Wesleyan Connexional School (1850–59), he entered…...
Crookshank, Charles Henry
Crookshank, Charles Henry (1836–1915), methodist minister and historian, was born 29 January 1836 at Cayaga, Upper Canada, younger son of Alexander Crookshank – a prominent solicitor and son of the judge Alexander Crookshank (qv…...
Crook, William
Crook, William (1823–97), methodist minister and historian, was born 1 November 1823, at Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford, the eldest son of the Rev. William Crook (1784–1862) of Cosbystown, Co. Fermanagh, a prominent methodist minister, and Jane Crook (née Vipond) of Cork. Educated at…...
Cuffe, Ellen Odette
Cuffe, Ellen Odette (1857–1933), countess of Desart, philanthropist, and senator, was born 1 September 1857 in London into a Jewish family, eldest daughter of Henri Louis Bischoffsheim (1829–1908), millionaire banker, and Clarisse Bischoffsheim (née Biedermann), and educated privately.…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Feldman, Elaine
Feldman, Elaine (1916–2006), public figure and founder of a secondary school for the Jewish community, was born on 31 March 1916 at 19 Kenilworth Park, Harold's Cross, Dublin, the second child of Maurice Freeman and his wife Ada (née Price). Maurice Freeman had come to Ireland from…...
Frankau, Julia (‘Frank Danby’)
Frankau, Julia (‘Frank Danby’) (1859–1916), art historian and novelist, was born 30 July 1859 in Dublin, into an English Jewish family, seventh among nine children of Hyman Davis (d. 1871), dentist and later artist/photographer, and his wife Isabella. Her parents arrived in Dublin in…...
Glucksman, Lewis
Glucksman, Lewis (1925–2006), philanthropist and businessman, was born 22 December 1925 in New York, the second of three children of Jack Glucksman, owner of a factory that manufactured table lamps, and his wife Zipporah. His parents were second-generation Hungarian Jews. Raised in…...
Gordon, Maurice Leonard (‘Maurie’)
Gordon, Maurice Leonard (‘Maurie’) (1910–90), sports administrator, businessman, and community activist, was born 10 January 1910 in Leeds, England, only son and elder of two children of Joseph Gordon (originally Seltzer), textile worker from Russia, and Bessie Gordon (née Bellow…...
Hadden, George
Hadden, George (1882–1973), medical doctor and historian, was born 9 October 1882 at Richmond Terrace, Wexford town, son of George Hadden, draper and alderman, and Hannah Mary Hadden (née Perrot). The Haddens, a methodist family, were established in Wexford town during the nineteenth…...
Jaffé, Sir Otto
Jaffé, Sir Otto (1846–1929), businessman and philanthropist, was born 13 August 1846 in Hamburg, Germany, third son among four sons and five daughters of Daniel Joseph Jaffé (1809–74) and his wife Frederiké. Daniel Joseph Jaffé was a merchant in the Hamburg firm of Jaffé Brothers, who…...
Lánczos, Cornelius
Lánczos, Cornelius (Kornél) (1893–1974), theoretical physicist, was born 2 February 1893 in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, eldest of five children of Carolus Löwy, lawyer, and Adél Hahn. During the early 1900s the family changed their name to Lánczos, a Hungarian form of the Jewish name Löwy…...
Lawrence, William John
Lawrence, William John (1862–1940), drama critic, was born 29 October 1862 in Belfast, son of Joseph Lawrence, railway station manager; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at the dowager countess of Annesley's private school at Newcastle, Co. Down, and at Methodist…...
Lewy, Ernst
Lewy, Ernst (1881–1966), linguist, was born on 19 September 1881 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), the youngest of ten children of Jacob Lewy, a merchant, and Julia Lewy (née Bielschowsky). The family background was Jewish. Lewy attended the König-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Breslau…...
McGregor, John James
McGregor, John James (c.1773–1834), historian and topographer, was born 24 February c.1773 in Limerick city, the seventh son and youngest of seventeen children (many of whom did not survive to adulthood) of John McGregor (d. 1796), native of Scotland, probably by…...
Moore, Henry
Moore, Henry (1751–1844), methodist minister and biographer, was born 21 December 1751 in Drumcondra, Dublin, second child and only son among five children of Richard Moore, a wealthy Church of Ireland farmer, who died young in 1763. A marriage in 1746 between a Richard Moore and…...
Ó Glaisne, Risteárd
Ó Glaisne, Risteárd (1927–2003), teacher, ecumenist and journalist, was born 2 September 1927 in Bandon, Co. Cork, the third of four children of George William Giles and his wife Sara Jane (née Vickery). He attended Bandon Grammar School and Trinity College Dublin (TCD), graduating…...
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’)
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’) (1904–85), trade unionist and peace activist, was born 25 November 1904 at 32 Woodvale St., Shankill Road, Belfast, eldest of three children of William Patterson (d. 1912), shipyard blacksmith, and Sarah Patterson (née Moore), both of whom were devout…...
Roddie, Ian Campbell
Roddie, Ian Campbell (1928–2011), physiologist and academic, was born on 1 December 1928 in Belfast, third of four sons of J. R. Wesley Roddie (d. 1953), a methodist minister, and his wife Mary Hill (née Wilson; d. 1973); the four brothers all entered the medical profession. Rev.…...