Parnell, Thomas
Parnell, Thomas (1679–1718), anglican clergyman and poet, was born in Dublin. His grandfather was a Cheshire man who had supported Cromwell and thought it as well, following the restoration, to go to ground in Ireland where he bought a large estate. His father, also named Thomas,…...
Percy, Thomas
Percy, Thomas (1729–1811), bishop of Dromore, poet, and scholar, was born 13 April 1729 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England, son of Arthur Piercy or Pearcy, grocer, and his wife Jane (née Nott); there was at least one other son. Thomas was educated at the local grammar school, and…...
Philips, Ambrose
Philips, Ambrose (1674–1749), official and writer, was born in Shropshire, England, son of Ambrose Philips, cloth manufacturer, and his wife Margaret, née Brookes. He attended Shrewsbury school and St John's College, Cambridge. He was a fellow of St John's (1699–1708), and seems…...
Philips, William
Philips, William (d. 1734?), playwright and member of the Irish parliament, the son of George Philips (qv) of Limavady, Co. Londonderry, was the last representative of a prominent plantation family. The immense volume of debt incurred…...
Phillips, Charles
Phillips, Charles (1786–1859), barrister and author, was born in Stephen St., Sligo, son of William Phillips, member of Sligo corporation and tax collector, and Elizabeth Phillips (née Johnson) of Co. Fermanagh. Educated locally at the school of the Rev. James Armstrong, rector of…...
Phillips, Walter Alison
Phillips, Walter Alison (1864–1950), historian and first Lecky professor at TCD, was born 21 October 1864 at Lewisham, England, youngest son of John Phillips, merchant, and Jane Phillips (née Atkins); throughout his career he was known as W. Alison Phillips. His father died in…...
Pilkington, Laetitia
Pilkington, Laetitia (c.1709–1750), author, was born in Dublin or Co. Cork, eldest child of John van Lewen (1684–1737), physician and obstetrician, and his wife Elizabeth Corry (d. c.1742), niece of Sir John Meade (qv…...
Pilkington, Matthew
Pilkington, Matthew (1700/01–1774), anglican clergyman and poet, was born in Ballyboy, between Tullamore and Birr, King's Co. (Offaly), son of William Pilkington, watchmaker. The family subsequently transferred to the Lazar's Hill (Hawkins St.) area of Dublin. Matthew was tutored…...
Ponsonby, Sarah (‘Sally’)
Ponsonby, Sarah (‘Sally’) (1755–1831), diarist, was born in Dublin in 1755, the only and orphaned daughter of Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby (d. 1762), a landowner, of Ashgrove, Co. Kilkenny, and the second of his three wives, Louisa Ponsonby (née Lyons), the daughter of a clerk of the Irish…...
Pratt, Benjamin
Pratt, Benjamin (1669–1721), provost of TCD, was born at Garradice, Co. Meath, eldest son of Joseph Pratt (d. December 1705 or January 1706) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Audley Mervyn (qv) and widow of Nathaniel Poole. He…...
Preston, William
Preston, William (1750–1807), lawyer, poet, and dramatist, was born in St Michan's parish, Dublin, the only son of William Preston, a gentleman, who disappeared about 1755, after setting out for India. William jnr attended Dr Campbell's school, Dublin, before entering as a…...
Pulter, Lady Hester
Pulter, Lady Hester (1605–78), author, was born on 8 June 1605 in Thomas Court, a neighbourhood adjacent to Dublin. She was the eighth of ten children of…...
Purser, John Mallet
Purser, John Mallet (1839–1929), physiologist and professor of medicine, was born 8 November 1839 in Dublin, eldest son among nine sons and two daughters of Benjamin Purser (1815–98), corn merchant, and Anne Purser (née Mallet). He was educated in private schools before studying…...
Quain, Jones
Quain, Jones (1796–1865), surgeon, medical writer, and professor of anatomy, was born in November 1796 at Mallow, Co. Cork, eldest son of Richard Quain of Rathhealy, gentleman, and his first wife (née Jones). His younger brother was Richard…...
Quain, Richard
Quain, Richard (1800–87), surgeon, anatomical lecturer, and medical writer, was born in July 1800 at Fermoy, Co. Cork, third son of Richard Quain, gentleman, of Rathealy, Co. Cork, and his first wife (née Jones). His elder brother was Jones…...
Quin, Walter
Quin, Walter (c.1575–1640), writer and royal tutor, was born into a Dublin merchant family. In 1590 he joined the law faculty of the Jesuit University of Ingolstadt where he moved in recusant circles and where his literary aspirations were noted. That year he contributed…...
Radcliffe, John
Radcliffe, John (1765?–1843), lawyer, judge, PC, and author, was born in Co. Fermanagh, only son of Richard Radcliffe, clergyman, and his wife Christian, daughter of Robert Mason of Co. Galway and widow of Joseph Ormsby. After his father's…...
Read, Charles Anderson
Read, Charles Anderson (1841–78), writer, journalist, and editor, was born 10 November 1841 at Killsellagh (Kilsella) House, in the parish of Drumcliffe, near Sligo. His father, George Read, was a gentleman who, having lost an inheritance, was forced to take a position as…...
Reid, Richard Tuohill
Reid, Richard Tuohill (1823–83), lawyer and academic, was the only surviving son of Herbert Reid, a Killarney merchant, and Catherine Reid (née Tuohill). His father died young and he entered TCD as a sizar in 1841; he was admitted as a…...
Riddell, Charlotte Eliza Lawson
Riddell, Charlotte Eliza Lawson (1832–1906), novelist, was born on 30 September 1832 at the Barn, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, the youngest daughter of James Cowan, flax and cotton spinner and high sheriff of Antrim, and his English wife Ellen (née Kilshaw). Her father died in 1851…...
Robertson, Olivia Melian
Robertson, Olivia Melian (1917–2013), writer, artist and co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis, was born on 13 April 1917 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, to Manning Durdin Robertson (qv), urban planner and architect, and…...
Robinson, Lennox
Robinson, Lennox (1886–1958), playwright and director, was born Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson on 4 October 1886 near Douglas, Co. Cork, youngest of seven children (of whom twins died in infancy) of Andrew Craig Robinson, stockbroker, and Emily Anna Robinson (née Jones). When Lennox was…...
Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (T. W.)
Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (T. W.) (1857–1920), poet, critic and journalist, was born 1 May 1857 at Glasshouse, near Shinrone, King's County (Offaly), youngest child among three sons and a daughter of Charles Rolleston-Spunner (d. 1887), barrister and county court judge for…...
Rowan, Anne Margaret
Rowan, Anne Margaret (1832–1913), novelist, historian, and political activist, was born 21 November 1832 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, to Arthur Blennerhasset Rowan (qv), Church of Ireland clergyman and antiquarian, and his wife…...
Sadleir, Franc (Francis)
Sadleir, Franc (Francis) (1775–1851), academic and provost of TCD, was born on 3 May 1775, second son among five children of Thomas Sadleir (1753–1815), barrister, and his first wife, Rebecca Woodward of Cloughprior, Co. Tipperary. With his second wife, Florence Atkinson, Thomas…...