Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Beirne, Bryan Patrick
Beirne, Bryan Patrick (1918–98), entomologist and pest control expert, was born 22 January 1918 in Ballygeary, Co. Wexford, the elder son of Patrick Beirne, tax inspector with UK Customs and Excise and later the Irish Revenue Commissioners, and his wife Mabel, daughter of…...
Bianconi, Charles
Bianconi, Charles (1786–1875), transport entrepreneur, was born Joachim Carlo Guiseppe Bianconi on 24 September 1786 at Tregolo, near Como in Lombardy, Italy, the second of five children of Pietro and Maria Bianconi. His father owned a farm and a silk mill, and was agent for the…...
Bull, (George) Lucien
Bull, (George) Lucien (1876–1972), inventor, was born 5 January 1876 at 16 Upper Gloucester St., Dublin, one of two sons and two daughters of Cornelius Bull of Bedford, England, and Gabrielle Jouvé of Paris, owners of Bull's religious depository, Suffolk St., Dublin. Educated at…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Caldbeck, William Francis
Caldbeck, William Francis (c.1824–1872), architect and civil engineer, was the son of Richard Caldbeck and grandson of John Frederick Caldbeck (d. 1848) of Moyle Park, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin; his mother's name is not known, but she is said to have been Roman catholic, and…...
Comber, Patrick Forstall
Comber, Patrick Forstall (1831–1909), civil engineer, was born 30 April 1831 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, eldest son of Thomas Comber, architect and builder, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Edward Gannon, all from Kilmena, Co. Mayo. He was educated by private tutors and by the…...
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’)
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’) (1895–1961), engineer, army officer, and businessman, was born at Cork on 13 December 1895, the elder son of Timothy Courtney of Co. Kerry, pensioner of the RIC, and Ellen Courtney (née Shea) of…...
Dargan, William
Dargan, William (1799–1867), engineer, was born 28 February 1799 in Co. Carlow. His parents were Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan, his father being a well-to-do farmer who was a tenant of Lord Portarlington. Much of William's early life is obscure. Likewise the exact place of birth is…...
Dillon, Charles T. G.
Dillon, Charles T. G. (1926–98), engineer and businessman, was born 28 January 1926 in Dublin. He was educated at St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin, and at UCD, graduating BE (1947). He…...
Diver, Bridget
Diver (Divers, Deaver, Deavers, Devens, Devins, Devan), Bridget (‘Irish Biddy’, ‘Michigan Bridget’) (fl. 1861–4), vivandière and ‘daughter’ of the First Michigan Cavalry regiment, was born in Ireland sometime before 1840. It has been suggested that the ‘Michigan Bridget’ legend…...
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim')
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim') (1922–2010), academic and politician, was born on 30 July 1922 in Grange Road West, Birkenhead, near Liverpool, the only son of Denis Dooge, marine engineer, and his wife Veronica (née Carroll). The Dooges were a family of engineers, most notably…...
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle (1835–1909), civil engineer, Fenian, and bibliophile, was born on 1 February 1835 at Knockanna, Co. Carlow (not as previously stated at Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow), the first of seven surviving children of John Doran and his wife Mary (née Guilfoyle). He was…...
Drumm, James Joseph
Drumm, James Joseph (1896–1974), chemist, industrial technologist, and inventor, was born 25 January 1896 in Dundrum, Co. Down, one of three sons of John Drumm (or Drum), RIC constable, and his wife Bridget (née Connolly). The family…...
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher (1898–1965), aviator, was born 6 January 1898 at 35 Mountjoy Prison Cottages, North Circular Road, Dublin, second of three sons and one daughter of Michael Fitzmaurice, prison warder, and Mary Agnes Fitzmaurice (née Riordan), both of whose families…...
Gogarty, James Martin
Gogarty, James Martin (1917–2005), civil engineer, building company executive, and anti-corruption whistle-blower, was born 20 May 1917 in Cannon Street, Kells, Co. Meath, son of Bernard Gogarty, a mason and small-scale building contractor, and his wife Mary (née Mooney). Educated in…...
Havel, Miroslav ('Paddy')
Havel, Miroslav ('Paddy') (1922–2008), glass designer and craftsman, was born in Držkov, Czechoslovakia, on 26 May 1922, the only child of Frantisek Havel, costume jewellery manufacturer of Držkov, and his wife Anna (née Klubelova). He had a prosperous, somewhat sheltered, upbringing in…...
Hicks, James Joseph
Hicks, James Joseph (1837–1916), manufacturer of scientific instruments, was born 4 November 1837 at Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, the only son of George Hicks, flax worker and farmer, and Gillian Hicks (née Coakley), whose father owned the mill in which George worked. The second of…...
Holland, John Philip
Holland, John Philip (1841–1914), inventor of the submarine, was born 24 February 1841 at Castle Street, Liscannor, Co. Clare, son of John Holland, a coast guard officer, and his second wife, Mary (née Scanlon). He was educated at St Macreehy's national school, Liscannor, and by the…...
Horan, James
Horan, James (1911–86), priest, community activist, and airport developer, was born 5 May 1911 at Tooreen, Partry, Co. Mayo, eldest of three sons and four daughters of Bartley Horan, farmer and builder, of Partry, and Catherine Horan (née Casey) of Kilkieran, Co. Mayo. After education…...
Hughes, Pat
Hughes, Pat (1924–99), prospector and businessman, was born Patrick Joseph Hughes on 14 March 1924 near Keady, Co. Armagh, the only son of three children of Charles Hughes, a building contractor of Keady, and his wife Mary. When he was around 10, his catholic family moved to Newry,…...
Ingram, John
Ingram, John (1887–1973), engineer, educationalist, and civil servant, was born 5 February 1887 in Derry, the son of William John Ingram, of Shipquay Street, Derry, a civil service clerk. He attended the Londonderry model school as a presbyterian, before transferring to St Columb'…...
Joyce, Patrick Weston
Joyce, Patrick Weston (1827–1914), educationalist, historian, linguist, translator and collector of folk music, was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick, one of the eight sons of Garrett Joyce, a shoemaker known locally as ‘Garrett the Scholar’ for his knowledge of poetry and religion, and…...
Keegan, John
Keegan, John (1813–93), surveyor and diarist, was born at Laragh, near Horseleap, Co. Westmeath, in 1813, the only son of Thomas Keegan (1789–1854), a farmer, and his wife, Mary (née Gannon). The Keegans were descended from the hereditary brehons of the Irish midlands; one…...
Kettle, Laurence J.
Kettle, Laurence J. (1878–1960), political activist and electrical engineer, was born 27 February 1878 at Kilmore, Artane, north Co. Dublin, second son among five sons and six daughters of Andrew J. Kettle (qv), ‘progressive’…...