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…...
Drummond, Thomas
Drummond, Thomas (1797–1840), engineer and public servant, was born 10 October 1797 in Edinburgh. Both his parents had connections with the Scottish literary world, his mother, Elizabeth, being the daughter of the whig writer James Somers, while his father, James Drummond, was a…...
Ducart, Davis
Ducart, Davis (fl. c.1760–85), engineer and architect, was probably born in Savoy. Contemporary variations of his name include Daviso de Arcort and Davis Duckart. His family background is obscure; one possibility is that he grew up in Piedmont and later served as a military…...
Duffy, Louise Gavan
Duffy, Louise Gavan (1884–1969), educator, nationalist and Irish language enthusiast, was born 17 July 1884 in Cimiez, near Nice, the only daughter among four children of the marriage of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (qv), journalist and…...
Dunlop, Henry Wallace Doveton
Dunlop, Henry Wallace Doveton (1844–1930), sports promoter, civil servant and engineer, was born in February 1844 in Bombay (Mumbai), India, the only son of (William) Henry Glasgow Dunlop (d. 1869), deputy superintendent of the Bombay Water Police, and his wife Mary Anne (née Pilkington…...
Dunlop, John Boyd
Dunlop, John Boyd (1840–1921), inventor, was prematurely born, 5 February 1840, on a farm near Dreghorn, Ayrshire, Scotland, son of John Dunlop and Agnes Dunlop (née Boyd). He was considered a delicate child, and instead of farmwork was allowed to continue studies at Irvine Academy…...
Edgeworth, Kenneth Essex
Edgeworth, Kenneth Essex (1880–1972), soldier, engineer, economist, and astronomer, was born 26 February 1880 at Daramona House, Streete, Co. Westmeath, eldest child among two sons and a daughter of Thomas Newcomen Edgeworth (1850–1931) and Elizabeth Dupré (née Wilson; d. 1929),…...
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell (1744–1817), landowner, inventor, and writer, was born 31 May 1744 in Bath, Somerset, second son and seventh among eight children of Richard Edgeworth, lawyer and landowner, and his wife Jane, daughter of Samuel Lovell, a Welsh judge. Of the children only…...
Esposito, Mario
Esposito, Mario (1887–1975), medievalist and Hiberno-Latinist, was born 7 September 1887 in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, third child and only son of Michele Esposito (qv), professor of music in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Natalia…...
Evans, Richard
Evans, Richard (c.1740?–1802), canal engineer, was born in Wales but little is known of his early life there until the mid 1760s, when he worked on Kymer's canal. In the mid 1770s he moved to Ireland and conducted a very public career as a canal engineer on major projects.…...
Fahy, Francis Arthur
Fahy, Francis Arthur (1854–1935), songwriter and Irish-language activist, was born 27 September 1854 at Kinvara, Co. Galway, one of eight children of Thomas Fahy, shopkeeper, of Co. Clare, and Celia Fahy (née Marlborough) of Gort, Co. Galway. Educated at Kinvara national school, he…...
Fahy, Francis Patrick (‘Frank’)
Fahy, Francis Patrick (‘Frank’) (1879–1953), politician and Irish-language activist, was born 23 May 1879 at Glenatallan, Kilconickny, Loughrea, Co. Galway, eldest among five sons and two daughters of John Fahy, teacher, and Maria Fahy (née Jones). After receiving initial education at…...
Feiritéar, Piaras (Ferriter, Pierce)
Feiritéar, Piaras (Ferriter, Pierce) (c.1600–c.1653), Gaelic poet, royalist and folk hero, was the son of Edmund Ferriter (c.1568–1628) of Ballysyble and Ballyferriter, west Co. Kerry; nothing is known of his mother. The Ferriters, a minor landed family of…...
Fergus, John
Fergus, John (c.1700–1761), doctor of medicine and collector of books and manuscripts, was born in Co. Mayo, where a branch of the Ó Fearghusa family was to be found. His father's name was Mac Raith, and hence Dr Fergus was sometimes referred to in Irish as Seán mac Mac Raíth Ó…...
Ferguson, Henry George (‘Harry’)
Ferguson, Henry George (‘Harry’) (1884–1960), engineer, was born 4 November 1884 in the townland of Growell, near Anahilt, between Hillsborough and Dromore, Co. Down, third son and fourth child among eight sons and three daughters of James Ferguson, a prosperous farmer, and Mary…...
FitzGerald, Gerald fitz Maurice (‘Gearóid Iarla’)
FitzGerald, Gerald fitz Maurice (‘Gearóid Iarla’) (1338–98), 3rd earl of Desmond , justiciar of Ireland and poet, was son of Maurice fitz Thomas FitzGerald (qv), 1st earl of Desmond, and his second wife, Aveline, daughter…...
Fitzgerald, John Fraunceis
Fitzgerald, John Fraunceis (1791–1854), hereditary knight of Glin and scholar, was born 28 June 1791, only son of John Bateman Fitzgerald (1756–1803), knight of Glin and colonel of Limerick volunteers, and Margaretta Maria Fitzgerald (née Gwyn; d. 1801) of Combe Florey, Somerset,…...
Fitzgerald, Maurice mac David Duff (Mac Gearailt, Muiris mac Dáibhí Dhuibh)
Fitzgerald, Maurice mac David Duff (Mac Gearailt, Muiris mac Dáibhí Dhuibh) (a.1581?–c.1630), poet in the Irish language, was presumably born before the death in Aghadoe of his father, David Duff Fitzgerald, during the Desmond rebellion. At the time of his death in…...
FitzGibbon, Abraham Coates
FitzGibbon, Abraham Coates (1823–87), railway engineer and antiquary, was born 23 January 1823 at Mount Eagle, Kilworth, Co. Cork, second son of Lt Philip FitzGibbon, RN, and Elizabeth FitzGibbon (née Coates) of Killinure, Co. Wicklow. Educated at the…...
Fitzmaurice, Sir Maurice
Fitzmaurice, Sir Maurice (1861–1924), civil engineer, was born 11 May 1861 at Cloghers, Tralee, Co. Kerry, eldest of four sons of Robert Fitzmaurice, doctor, and Thomasine Fitzmaurice (née Taylor) of Dublin. After attending a local school, he graduated…...
Flannery, Thomas J. (Ó Flannghaile, Tomás)
Flannery, Thomas J. (Ó Flannghaile, Tomás) (1846–1916), Irish-language scholar and revivalist, was born 5 April 1846 in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, second son of Pádraig Ó Flannghaile and his wife Sadhbh Ní Chlochartaigh. He began his education under Peadar Ó hOisín, a local schoolmaster.…...
Flower, Robin Ernest William
Flower, Robin Ernest William (1881–1946), Gaelic scholar, poet and translator, was born 16 October 1881 at Meanwood, Leeds, England, son of Marmaduke Flower, painter, and Jane Flower (née Lynch), both of Irish descent. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School and entered Pembroke College…...
Folens, Albert Joseph Marcel
Folens, Albert Joseph Marcel (1916–2003) Flemish nationalist and educational publisher, was born 15 October 1916 in Bissegem, west Flanders (latterly part of the municipality of Kortrijk, formerly Courtrai) to a devoutly catholic Flemish‐speaking family. (Folens recalled saying many…...
Foley, Daniel (Ó Foghludha, Domhnall)
Foley, Daniel (Ó Foghludha, Domhnall) (1815–74), anglican minister and Irish-language scholar, grew up in a poor Irish-speaking family in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He worked for a time in the shop of Patrick Grey in Tralee. Influenced by a local clergyman, he left the Roman Catholic Church and…...
Foreman, Sir Philip Frank
Foreman, Sir Philip Frank (1923–2013), engineer and chief executive, was born on 16 March 1923 in Exning, Suffolk, England, the only child of Frank Foreman, a farm labourer of Exning, and his wife Mary (née Chapple), the daughter of a Manchester police officer. His family soon moved to…...