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…...
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.…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Foster, (Frederic) Gordon
Foster, (Frederic) Gordon (1921–2010) statistician and informatics pioneer, was born on 24 February 1921 in Belfast, one of three children of Robert Foster, motor garage manager, and his wife Florence Evelynn (née Magee). The family were then living on Eglantine Avenue, Lisburn Road.…...
Fournier d'Albe, Edmund Edward
Fournier d'Albe, Edmund Edward (1868–1933), physicist, inventor, and Celtic enthusiast, was born 25 October 1868 at 46 Hunter Street, Bloomsbury, London, son of Edward Hermann Fournier, student and later engineer, and his wife Ellen Maria (née Beauchamp), who was wealthy and was…...
Fowke, Francis
Fowke, Francis (1823–65), captain in the Royal Engineers, architect, and engineer, was born 7 July 1823 at Ballysillan, Belfast, Co. Antrim, elder of two sons of John Fowke (1794–1851), lieutenant of the 68th Regiment of Foot, and his first wife, Jane (née Ferguson; d. 1828). He was…...
Gibbons, Barry Duncan
Gibbons, Barry Duncan (c.1797–1862), civil engineer, was born about 1797 but practically nothing is known of his early life. According to a posthumous memoir by M. Bernard Mullins (c.1862), he began his career in commercial activity and had taken up civil…...
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…...
Grantham, John
Grantham, John (1775–1833), civil engineer, was probably born in or near Kirton, Lancashire, England, where he was baptised 28 November 1775, son of James and Martha Grantham; but little is known of his early life and career, except that he may have trained as a surveyor and appears…...
Graves, Arnold Felix
Graves, Arnold Felix (1847–1930), early promoter of technical education in Ireland, was born 17 November 1847 in Dublin, third son of Dr Charles Graves (qv), FTCD, later bishop of…...
Griffith, Sir John Purser
Griffith, Sir John Purser (1848–1938), civil engineer, was born 5 October 1848 at Holyhead, north Wales, the only son of William Griffith (1801–81), Congregational minister, and Alicia Griffith (née Evans), a member of a leading Welsh Moravian family. John's elder sister died in…...
Grubb, Sir Howard
Grubb, Sir Howard (1844–1931), engineer and manufacturer of optical and astronomical instruments, was born 28 July 1844 in Dublin, youngest child among five sons and four daughters of Thomas Grubb (qv), optical engineer, and Sarah Grubb (…...
Grubb, Thomas
Grubb, Thomas (1800–78), engineer and maker of telescopes and optical instruments, was born 4 August 1800 near Portlaw, Co. Waterford, into a quaker family, youngest child among two sons and one daughter of William Grubb (d. 1831), farmer, and Eleanor Grubb (née Fayle), his second…...
Halpin, George
Halpin, George (1774×1779–1854), civil engineer and lighthouse designer, was probably born in Leinster. Little is known of his life before his appointment (1800) by the ballast board (Dublin's port authority, which replaced the ballast office in 1786) as its engineer or inspector of…...
Halpin, Robert Charles
Halpin, Robert Charles (1836–94), sea captain, was born 16 February 1836 at Wicklow town, the youngest of thirteen children of James Halpin, tavern owner, and his wife, Anne Halpin (née Halbert). Educated locally at Leitrim Place, he left school at the age of eleven, with the…...
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…...
Hemans, George Willoughby
Hemans, George Willoughby (1814–85), railway engineer, was born 27 August 1814 at Ryllon near St Asaph, north Wales, son of Capt. Alfred Hemans of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment and the poet Felicia Hemans (née Browne; 1794–1835) who were married in 1812. In 1818, after a short and…...
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…...
Hime, Sir Albert Henry
Hime, Sir Albert Henry (1842–1919), road and bridge engineer and Natal statesman, was born 29 August 1842 in Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, seventh son of the Rev. M. C. Hime and his wife Harriette, a daughter of the Rev. Bartholomew Lloyd…...
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…...
Huddie, Sir David (Patrick)
Huddie, Sir David (Patrick) (1916–98), engineer, was born 12 March 1916 in Cavan, Co. Cavan, sixth among four sons and three daughters of James Huddie, farmer, and Catherine Huddie (née Frizelle), of Clara House, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh. He was educated at Sligo Grammar School and…...
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,…...