Magee, Patrick
Magee, Patrick (1924–82), actor, was born on 31 March 1924 in Edward Street, Armagh town, eldest of five children of Patrick McGee, schoolteacher and eventually principal of St Patrick's primary school. When he joined Actors' Equity he changed his surname to 'Magee' to avoid confusion…...
Maple, William
Maple, William (d. 1762), chemist and one of the founding members of the Dublin Society, was born outside Ireland. He was middle-aged by the time he appears in Dublin in summer 1711 when he began his long association with the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) laboratory shortly before its…...
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis)
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician, was born 23 October 1929 at the family home at 5 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest of three children (he had a sister, Marion, and a brother, John) born to Thomas Henry…...
Molloy, Charles
Molloy, Charles (1690–1767), dramatist and journalist, was born in Dublin in 1690, son of Hugh Molloy; nothing is known of his mother. He is believed to have been educated at TCD, though no records survive to confirm this. Moving to…...
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William (1656–98), scientist and political writer, was born in Dublin, 17 April 1656, eldest surviving son of Samuel Molyneux (1616–93), master gunner of Ireland and his wife, Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of William Dowdall, merchant of Dublin. His great-…...
Molyneux, Samuel
Molyneux, Samuel (1689–1728), scientist and politician, was born 18 July 1689, son of William Molyneux (qv) and his wife, Lucy Molyneux (née Domvile), at Chester. His mother died in 1691 and his father, who followed the…...
Molyneux, Sir Thomas
Molyneux, Sir Thomas (1661–1733), physician, natural historian, and antiquarian, was born 14 April 1661, near Gormond's (Ormond, Wormwood) Gate on Cook St., Dublin, second son among five sons and two daughters of Samuel Molyneux (d. 1693), lawyer, landowner, and army captain, and his…...
Monck, William Henry Stanley
Monck, William Henry Stanley (1839–1915), philosopher and astronomer, was born 21 April 1839 at Skeirke, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son of Thomas Stanley Monck, curate of Skeirke 1829–50, and Lydia Elinor Monck (née Kennedy). The family moved (1850) to Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny,…...
Mossop, Henry
Mossop, Henry (c.1728–1774), actor and theatre manager, was born in Dublin, son of the Rev. John Mossop. In 1737 his father was appointed prebend of Kilmeen, Tuam, Co. Galway, but Henry remained in Dublin, where he was raised by his uncle, a bookseller. Educated at a…...
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort (1804–54), MP and gentleman scientist, was born 29 June 1804, eldest of three sons of the Rev. Frederick Ferriter Mullins of Beaufort House, Killarney, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Croker of Johnstown. His grandfather…...
Murphy, Robert
Murphy, Robert (1806–43), mathematician, was born in Mallow, Co. Cork, fifth son among seven sons and three daughters of John Murphy, shoemaker and Church of Ireland parish clerk in Mallow, and his wife Margaret (maiden name unknown). His father died (1814), leaving the family…...
O'Brien, Matthew
O'Brien, Matthew (1814–55), mathematician, was born at Ennis, Co. Clare, the son of Matthew O'Brien, a doctor. Educated initially by a private tutor, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, in July 1830 at the age of sixteen, but in November 1834 transferred to Gonville and Caius…...
Oulton, Walley Chamberlain
Oulton, Walley Chamberlain (c.1765–c.1820), dramatist and theatre historian, was born in Dublin, son of Walley Oulton, a merchant, and his wife Catherine (née Walker). Very little is known of his life outside his work. Educated locally by Dr Thomas Ball (1718?–…...
Parsons, William
Parsons, William (1800–67), astronomer and 3rd earl of Rosse , was born 17 June 1800 at York, England, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Sir Lawrence Parsons (1758–1841) of Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), and Alice Parsons (née Lloyd), daughter of a…...
Perceval, Robert
Perceval, Robert (1756–1839), physician, chemist, traveller, and founding member of the RIA, was born 30 September 1756 in Dublin, third and youngest son of William Perceval, barrister, and his second wife, Elizabeth Perceval (née Ward; d.…...
Power, Robert
Power, Robert (1794–1869), army officer and surveyor general of Van Diemen's Land, was born at Knockbrit, near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second son of Edmund Power, merchant, JP, and editor of the unsuccessful Clonmel Gazette, and…...
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael (1876–1934), neurologist, was born 16 September 1876 in India, son of William Edward Purser (b. 1845), official in the Indian civil service, and Elizabeth Purser (née Geoghegan), his cousin. After the death of his mother (1877), he was sent to…...
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock (1859–1923), astronomer, was born 21 September 1859 in Waterford city, third son of the Rev. Edmund Francis Rambaut (BA, TCD), Church of Ireland clergyman and curate of…...
Richardson, William
Richardson, William (1740–1820), cleric, geologist, agriculturist, and pamphleteer, was probably born at Castleroe, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the only son of Charles Richardson (d. 1743) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Hercules Heyland of Coleraine. He was educated at…...
Richey, James Ernest
Richey, James Ernest (1886–1968), geologist, was born 24 April 1886 at Desertcreat rectory, Co. Tyrone, son of John Richey, Church of Ireland rector, and Susanna Richey (née Best). He spent his childhood in Desertcreat and was educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, and at…...
Roberts, Michael
Roberts, Michael (1817–82), mathematician, was the eldest son of Captain Michael Roberts, of Kilmoney Abbey near Carrigaline, Co. Cork, and Elizabeth Roberts (née Townsend Stewart). His twin brother was William Roberts (1817–83), also a mathematician and scholar and fellow of…...
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…...
Robinson, Thomas Romney
Robinson, Thomas Romney (1793–1882), astronomer and mathematical physicist, was born 23 April 1793 in St Anne's parish, Dublin, eldest son of Thomas Robinson, an English portrait painter, and Ruth Robinson (née Buck). He was named after his father's painting master, George Romney.…...
Rodway, Norman John Frank
Rodway, Norman John Frank (1929–2001), actor and theatre producer, was born 7 February 1929 in Dublin, son of Frank Rodway, manager of a shipping agency, and Lilian Rodway (née Moyles). The couple had recently moved to Dublin from London. They settled in Malahide, north of Dublin, where…...
Rugheimer, Gunnar
Rugheimer, Gunnar , (1923–2003), RTÉ controller of programmes, was born 26 February 1923 in Stockholm, Sweden, to Carl Rügheimer (b. 1893), hat manufacturer, and his wife Sonja Traugott (b. 1901); both were Jewish and had been born in Sweden of Danish descent. After attending…...