Adrian (Bor), Max
Adrian (Bor), Max (1903–73), actor, was born 1 November 1903 in Ireland, the son of Edward Norman Cavendish Bor, a Bank of Ireland agent (or manager), and Mabel Lloyd (née Thornton). The family lived successively at Maryborough, Callan, and Waterford. Max was educated at Portora…...
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra)
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra) (1890–1960), aviator, was born on 1 December 1890 at 30 Grosvenor Square, London, to Derrick (Derry) Warner William Westenra (1853–1921), the fifth Baron Rossmore, and his wife Mittie (née Naylor) (d. 1953), the daughter of a wealthy English…...
Barry, Richard
Barry, Richard (1769–93), 7th earl of Barrymore , spendthrift, was born in London on 14 August 1769 and succeeded his father, Richard, to the Irish earldom of Barrymore just before his fourth birthday. In his youth he became excessively interested in racehorses, gambling,…...
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus (1739–1821), clergyman, architect, and cartographer, was born 1 October 1739 in London, son of Daniel Cornelius Beaufort and Esther Beaufort (née Gougeon), members of the huguenot community. The family moved to Ireland when Daniel's father became chaplain…...
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán)
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán) (1889–1975), revolutionary, politician, government minister, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 April 1889 at Magheragall, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of James…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel (1912–87), actress, broadcaster, and teacher, was born 29 April 1912 in Limerick, the daughter of Peter Dobbin, county surveyor for Co. Clare, and Kathleen (née Vance), his second wife. Reared in Kilkishen House, Co. Clare, she was educated at St Brandon's…...
Bury, Lady Mairi (Elizabeth)
Bury, Lady Mairi (Elizabeth) (1921–2009), gardener and philatelist, was born 25 March 1921 at Mount Stewart, Co. Down, youngest of four daughters and one son of Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest Stewart (qv…...
Casson, Christopher Thorndike
Casson, Christopher Thorndike (1912–96), actor, was born 20 January 1912 at Prestwich, Manchester, Lancashire, England, younger son among two sons and two daughters of Sir Lewis Casson (1875–1969) and Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976), both of whom were among the foremost actors…...
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
Cloney, Sheila
Cloney, Sheila (1926–2009), protagonist in the Fethard-on-Sea boycott, was born Sheila Kelly on 6 May 1926 in Fethard-on-Sea, a village on the Hook peninsula of south-western Co. Wexford, daughter of Thomas Kelly, cattle dealer, of John's Hill (just outside Fethard), and his wife Sheila…...
Daborne, Robert
Daborne, Robert (c.1580–1628), playwright and cleric, was the son of Robert Daborne (1551–1612), a tradesman of Guildford, Surrey, and his wife, Susan (née Travis; d. 1626). He states in the preface to A Christian turn'd Turke (1612) that his descent was ‘not…...
Daly, Richard
Daly, Richard (1758–1813), theatrical manager, was born in Co. Galway, second son of Joseph Daly, a prosperous farmer. He entered TCD in 1773, but there is no record of his taking a degree. A reckless and violent character, he was said…...
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’)
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’) (1931–2014), actor and theatre director, was born on 15 March 1931 in his aunt’s house at 13 Gawn Street, Belfast, the younger of two children and only son of James Ellis senior, a sheet-metal worker at Harland & Wolff shipyard, and his mother Matilda (‘Tilly…...
Evans, Emyr Estyn
Evans, Emyr Estyn (1905–89), Ireland's first professor of geography, was born 29 May 1905, youngest of four sons and one daughter of the Rev. George Owen Evans, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Wales, and Elizabeth Evans (née Jones). Born in Shrewsbury, he spent his early…...
Fitzgerald, George Robert
Fitzgerald, George Robert (c.1746–1786), duellist, was born in Turlough, Co. Mayo, elder son of George Fitzgerald, landowner, and his wife, Lady Mary Fitzgerald, daughter of John, Lord Hervey. His mother's brother was …...
French, (William) Percy
French, (William) Percy (1854–1920), songwriter, humourist, entertainer, and painter, was born 1 May 1854 in Cloonyquin House, parish of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, second son and third child among four sons and five daughters of Christopher French (1821–97), landowner, and Susan Emma French…...
Garzia (Garcia), John
Garzia (Garcia), John (d. p.1723), priest-catcher, was almost certainly born in Spain. He was the most notorious of a profession – which included Edward Tyrell (qv) – active in the early eighteenth century, who, in return…...
Gookin, Vincent
Gookin, Vincent (1616?–1659), surveyor general, MP for Bandon and Kinsale 1654–9, and friend and colleague of William Petty (qv), was the eldest son of Cork settler Sir Vincent Gookin…...
Gregory, (William) Robert
Gregory, (William) Robert (1881–1918), painter, theatre designer, sportsman, and airman, was born 20 May 1881 in London, only child of Sir William Gregory (qv) of Coole Park, Co. Galway, and his second wife, Isabella Augusta…...
Gunning, Elizabeth
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gunning, Maria. View the original entry....
Gunning, Maria
Gunning, Maria (1732–60), afterwards countess of Coventry , society beauty, eldest of the four daughters of John Gunning of Castlecoote, Co. Roscommon, and Bridget Gunning (née Bourke), daughter of the 6th Viscount Bourke of Mayo, was born at Hemingford Grey, near St Ives,…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...