Share, Bernard Vivian
Share, Bernard Vivian (1930–2013), writer and editor, was born on 31 May 1930 in London to Irish parents Frederick Share, a civil servant, and May Share, who had emigrated there from Dublin. He lived in England until he was seventeen, attending school in Pinner, Middlesex, before moving…...
Shaw, James Johnston
Shaw, James Johnston (1845–1910), economist, barrister, and judge, was born 4 January 1845 at Kirkcubbin, Co. Down, second son of John Maxwell Shaw (d. 1852), merchant and farmer, and Anne Shaw (née Johnston). His father died when he was only seven, leaving his mother to raise a…...
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey (1828–1908), chief of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade, was born 17 January 1828 at Glenmore Cottage, near Ballymore, Cobh, Co. Cork, third son of Bernard Robert Shaw, merchant, of Shaw's Terrace and later Monkstown Castle, Cork, and his first wife, Rebecca…...
Sherrard, Thomas
Sherrard, Thomas (c.1750–1837), surveyor and planner, was born to parents whose names are not known, but he was related to a William and David Sherrard, merchants in Dublin, and possibly to Sherrards in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The family name is commoner in the north of…...
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Smith, Charles
Smith, Charles (1715?–1762), apothecary, topographer, and writer, was born in Co. Waterford. Details of his life remain obscure, but he was educated in medicine and worked as an apothecary in Lismore (1739–44) and Dungarvan, Co. Waterford (1744–60). He is remembered as a pioneer of…...
Smith, John
Smith, John (d. 1771), presbyterian bookseller, was a native of Ulster. Nothing is known of his parents, but he was probably a kinsman of William Smith (1698–1741), one of his business partners. William was a son of Samuel Smith, a Belfast merchant and an associate of…...
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend (1863–1936), naval officer, hydrographer, and author, was born 7 September 1863 on his family's historic estate at Drishane, Castletownshend, near Castle Haven, Co. Cork, third son of Lt.-col. Thomas Henry Somerville (later high sheriff of Cork) and his…...
Speed, John
Speed, John (1552–1629), historian and cartographer, was born in 1552 in Farndon, Cheshire. His father was also called John and was a member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company; his mother was Elizabeth Cheynye. He was brought up in his father's trade and in 1580 was himself admitted…...
Staunton, Michael
Staunton, Michael (1788–1870), editor and publisher, was born in Co. Clare into a liberal protestant family (nothing more is known of his parents). As a young man he moved to Dublin, where he succeeded in 1813 to the editorship of the Freeman's Journal, then owned by…...
Stevenson, John
Stevenson, John (1850–1931), printer, inventor, antiquary, and author, was born in Rostrevor, Co. Down, in 1850, eldest among three to five sons of John Stevenson (d. 1881) and Harriet Stevenson (née Walsh; d. 1891). One brother died in childhood and one as a young man; there may…...
Stewart, John Watson
This is a co-subject for the entry on Watson, John. View the original entry....
Stockdale, John
Stockdale, John (d. 1813), printer and bookseller, may have been born in Dublin; nothing is known of his family background. He was a printer's apprentice to Henry Saunders (qv), and in 1772 was admitted free of the guild of St Luke by…...
Stokes, Gabriel
Stokes, Gabriel (1682–1768?), surveyor and mathematical-instrument maker, was baptised 23 April 1682 at St Nicholas Within, Dublin, son of John Stokes, tailor, of Back Lane, Dublin; nothing is known of his mother. Attending the Blue Coat (King's Hospital) School, he began his…...
Stotherd, Richard Hugh
Stotherd, Richard Hugh (1828–95), army officer and surveyor, was born 25 November 1828 at Augher Castle, Co. Tyrone, son of Lieut. (later Gen.) Richard John Stotherd (1796–1879) and his first wife, Elizabeth Sydney (d. 1853), daughter of Hugh Boyle of…...
Sullivan, Lucinda
Sullivan, Lucinda (1831–1881), philanthropist, writer and promoter of children's welfare, was born in 1831, probably in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, to Captain William Edward Brady , formerly a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment, and subsequently chief constable of police in…...
Sweeney, John Anthony (Tony)
Sweeney, John Anthony (Tony) (1931–2012), horse-racing journalist and bibliophile, was born on 26 June 1931 in London, son of John Sweeney (1887–1940), GPO surveyor, and his wife Kitty, daughter of James Joseph ('J. J.')…...
Swiney, Eugene
Swiney, Eugene (c.1730–1781), printer, publisher, and bookseller, was probably born in Limerick city, son of Miles Sweeny (Swiney); nothing is known of his mother. He appears to have been born as Owen Sweeney but later became known as Eugene Swiney. He was apprenticed to…...
Synnott, Thomas Lambert
Synnott, Thomas Lambert (1810–97), workhouse guardian and prison governor, was born probably in Dublin, eldest son of Thomas Sinnott, vintner, of 59–61 Barrack St., Dublin. Though there is evidence his father belonged to the Church of Ireland, Synnott was brought up Roman catholic…...
Taylor, Alexander
Taylor, Alexander (1746–1828), military engineer, surveyor, and cartographer, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland; his father may have been William Taylor, a surveyor at Fort George, near Inverness. Having first worked as a land surveyor in Scotland, Alexander joined the army in 1777 and…...
Tempest, Henry Godfrey (Harry)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Tempest, William. View the original entry....
Tempest, William
Tempest, William (1835–1918), antiquary and publisher, was born 13 November 1835 in Rostrevor, Co. Down, son of William Tempest and Esther Tempest (née Broughden), originally from Ramelton, Co. Donegal. He was apprenticed at the age of 13 to a newspaper printer in Newry. In 1859,…...
Tennant, Margaret Mary Edith (May) (née Abraham)
Tennant, Margaret Mary Edith (May) (née Abraham) (1869–1946), promoter of workers’ rights and public health, was born 5 April 1869 at Rathgar, Co. Dublin, the only daughter of Dr George Whitley Abraham, a lawyer in the civil service, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Cornelius Curtain…...
Thom, Alexander
Thom, Alexander (1801–79), printer and founder of Thom's Almanac, was born 18 April 1801 in Scotland (sources variously name Bervie, Findhorn, or Aberdeen as his place of birth), son of Walter Thom, writer, editor, and journalist. He was educated at the High School in…...
Tighe, William
Tighe, William (1766–1816), politician, topographer, and landowner, was born 5 May 1766, the eldest son of William Tighe (1738–82), landowner of Rossanagh, Co. Wicklow, and MP for Athboy, Co. Meath (1761–76), and his wife, Sarah (née Fownes) of Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny. William…...