Acton, Charles
Acton, Charles (1914–99), music critic, was born Ball-Acton (but changed the former surname by deed poll in 1939) on 25 April 1914 in Iron Acton near Bristol, Somerset, England, into a family that can be traced back to the twelfth century, and with an estate (till 1944) at Kilmacurragh…...
Aiken, Jim
Aiken, Jim (1932–2007), music promoter and businessman, was one of seven or eight children born to Joseph Aiken and his wife Annie (née Fagan), and was raised on the family farm in Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, close to the border. After completing his secondary education, he studied…...
Aiken, (Mary) Maud
Aiken, (Mary) Maud (1898–1978), musician, was born 13 August 1898 in Dublin, younger of two daughters of John J. Davin , grocer and alderman, and Mary Davin (née O'Gara). In 1914 she entered the Royal Irish Academy of Music and was awarded the Coulson scholarship (1914), the Coulson…...
Alexander, Cecil Frances
Alexander, Cecil Frances (1818–95), hymn-writer, known in her family as Fanny, was born in Eccles Street, Dublin, second daughter (and third among seven children) of John Humphreys and Elizabeth Frances Humphreys (née Reed). Her mother's brother was Thomas Reed (1796–1883), a general…...
Allister, Jean Maria
Allister, Jean Maria (1932–2012), contralto singer, was born on 26 February 1932 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, the first child of Samuel Allister, a driver and salesman, and his wife Margaret (née Hill). She had a younger brother. At first the family lived in Margaret Avenue in the town,…...
Anderson, Albert Wesley
Anderson, Albert Wesley (1907–86), industrialist and politician, was born 23 July 1907 in Derry city, elder son and second among four children of Sir Robert Newton Anderson of Derry, industrialist and politician, and his wife Lydia Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Elliott Smith, banker…...
Anderson, Gerry
Anderson, Gerry (1944–2014), musician, radio broadcaster and television presenter, was born Gerald Michael Anderson on 28 October 1944 in Derry, one of four children (three sons and a daughter) of John Anderson, a boiler and range-fireplace fitter who had joined the anti-treaty side…...
Anderson, Lily
Anderson, Lily (1922–82), social campaigner and communist, joined the Communist Party in 1942 and served for many years on its subcommittees for social services, education, and women. She was best known as a campaigner for better nursery facilities in Belfast during the 1960s. Her…...
Andrews, Michael
Andrews, Michael (1788–1870), industrialist, was third son of Michael Andrews (d. 1805), linen bleacher, of Annsborough, near Castlewellan, Co. Down, and Elizabeth Andrews (née Meek), who was Scottish. He had three sisters. The Andrews family was of great importance in the industrial…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1873–1912), shipbuilder, was born 7 February 1873 at Ardara, Comber, Co. Down, where his family, members of the non-subscribing presbyterian church, had been prominent in business for several generations. He was the second son of Thomas Andrews (1843–1916), for…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1843–1916), politician and linen magnate, was born 26 February 1843 in Comber, Co. Down, fourth and youngest son of John Andrews, JP, and his wife, Sarah, daughter of William…...
Andrews, William (‘Billy’,‘Bill’) Nathaniel
Andrews, William (‘Billy’,‘Bill’) Nathaniel (Mac Andrieu, Liam) (1873–1939), musician, was born 9 January 1873 in Dublin, son of Arthur Andrews, printer, and Elizabeth Andrews (née Dunne), both protestants. He studied classical music and was instructed on the piano by his aunt (…...
Ashe, Andrew
Ashe, Andrew (1756×1759–1838), flautist, was born in Lisburn, Co. Antrim. His parents' names are unknown. When he was about nine, Andrew was sent to school near Woolwich, England; from an early age he loved music, and on his own initiative paid for lessons out of his allowance. However…...
Bačík, Charles
Bačík, Charles (1910–91), co-founder of modern Waterford Glass, later Waterford Crystal, was born in Nová Říše, near Prague, Czechoslovakia, on 25 June 1910, the second son of Dr Karel Bačík and his wife, Milada, née Hora. He graduated from Charles University, Prague, with a science…...
Balfe, Michael William
Balfe, Michael William (1808–70), composer and musician, was born 15 May 1808, at 10 Pitt Street, Dublin (renamed Balfe Street in 1917 by the Dublin Corporation, later demolished), and baptised in the parish church of St Ann, Dawson Street, Dublin. He was the third child and only…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1728–1804), silk manufacturer, was probably the John Ball who was the son of Richard and Abigail Ball of Dublin and was baptised at St Catherine's church in April 1728. Richard Ball's forebears lived at Ardee, Co. Louth, and were descended from a Cromwellian officer,…...
Baptist (Crow), Rachael
Baptist (Crow), Rachael (fl. 1750–73), a celebrated black singer in Dublin's pleasure gardens in the 1750s, had a musical career as soloist and entertainer that spanned almost a quarter of a century. Nothing is known of her parents or early history. Her first recorded…...
Barbour, John
Barbour, John (1753?–1823), manufacturer, was born in Scotland, probably at Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, near Paisley, in either 1753 or early 1759, eldest son of John Barbour and his wife, whose name may have been Jean Connel, both of Kilbarchan, where the family had linen works. They…...
Barbour, John Doherty
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Barbour, Sir John Milne
Barbour, Sir John Milne (1868–1951), industrialist and politician, was born 4 January 1868 at The Fort, Dunmurry, near Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of John Doherty Barbour (chairman of one of Ulster's biggest flax-spinning firms) and Elizabeth Law Milne Barbour of Edinburgh. He was…...
Barbour, Thomas
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Barbour, William
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Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Barry, Billie (Lillian)
Barry, Billie (Lillian) (1921–2014), performer and stage school founder, was born on 27 January 1921 in Drumcondra, Dublin, the youngest of fifteen children to John Clarke-Barry, orchestra leader and musician, and his wife Anne (née Hughes), an amateur operatic singer. The family were…...
Barry, Margaret (‘Maggie’)
Barry, Margaret (‘Maggie’) (1917–89), folk singer, was born 1 January 1917 in Peter Street, Cork city, one of five children of Timothy Cleary and his wife Mary or Margaret (née Thompson ); the family were travellers who had been loosely settled in the Cork city area for two…...