King, Cecil Harmsworth
King, Cecil Harmsworth (1901–87), publisher, was born 20 February 1901 at Poynter's Hall, Totteridge, Hertfordshire, England (home of his grandmother, Geraldine Harmsworth (qv)), second son and fifth child among seven children of…...
Law, Hugh
Law, Hugh (1818–83), lord chancellor, was born 19 June 1818 at Woodlawn, Co. Down, the only son of John Law, and his wife, Margaret Law (née Crawley). Educated at the Royal School, Dungannon, he entered TCD in 1834, where he was a…...
Lawrence, John Fortune
Lawrence, John Fortune (1833–97), sporting merchant and publisher, was born 13 January 1833 in Dublin, the eldest of six brothers and five sisters (three of each reaching adulthood) of William Lawrence (d. 1887), a clerk of works at the General Post Office (GPO), and his wife Elizabeth…...
Lawson, James Anthony
Lawson, James Anthony (1817–87), judge and economist, was born 10 February 1817, the eldest son of James Lawson of Waterford and his wife Mary Anthony. After initial education in Waterford, he entered TCD in October 1833, became a…...
Leathley, Joseph
Leathley, Joseph (d. 1757), ‘college binder’, printer, and bookseller, joined the Dublin printers, guild in July 1719, having been sworn a freeman of the city earlier in the year. He initially undertook a small number of joint publishing ventures with other members of the trade in…...
Le Fanu, Joseph Thomas Sheridan
Le Fanu, Joseph Thomas Sheridan (1814–73), novelist and journalist, was born 28 August 1814 in Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, eldest son and second child of three children of the Rev. Thomas Philip Le Fanu (1784–1845), Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife, Emma Lucretia (née…...
Lefroy, Thomas Langlois
Lefroy, Thomas Langlois (1776–1869), judge and MP, was born 8 January 1776 in Limerick, eldest son of Lt.-col. Anthony Lefroy, 9th Light Dragoons, and Anne Lefroy (née Gardner). He entered TCD in November 1790 and graduated…...
Lewis, Clive Staples (‘Jack’)
Lewis, Clive Staples (‘Jack’) (1898–1963), writer, scholar, and Christian apologist, was born 29 November 1898 in Dundela Villas, Belfast, the younger son of Albert James Lewis, police solicitor and unionist activist, and his wife, Florence (Flora) Augusta, daughter of the Rev.…...
Ley, James
Ley, James (c.1552–1629), 1st earl of Marlborough, judge , was baptised at Barford, Wiltshire, the fourth son of Henry Ley of Teffont Evias, Wiltshire, and Dyonsia Seymour. After graduating BA from Brasenose College, Oxford, on 3 February 1574…...
Lindsay, Robert
Lindsay, Robert (1679–1743), lawyer, was the elder of two sons of Robert Lindsay of Loughry, Co. Tyrone, and his wife, Anne Lindsay, daughter of John Morris of Bellville, Co. Tyrone. He succeeded to the Co. Tyrone estate of his father on the latter's death in 1691. He was educated…...
Lloyd, Edward
Lloyd, Edward (fl. 1700–1732), coffee house proprietor, publisher, and writer, was born in England and probably moved to Dublin in the 1690s. Nothing is known of his parents. A namesake, Edward Lloyd (d. 1713), founded (c.1688) Lloyd's coffee house in London, which…...
Loftus, Adam
Loftus, Adam (1533/4–1605), Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh and of Dublin, and lord chancellor of Ireland, was the second son of Edward Loftus of Swineside, in the parish of Coverham, Yorkshire, England; details of his mother are not known. Loftus's education and early…...
Longfield, Mountifort
Longfield, Mountifort (1802–84), economist and lawyer, was second son of the Rev. Mountifort Longfield (d. 1850), JP and vicar of Desert Serges, Co. Cork, of the Anglo-Irish Longfield family of Longueville, near Mallow, Co. Cork, and his…...
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard)
Lowther, Sir Gerrard (Gerard) (1590–1660), lawyer and judge, was probably the natural son of Christopher Lowther of Penrith, Cumberland. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, on 7 June 1605. He entered Gray's Inn in 1608 and was called to the bar in 1614. He was in Dublin as…...
Lucas, Charles
Lucas, Charles (1713–71), politician, physician, and writer, was born 16 September 1713, the younger son of Benjamin Lucas (d. c.1727) of the townland of Ballingaddy, Kilmanahan parish, Corcomroe, Co. Clare, and his wife, Mary (née Blood), also of Co. Clare. …...
Lucas, Henry
Lucas, Henry (c.1740–1802), lawyer and writer, was born in Dublin, the son of Charles Lucas (qv), the well-known politician and physician, and his first wife, Anne, née Blundell. Charles Lucas had to leave Ireland in 1749,…...
Luce, Arthur Aston
Luce, Arthur Aston (1882–1977), clergyman and philosophy professor, was born 21 August 1882 in Gloucester, England, seventh son of the Rev. John James Luce, vicar of St Nicholas church, Gloucester. He was educated initially at Eastbourne College and graduated from…...
Lysaght, Edward
Lysaght, Edward (1763–1810), lawyer, wit, and versifier, was the only son of John Lysaght, landed gentleman of Brickhill, Co. Clare, and Jane Eyre Dalton, daughter of Edward Dalton of Deerpark, Co. Clare, and first cousin of Lord Eyre of Eyrecourt, Co. Galway. Edward obtained his early…...
MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves
MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves (1814–81), judge and colonial governor, was born 3 September 1814 in Dublin, the eldest son of Rev. Richard MacDonnell (qv), provost of TCD (1852–67), and…...
MacKnight, Thomas
MacKnight, Thomas (1829–99), newspaper editor and political writer, was born 15 February 1829 at Gainsford, Co. Durham, son of Thomas MacKnight and his wife Elizabeth. He was initially educated at the Rev. Dr Bowman's school at Gainsford. After his parents moved to London he…...
MacNally, Leonard
MacNally, Leonard (1752?–1820), barrister, writer, United Irishman, and informer, was born in Dublin, the only son of William MacNally (d. 1756), a grocer. It seems that his mother brought him up with the support of his uncle, a merchant named Featherstone of St Mary's Lane. A…...
MacNeill, John Gordon Swift
MacNeill, John Gordon Swift (1849–1926), jurist and politician, was born 11 March 1849 in Dublin, only son of the Rev. John Gordon Swift MacNeill of Blackhall Street, and his wife Susan Colpoys (née Tweedy). He was descended from Godwin Swift, uncle and guardian of…...
Magee, William
Magee, William (1750?–1827), printer, was probably born in Belfast, where his father, James Magee, printer and bookseller, had been involved with Francis Joy (qv) in papermaking near Ballymena in 1740, and had published the early Belfast news…...
Mahony, Pierce
Mahony, Pierce (1792–1853), solicitor, was born 19 December 1792, probably in Co. Kerry, son of Pierce Mahony (1750–1819), landowner and JP of Co. Kerry and Co. Limerick, and his second wife, Anna Maria, daughter of John Maunsell of…...
Malone, Anthony
Malone, Anthony (1700–76), lawyer and politician, was eldest son of Richard Malone (1674–1745), a noted lawyer, of Baronstown, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Marcella, daughter of Redmond Molady, nephew and heir of Sir Patrick Molady of Robertstown. The family were originally…...