Craig, Maurice James Waldron
Craig, Maurice James Waldron (1919–2011), architectural historian, writer and poet, was born 25 October 1919 at 11 University Square, Belfast, elder of two sons of James Andrew Craig, a leading ophthalmic surgeon, and Blanche Craig (née Alice Blanche Sara Waldron), an Englishwoman.…...
Crawford, (Robert) Lindsay
Crawford, (Robert) Lindsay (1868–1945), journalist, Orangeman, and diplomat, was born 1 October 1868 at Tonagh, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of James Crawford, scripture reader, and Matilda Crawford (née Hastings). Educated privately, he worked for a time in business before becoming…...
Crawford, William Horatio
Crawford, William Horatio (1812×1818–1888), brewer and philanthropist, was first-born son of William Crawford (d. 1840), brewer, and Dulcibella Crawford (née Morris) of Lakelands House, Blackrock, Cork; a brother died young. The family was originally from Co. Down, related to the…...
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’)
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’) (née Sheppard ) (c.1849–1920), novelist and short-story writer, was born in Roscommon, the youngest daughter of the Rev. William Sheppard (d. 1856), Church of Ireland clergyman for the parish of Kilgeffin, Co. Roscommon. She was educated in…...
Croker, John Wilson
Croker, John Wilson (1780–1857), politician and author, was born in Galway 20 December 1780, eldest among two sons and a daughter of John Croker (1743–1814), exciseman and surveyor general of Dublin port 1800–07, and his second wife, Hester (née Rathbone), daughter of a Co. Galway…...
Croly, George
Croly, George (1780–1860), clergyman and writer, was born 17 August 1780 in Dublin, the son of Robert Croly, a physician. In 1795 he enrolled at TCD, becoming a scholar (1798), graduating BA (1800)…...
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois (1865–1939), astronomer, was born 6 February 1865 at Cushendun, Co. Antrim, grandson of Nicholas Crommelin (qv), and third son among twelve children of Nicholas…...
Crozier, Maurna
Crozier, (Rose Mary) Maurna (1942–2015), social anthropologist, was born in Belfast on 22 January 1942, the only surviving child of Robert Frizzell, the first general manager of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), and his wife Molly (née Rands), a rosarian and the daughter of…...
Curran, Henry Grattan
Curran, Henry Grattan (1800–76), barrister, resident magistrate, and author, was born 5 February 1800 in Tipperary, illegitimate son of John Philpott Curran (qv), master of the rolls; his mother's surname was Fitzgerald. Having one stepbrother and one stepsister,…...
Czira (Gifford), Sydney Madge (‘John Brennan’)
Czira (Gifford), Sydney Madge (‘John Brennan’) (1889–1974), journalist, broadcaster, and republican, was born 3 August 1889 at 8 Temple Villas, Rathmines, Dublin, the youngest of twelve children of Frederick Gifford, a wealthy solicitor, and Isabella Gifford (née Burton), a niece of the…...
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…...
Davies, Rowland
Davies, Rowland (1649–1721), clergyman and journalist, was son of Rowland Davies, gentleman farmer, and Mary Davies (née Scudamore; widow of Thomas Smith) of Gill Abbey near Cork. He was taught by Mr Scragg of Cork city before entering TCD…...
Davies, Sir John
Davies, Sir John (1569–1626), lawyer and poet, was baptised at Tisbury, Wiltshire, 16 April 1569. His father, whose name is usually given as John, but sometimes as Edward, Davies (d. 1580), was of Welsh descent, and his mother, Mary (née Bennett; d. 1590), came from a Wiltshire…...
Davis, Thomas Osborne
Davis, Thomas Osborne (1814–45), Young Irelander, poet, and journalist, was born 14 October 1814 at Mallow, Co. Cork, youngest of three sons and one daughter of James Thomas Davis, military surgeon, and his wife Mary (née Atkins). Family and education James…...
Dawson, Arthur
Dawson, Arthur (1698–1775), lawyer, poet, and politician, was born 9 October 1698, the eldest son of Joshua Dawson (c.1660–1725), landowner and later MP for Wicklow borough (1705–14), and his wife, Anne Dawson (née Carr). He was educated by Dr Jones in Dublin, and then…...
Dawson, George William Percy
Dawson, George William Percy (1927–2004), geneticist, art lover and philanthropist, was born 7 August 1927 in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England, the only child of Percy John Fritz Stanley Dawson, fishmonger, and his wife Edith Helen (née Fildes). Education He was…...
Day, Robert
Day, Robert (1746–1841), politician, judge, and diarist, was born 1 July 1746 at Lohercannon, near Tralee, Co. Kerry, the third son in a family of five sons and two daughters of the Rev. John Day (1711–81), chancellor of Ardfert, and his wife Lucy, a daughter of Maurice FitzGerald…...
De Grey, Henrietta Frances
De Grey, Henrietta Frances (1784–1848), Countess de Grey , political hostess and philanthropist, was born 22 June 1784 at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, the fifth and last daughter and youngest of the ten children of William Willoughby Cole (1736–1803), 1st earl of Enniskillen, and…...
Delacour, James
Delacour, James (1709–81), clergyman and poet, was eldest son of John Delacour, landowner, of Killowen, near Blarney, Co. Cork; nothing is known of his mother. The Delacours (or de la Courts) settled in Co. Cork during the 1650s and became affluent landowners by the beginning of the…...
Delany, Patrick
Delany, Patrick (1685?–1768), clergyman and writer, was born in Rathcrea, Queen's Co. (Laois), probably on 15 March 1685. His father, Dennis Delany, is reputed to have been a servant to the Irish judge Sir John Russell. Delany was educated in Athy, Co. Kildare, at the school of Mr…...
Delap, Kathleen Hilda (née Orpen)
Delap, Kathleen Hilda (née Orpen) (1910–2004), activist in women's organisations, was born on 27 January 1910 in the family home, Lisheens, Carrickmines, Co. Dublin, fourth child and third daughter among five daughters and one son of Charles St George Orpen (1864–1939) and Cerise…...
Denham, Sir John
Denham, Sir John (1615–69), poet and architect, was born in Dublin, the only son of Sir John Denham (qv), lord chief justice of Ireland 1612–17, and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Sir Garret…...
Denny (Fitzmaurice), Lady Arabella
Denny (Fitzmaurice), Lady Arabella (1707–92), philanthropist, was the second daughter of Thomas Fitzmaurice (d. 1741) of Lixnaw castle, Tralee, Co. Kerry, 21st lord of Kerry, created 1st earl of Kerry in 1722, and Anne Fitzmaurice (née Petty; d. 1737), only daughter of the…...
Derrick, Samuel
Derrick, Samuel (1724–69), writer, was born in Ireland, of a Co. Carlow family which had become impoverished; nothing is known of his parents. Apprenticed to a linen-draper, he found business uncongenial, and escaped to London in his twenties, briefly and very unsuccessfully…...
De Vere, Aubrey Thomas
De Vere, Aubrey Thomas (1814–1902), poet and author, was born 10 January 1814 at Curragh Chase, Co. Limerick, the third son in a family of five sons and three daughters of Aubrey Thomas Hunt, afterwards Sir Aubrey de Vere (qv), 2nd…...