Mecredy, Richard James Patrick
Mecredy, Richard James Patrick (1861–1924), cyclist and journalist, was born 18 May 1861 at Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, son of the Rev. James Mecredy, DD, a Church of Ireland clergyman then in the parish of Inveran, Spiddal, Co. Galway.…...
Megaw, Basil
Megaw, Basil (1913–2002), archaeologist and folklife scholar, was born in Belfast on 22 June 1913, the third of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw, solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith). Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961) was a younger son of Robert Megaw…...
Meredith, James Creed
Meredith, James Creed (1875–1942), judge of the supreme court and writer, was born in Dublin, son of Sir James Creed Meredith, secretary of the Royal University of Ireland from 1880 to 1909, and his third wife, Nellie (née Graves). He had three brothers and two sisters. He began…...
Moles, Thomas
Moles, Thomas (1871–1937), MP and journalist, was born 13 November 1871 in Belfast, second son of Edward Moles of Ardmore, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, and Margaret Jane Moles (née Carson). He was educated at the old Collegiate School in Ballymena and was subsequently appointed to the…...
Molloy, Charles
Molloy, Charles (1690–1767), dramatist and journalist, was born in Dublin in 1690, son of Hugh Molloy; nothing is known of his mother. He is believed to have been educated at TCD, though no records survive to confirm this. Moving to…...
Monck, William Henry Stanley
Monck, William Henry Stanley (1839–1915), philosopher and astronomer, was born 21 April 1839 at Skeirke, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son of Thomas Stanley Monck, curate of Skeirke 1829–50, and Lydia Elinor Monck (née Kennedy). The family moved (1850) to Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny,…...
Nicholson, Ernest Wilson
Nicholson, Ernest Wilson (1938–2013), biblical scholar, was born on 26 September 1938 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, the youngest of three children of Ernest Tedford Nicholson, a soldier and baker, and Veronica Muriel Nicholson. After attending Hart Memorial Primary School in Portadown, he…...
O'Donoghue, Nannie Power
Power O’Donoghue (née Lambert), Nannie (1843–1940), journalist, equestrian and writer was born 2 June 1843 and baptised as Ann Stewart Lyster Lambert in St Thomas Church of Ireland, Marlborough Street, Dublin. She was the youngest child of four daughters and one son of Charles Lambert,…...
Porter, John Grey Vesey
Porter, John Grey Vesey (1817–1903), newspaper proprietor and improving landlord, was born 25 August 1817 in Kilskeery parish, Co. Fermanagh, only son of the Rev. John Grey Porter (1789–1873), non-resident prebend and rector (1813–42) of Donaghmoyne, Co. Monaghan, and…...
Read, Charles Anderson
Read, Charles Anderson (1841–78), writer, journalist, and editor, was born 10 November 1841 at Killsellagh (Kilsella) House, in the parish of Drumcliffe, near Sligo. His father, George Read, was a gentleman who, having lost an inheritance, was forced to take a position as…...
Richey, Alexander George
Richey, Alexander George (1830–83), lawyer, historian, and editor, was born 22 October 1830 in Dublin, only son of Alexander Richey (d. 1852), land agent, of Mount Temple, Coolock, Co. Dublin, and his wife, Matilda (daughter of Dodwell Browne of Co. Mayo), aunt of the 3rd earl of…...
Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (T. W.)
Rolleston, Thomas William Hazen (T. W.) (1857–1920), poet, critic and journalist, was born 1 May 1857 at Glasshouse, near Shinrone, King's County (Offaly), youngest child among three sons and a daughter of Charles Rolleston-Spunner (d. 1887), barrister and county court judge for…...
Ruddock, Alan (Stephen Denis)
Ruddock, Alan (Stephen Denis) (1960–2010), journalist and editor, was born on 21 July 1960 in Dublin, the only son (he had one sister) of John Ruddock, a schoolteacher (eventually headmaster of Villiers School, Limerick city), and his wife Doreen. He came from a middle-class Church of…...
Savage, Marmion Wilme
Savage, Marmion Wilme (1803–72), novelist and journalist, was born 22 February 1803 in Dublin, the only child of Revd Henry Savage and Sarah Savage (née Bewley). He grew up in his father's parish in Ardkeen, Co. Down. Awarded a BA in classics…...
Stuart, James
Stuart, James (1764–1840), newspaper editor and historian, was born in Armagh city, son of Benjamin Stuart of Co. Antrim. He was educated at Armagh Royal School under Dr Arthur Grueber and in 1784 took sixth place on entrance to TCD. He…...
Supple, Gerald Henry
Supple, Gerald Henry (1823–98), journalist, lawyer, poet, and nationalist, was born in Cork city, eldest son among two sons and four daughters of Thomas Supple, of Bowling Green St., Cork city, and Letitia Anne Supple (née Sherlock), of Ballintemple, Co. Cork, a lineal descendant…...
Swift, Deane Theophilus
Swift, Deane Theophilus (1774–1858), United Irishman and author, was born in Co. Meath, eldest son of the writer and eccentric Theophilus Swift (qv) and his wife Charlotte (née Pead). He was a collateral descendant of…...
Taylor, John Sydney
Taylor, John Sydney (1795–1841), barrister and journalist, was born in Donnybrook, Dublin, son of John Taylor, artist. His father had been born John McKinley but had assumed the surname of Taylor, and was descended from Capt. David McKinley who had commanded a company of the…...
Temple, Sir William
Temple, Sir William (1555–1627), philosopher and provost of TCD, was born in Warwickshire, England, son of Anthony Temple. Educated at Eton, William entered King's College, Cambridge, where he was a fellow, graduating BA (1578) and…...
Thornberry, Cedric Henry Reid
Thornberry, Cedric Henry Reid (1936–2014), human rights lawyer, journalist and UN official, was born on 22 June 1936 at 14 Ardmore Park South, Belfast, the elder son of (William Henry) Laylee Thornbury, headmaster of Lurgan Model School, and his wife Lila (née Watson). Cedric was raised…...
Tickell, George
Tickell, George (1828/9–1892), unionist, businessman and newspaper proprietor, was the eldest of at least two sons of Thomas Tickell (d. 1873), a timber merchant of North King Street, Dublin. The Tickells were an old-established Dublin protestant merchant family who had been resident…...
Toland, John
Toland, John (1670–1722), freethinker and polemical writer, was probably born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal, on 30 November 1670. Reputed to be the illegitimate son of a catholic priest, Toland may have been baptised ‘Joannes Eugenius’, which he later altered to a pen name, ‘Janus Junius’.…...
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth (1790-1846), evangelical journalist and novelist, was born Charlotte Elizabeth Browne on 1 October 1790 in Norwich, England, daughter of Michael Browne, a minor canon of the cathedral, and his wife (probably a Murray). Her maternal grandmother, of Scots…...
Usher, James
Usher, James (c.1720–1772), philosopher and schoolmaster, was born in Co. Dublin, son of a gentleman farmer; nothing else is known of his parents. He was probably a descendant of James (qv) and…...
Wheeler, George Bomford
Wheeler, George Bomford (1805/8–1877), anglican clergyman, classical scholar, and editor of the Irish Times, was son of James Wheeler; his mother's name is unknown. Very little is known of his early life and the records of TCD…...