Joynt, William Lane
Joynt, William Lane (1824–95), barrister, politician and government official, was born on 26 December 1824 in Limerick city, the first son of William Persse Joynt, a merchant of Limerick city, and his wife Arabella (née Lane), the daughter of a doctor of Limerick city. Through his…...
Keane, Marcus
Keane, Marcus (1815–83), land agent and antiquarian, was born on 7 February 1815, probably at the family seat of Beech Park, near Ennis, Co. Clare, the sixth son of thirteen children (eight boys and five girls) of Robert Keane (1774–1839), a landlord, land agent and JP, and his…...
Keatinge, John
Keatinge, John (d. 1691), judge, was the younger of two sons of Edmund Keating of Narraghmore, Co. Kildare, and his wife Elinor Eustace. His elder brother was Oliver Keating (d. 1683). His maternal uncle was Sir Maurice Eustace (…...
Keightley, Thomas
Keightley, Thomas (1789–1872), writer, was born in Dublin on 17 October 1789, son of Thomas Keightley, merchant of Newtown, Co. Kildare; nothing is known of his mother. He entered TCD (July 1803) and graduated…...
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’)
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’) (1914–2016), aviator and founder of Weston aerodrome, was born on 11 June 1914 in Barronrath, Straffan, Co. Kildare, one of nine children, to Edward ‘Cub’ Kennedy, breeder of racehorses (including the famous stallion the Tetrarch), and his wife Beryl…...
King, Richard Ashe
King, Richard Ashe (1839–1932), clergyman and writer, was born 9 November 1839 in Ennis, Co. Clare, son of Dr Luke White King, an ordained protestant minister who ran the endowed Erasmus Smith College in Ennis. Richard was educated at his father's school and at…...
Lardner, Dionysius
Lardner, Dionysius (1793–1859), scientist and writer, was born 3 April 1793 in Dublin, son of William O'Brien Lardner, solicitor, and Mary Ann Lardner (maiden name unknown). He seems to have had at least one younger brother, and may have been christened Dennis, but was calling…...
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…...
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…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...
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…...
Lever, Charles James
Lever, Charles James (1806–72), novelist, was born 31 August 1806 in Dublin, younger of two sons of James Lever, a contract builder from Lancashire who worked on the Custom House and Maynooth College, and Julie Lever (née Chandler), also of English descent, who was from Kilkenny.…...
Lewis, Cecil Day (Nicholas Blake)
Lewis, Cecil Day (Nicholas Blake) (1904–72), poet, was born 27 April 1904 in Ballintubbert, Co. Laois, the only child of Frank Cecil Day-Lewis, Church of Ireland curate, and his wife, Kathleen Blake (née Squires), herself the youngest of the ten children of the director of the General…...
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…...
Liddiard, Jane Susannah (J. S.) Anna
Liddiard, Jane Susannah (J. S.) Anna (c.1780–p.1819?), poet, was born in Co. Meath, daughter of Sir Henry Wilkinson , of Corballis, Co. Meath. She dedicated her Poems (Dublin, 1810) to her husband, the Rev. William Liddiard (1773–1841), an anglican clergyman of…...
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…...
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, 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,…...
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…...
Mac Brádaigh, Philip
Mac Brádaigh, Philip (c.1650–c.1719), poet and clergyman, commonly known as ‘Philip Ministir’ or ‘Parson Brady’, was born in Co. Cavan about the middle of the seventeenth century, probably in the district to the west of Cootehill that had previously formed the Cúil…...
Mac Conmara, Donnchadh ‘Rua’
Mac Conmara, Donnchadh ‘Rua’ (c.1715–1810), poet, is believed to have been born in Cratloe, Co. Clare, but his early life is obscure and nothing is known of his family. According to tradition, he studied for the priesthood at the Irish college in Rome for five years, was…...