Gunning, Maria
Gunning, Maria (1732–60), afterwards countess of Coventry , society beauty, eldest of the four daughters of John Gunning of Castlecoote, Co. Roscommon, and Bridget Gunning (née Bourke), daughter of the 6th Viscount Bourke of Mayo, was born at Hemingford Grey, near St Ives,…...
Hadsor, Richard
Hadsor, Richard (d. c.1635), lawyer, was eldest son of Nicholas Hadsor of Keppock, Co. Louth; nothing is known of his mother. He went to Oxford (1587), then transferred to the New Inn, London, before being admitted to the Middle Temple (July 1590). Although he inherited…...
Harmsworth, Geraldine Mary
Harmsworth, Geraldine Mary (1838–1925), matriarch, was born 24 December 1838 in Dublin, fifth child and daughter among eight children of William Maffett of Co. Down and Dublin, and his second wife, Margaret (née Finlayson) of Dublin, whom he had married in 1831. By his first marriage (…...
Harvey, Beauchamp Bagenal
Harvey, Beauchamp Bagenal (1754?–1798), barrister, United Irishman, and insurgent leader, was born at Bargy Castle, Co. Wexford, elder son among two sons and three daughters of Francis Harvey (d. 1792), barrister, and his wife Martha (d. 1794), daughter of the Rev. James Harvey of…...
Hearn, William Edward
Hearn, William Edward (1826–88), lawyer and politician in Australia, was born 21 April 1826 at Belturbet, Co. Cavan, the second of seven sons of the Rev. William Edward Hearn, curate at Killargue, Co. Leitrim, and his wife, Henrietta Alicia Hearn (née Reynolds). Educated at…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Heuston, Robert Francis Vere
Heuston, Robert Francis Vere (1923–95), jurist, was born in Dublin on 17 November 1923. He was the eldest son of Vere Douglas Heuston, managing clerk in Guinness's brewery, and his wife, Dorothy Helen, née Coulter. He was proud of his direct descent from a first cousin of…...
Hewitt, James
Hewitt, James (1715–89), 1st Viscount Lifford , lord chancellor of Ireland, was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, eldest of three sons of William Hewitt (1683–1747), mercer and draper (mayor of Coventry, 1744), and his wife Hannah Lewis (d. 1760). After serving articles with a local…...
Higgins, Alexander Gordon ('Alex'; 'Hurricane')
Higgins, Alexander Gordon ('Alex'; 'Hurricane') (1949–2010), snooker player, was born on 18 March 1949 in Belfast, the only son of Alexander Gordon Higgins, a labourer, of Abbingdon Drive, Sandy Row, Belfast, and his wife Elizabeth (née Stockman); he had three sisters. Educated locally…...
Higinbotham, George
Higinbotham, George (1826–92), journalist, politician, and chief justice in Victoria, Australia, was born 19 April 1826 in Dublin, the sixth son of Henry T. Higinbotham, a merchant, and his wife, Sarah Higinbotham (née Wilson). He was educated at the Royal School, Dungannon, then…...
Hilliard, Robert (‘Bob’) Martin
Hilliard, Robert (‘Bob’) Martin (1904–37), clergyman, boxer, and revolutionary, was born 7 April 1904 in New St., Killarney, Co. Kerry, one of six children of Robert M. Hilliard, a wealthy protestant draper, and Alice Hilliard (née Martin). The family subsequently resided at…...
Hoare, Joseph
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hoare, Edward. View the original entry....
Holmes, Hugh
Holmes, Hugh (1840–1916), judge and politician, was born 17 February 1840 in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, son of William Holmes, esq., and Sarah Jane Holmes (née Maxwell). He was educated at the Royal School, Dungannon, and TCD, where he graduated…...
Hudson, William Elliott
Hudson, William Elliott (1796–1853), lawyer and patron of Gaelic scholarship, was born 18 August 1796, probably at his family's country residence, then known as Fields of Odin, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. It was later called The Hermitage: Robert…...
Hughes, Hector Samuel James
Hughes, Hector Samuel James (1887–1970), barrister and politician, was born 14 August 1887 in Dublin, eldest son of Alexander Wilson Hughes, a law clerk, of Beach House, Sandymount, and Elizabeth Anne Hughes (née Dempsey). Educated as a boy chorister at the diocesan school of St…...
Jackson, Joseph Devonsher
Jackson, Joseph Devonsher (1783–1857), judge and politician, was born 23 June 1783 in Co. Cork, eldest son of Strettel Jackson, carrier, of Peterborough, Co. Cork, and Mary Jackson (née Cossens). Educated locally by an evangelical protestant minister, he entered…...
Jackson, Richard
Jackson, Richard (c.1720–1787), lawyer and politician, was born at Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, the only son among three children of Richard Jackson, a wealthy merchant, and Elizabeth Jackson (née Clarke). He entered TCD (1737),…...
Jebb, Richard
Jebb, Richard (1766–1834), author and judge, was born in Drogheda, Co. Louth, and baptised on 24 July 1766, elder son among two sons and three daughters of John Jebb (d. 1796), alderman of the borough, and his second wife Alice or Alicia (née Forster; d. 1790). His younger brother…...
Jocelyn, Percy
Jocelyn, Percy (1764–1843), disgraced bishop, was born 29 November 1764, third of four sons of Robert, 1st earl of Roden (qv), and his wife Anne, née Hamilton. Educated at TCD, he graduated…...
Jocelyn, Robert
Jocelyn, Robert (c.1688–1756), 1st Viscount Jocelyn , lord chancellor, was the only son of Thomas Jocelyn of Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Thomas Bray of Westminster. In 1708 he was pupil in the office of the solicitor Charles Salkeld in…...
Johnstone, Walter Edgeworth-
Johnstone, Walter Edgeworth- (1863–1937), soldier, DMP commissioner, and sportsman, was born at Kingstown, Co. Dublin, the eldest son of Robert Johnstone (1806–85), QC and county court judge, of Laputa, Co. Donegal, and his wife Doris Tivy. In 1838 a…...
Jones, Jimmy
Jones, Jimmy (1928–2014), footballer, was born on 25 July 1928 in Keady, Co. Armagh, the son of Thomas Jones, an RUC sergeant, and Ellen Jones (née Wilson). He was raised in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and educated at the local Carrick primary…...
Jones, Thomas
Jones, Thomas (1550–1619), Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin and lord chancellor of Ireland, was the younger son of Henry Jones of Middleton, Lancashire; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge (BA,…...
Joy, Henry
Joy, Henry (1766–1838), barrister and judge, was born 7 January 1766, the youngest of the four sons of Henry Joy (1720?–89), joint owner with his brother Robert Joy (qv) of the Belfast News Letter, and of his wife Barbara, elder…...
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…...