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,…...
Curran, John Philpot
Curran, John Philpot (1750–1817), politician and lawyer, was born 24 July 1750 at Newmarket, Co. Cork, eldest among five children of James Curran, farmer and steward to the manorial court at Newmarket, and Sarah Curran (née Philpot). Educated in grammar and the classics by…...
Curran, Richard Creagh
Curran, Richard Creagh (1776–1847), lawyer, was born in Newmarket, Co. Cork, the second child and eldest surviving son of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, lawyer, and parliamentarian, and Sarah (Creagh) Curran. Both parents were…...
Curwin (Curwen, Coren), Hugh
Curwin (Curwen, Coren), Hugh (c.1507–1568), catholic and Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, was born in High Knipe, in the parish of Bampton, Westmorland. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating Bachelor of Civil Law in 1528 and Doctor of Civil Law on 5 July 1532…...
Cusack, Adam
Cusack, Adam (d. 1681), judge, was the second son of Robert Cusack of Rathgar, sometime MP for Kells, and his wife Alice, the second daughter of Sir George Sexton. His father is sometimes recorded as having married Alice, daughter of John Eustace of Harristown, Co. Kildare, though…...
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…...
Daly, Richard
Daly, Richard (1758–1813), theatrical manager, was born in Co. Galway, second son of Joseph Daly, a prosperous farmer. He entered TCD in 1773, but there is no record of his taking a degree. A reckless and violent character, he was said…...
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…...
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…...
Denham, Sir John
Denham, Sir John (1559–1639), judge, was born probably in London, second son of William Denham – a goldsmith of St Matthew's, Friday St., London, who later settled in Thorpe, Surrey – and his wife Joan. Having been a member of Furnival's Inn, Denham entered Lincoln's Inn on 19…...
Dillon, Robert
Dillon, Robert (d. 1642), 2nd earl of Roscommon , lord justice, was the eldest son of Sir James Dillon and his wife Eleanor Barnwall of Turvey. He graduated from Gray's Inn in 1613; his legal expertise would partly explain his prominent roles in the 1634 and 1640 parliaments. He…...
Dillon, Sir Lucas (Luke)
Dillon, Sir Lucas (Luke) (d. 1593), chief baron of the Irish exchequer, was eldest son of Sir Robert Dillon (qv) of Newtown, Trim, Co. Meath, chief justice of the common pleas, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward…...
Dillon, Sir Robert
Dillon, Sir Robert (d. 1597), judge, was the eldest son of Thomas Dillon of Riverston, Co. Meath, and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Luttrell (qv), chief justice of the common pleas. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn, appearing…...
Dix, Ernest Reginald McClintock
Dix, Ernest Reginald McClintock (1857–1936), solicitor, book collector, and Irish language enthusiast, was born 8 April 1857 in Dublin, elder son of Henry Thomas Dix (1825–1902), a prominent solicitor, and his wife Emma Patience, daughter of an army officer, Henry McClintock of…...
Dixon, Frederick E.
Dixon, Frederick E. (1913–88) meteorologist, historian, and philatelist, was born 27 March 1913 in Oundle, near Peterborough, England, a son of Nathan Dixon and his wife, Edith, née Howitt, who also had another son and a daughter. He attended Deacon's School, Peterborough, and…...
Dobson, George Edward
Dobson, George Edward (1848–95), zoologist, was born 4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, the eldest son of Parke Dobson, a doctor in Edgeworthstown, who was of a family from Killinagh, Co. Westmeath, and his wife, Jane, née Brock or van den Brock, who was the…...
Doherty, John
Doherty, John (1783–1850), politician and chief justice of the common pleas, was second son of John Doherty, attorney, of Aungier St., Dublin, and his wife Margaret, daughter of David Verner. Educated at Chester School, he entered TCD…...
Domvile (Domville), Sir William
Domvile (Domville), Sir William (1609–89), attorney general and constitutional writer, was son and heir of Gilbert Domvile (1583–1637) of Cheshire and his wife, Margaret Jones (d. 1615), a daughter of Thomas Jones (qv) (d. 1619), archbishop of…...
Donnellan, James
Donnellan, James (1588?–1665), lawyer, was third son of Nehemias Donellan (qv), archbishop of Tuam (1595–1609), and his wife Elizabeth O'Donnell of Tyrconnell. He was a scholar of…...
Downes, William
Downes, William (1751–1826), 1st Baron Downes of Aghanville , lord chief justice, was born in Donnybrook, Co. Dublin, the third and only surviving son of six children of Robert Downes, MP for Kildare borough (1735–54), and his wife, Elizabeth Downes, the daughter of Thomas Twigge…...
Dowse, Richard
Dowse, Richard (1824–90), lawyer, MP, and judge, was born 8 June 1824 in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, only son of William Henry Dowse, merchant, and his wife Maria, daughter of Hugh Donaldson, all from Dungannon. He came from modest circumstances, but his early aptitude for learning…...
Duff, Charles St Lawrence
Duff, Charles St Lawrence (1894–1966) author, barrister and linguist, was born on 7 April 1894 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, the youngest of ten children to grow to adulthood of John Duff, secretary of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, and his wife Anne Marie Duff (…...
Duff, David
Duff, David (1883–1959), doctor, barrister and colonial civil servant, was born on 11 April 1883 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, one of ten children of John Duff, the secretary of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway, and his wife Anne Marie (née Elkins). Educated at the…...