Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick (1942–90), founder of ALONE, was born 29 March 1942 in Inchicore, Dublin, third among seven children of William Bermingham, bellman on a fuel cart, and Mary Bermingham (née Dalgarno). He was educated at St Michael's School, Inchicore, and…...
Bouhéreau, Élie (Elias)
Bouhéreau, Élie (Elias) (1643–1719), huguenot bibliophile, librarian, cleric, diarist, and administrator, was born 5 May 1643 at La Rochelle, France, son of Élie Bouhéreau, pastor of Fontenay, and Blandine Bouhéreau (née Richard). The family was of the upper middle class. He was…...
Bradshaw, Henry
Bradshaw, Henry (1831–86), bibliophile, librarian, and scholar, was born 2 February 1831 at 2 Artillery Place, Finsbury Square, London, third son of Joseph Hoare Bradshaw (d. 1845), a native of Mile Cross, near Newtownards, Co. Down, and a partner in the city banking firm of Barnett…...
Cotton, Henry
Cotton, Henry (1789–1879), theologian and bibliographer, was born in Bucks., England, son of the Rev. William C. Cotton of Chichley, Berks., educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1811; MA…...
Crofton, Sir John Wenman
Crofton, Sir John Wenman (1912–2009), physician, scientist and public health campaigner, was born on 27 March 1912 at the family home, 55 Merrion Square South, Dublin, the only son (between two sisters) of William Mervyn Crofton, physician and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
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…...
Elmes, Mary
Elmes, Mary (1908–2002), humanitarian worker 'righteous among the nations', was born Marie Elizabeth Jean Elmes on 5 May 1908, at Culgreine, 120 Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, Cork, the home of her parents, Edward Thomas Elmes, a pharmacist, and his wife Elizabeth Octavia (née Waters…...
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen)
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen) (1906–94), librarian and methodist activist, was born Letitia Elizabeth Eileen Dunbar in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, on 4 February 1906, the youngest of at least four children of Arthur Dunbar, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née…...
Joly, Jaspar Robert
Joly, Jaspar Robert (1819–92), book collector, was born at Hollywood House, Brackagh, Clonbulloge, King's Co. (Offaly), on 26 May 1819, the eldest of three sons of Henry Edward Joly (1784–1852), a clergyman, and his wife Martha, daughter of Robert Revelle of Hartwill, Co. Wicklow…...
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…...
Mason, Henry Joseph Monck
Mason, Henry Joseph Monck (1778–1858), miscellaneous bilingual writer, librarian, and evangelical reformer, was born 15 July 1778 at Powerscourt demesne, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, son of Lt-col. Henry Monck Mason and his second wife, Jane, only daughter of…...
Redlich, (Mary) Patricia
Redlich, (Mary) Patricia (1940–2011), journalist and psychologist, was born on 1 December 1940 at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, one of four daughters and a son born to Ben Cribbon, a clerk, and his wife Mary (née Crean). Growing up in the northside Dublin…...
Reeves, William
Reeves, William (1815–92), Church of Ireland bishop, antiquary, and librarian, was born 16 March 1815 at his grandfather's house in Charleville, Co. Cork, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of Boles D'Arcy Reeves, solicitor, and his wife Mary (d. of cholera, 1832), daughter…...
Roe, Helen Maybury
Roe, Helen Maybury (1895–1988), librarian and antiquary, was born 18 December 1895 in Mountrath, Queen's Co. (Laois), the only child of William Ernest Roe and Anne Roe (neé Lambert Shields). Her father's family had lived in the Mountrath area since the seventeenth century and her…...
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw, Sir Eyre Massey (1828–1908), chief of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade, was born 17 January 1828 at Glenmore Cottage, near Ballymore, Cobh, Co. Cork, third son of Bernard Robert Shaw, merchant, of Shaw's Terrace and later Monkstown Castle, Cork, and his first wife, Rebecca…...
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Sloane, Sir Hans
Sloane, Sir Hans (1660–1753), physician-general, collector, and founder of the British Museum, was born 16 April 1660 at Killyleagh, Co. Down, youngest of seven sons (of whom only three survived infancy) of Alexander Sloane (d. 1666), receiver-general of taxes for Co. Down, and…...
Sullivan, Lucinda
Sullivan, Lucinda (1831–1881), philanthropist, writer and promoter of children's welfare, was born in 1831, probably in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, to Captain William Edward Brady , formerly a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment, and subsequently chief constable of police in…...
Todd, James Henthorn
Todd, James Henthorn (1805–69), librarian and scholar, was born 23 April 1805 at Kildare St., Dublin, eldest son among fifteen children of Charles Hawkes Todd (qv), professor of surgery,…...
Travers, Robert English
Travers, Robert English (1807–88), physician, scholar and librarian, was born 24 June 1807 in Dublin, son of William T. E. Travers, LLD, and Mary Travers (née Parker). Travers had little education at home and when his father died, having gambled…...
Ware, Sir James
Ware, Sir James (1594–1666), historian, collector of manuscripts, and civil servant, was born 16 November 1594 at Castle St., Dublin, eldest surviving son among ten children of Sir James Ware, auditor general, and his wife Mary, sister of Sir Ambrose Briden of Maidstone, Kent, whose…...
Widdess, John (‘Jack’) David Henry
Widdess, John (‘Jack’) David Henry (1906–82), medical historian, librarian, and biologist, was born 1 August 1906 in Limerick, son of Matthew Widdess, pharmaceutical chemist, and Emily Widdess (née Irwin). He was educated at Wesley College, Dublin. He won prizes, was admitted…...
Wood, Herbert
Wood, Herbert (1860–1955), archivist, historian, deputy keeper of the Public Record Office of Ireland, was born on 6 September 1860 at Trinity Square, Lambeth, London, a prosperous residential development for merchants and professionals. He was the sixth of eight children of William…...