Sugrue, Michael (‘Butty’)
Sugrue, Michael (‘Butty’) (1924–77), circus strongman, entrepreneur, and boxing promoter, was born 27 July 1924 in Gortnascarry, near Killorglin, Co. Kerry, one of three sons and three daughters of Daniel Sugrue, labourer, and Hannah (‘Anna’) Sugrue (née Reilly). Known as ‘Butty’…...
Sullivan, (Thomas) Barry
Sullivan, (Thomas) Barry (1821–91), actor, was born 5 July 1821 in Birmingham, England, second among three children of Peter Sullivan, formerly a soldier in the 101st (‘Duke of York's’) Regiment, and his wife, Mary Barry. Both parents were from Cork and the family lived there for…...
Swift, Carolyn
Swift, Carolyn (1923–2002), writer, broadcaster, journalist, critic, actress, and theatre owner, was born Carol Samuel on 21 September 1923 in London, elder of two children of Capt. Cecil Samuel, businessman, and Enid Samuel (née Van den Bergh), both of Grosvenor Square, London W1.…...
Swiney (Swiny, Swinny, MacSwinny), Owen Mac
Swiney (Swiny, Swinny, MacSwinny), Owen Mac (1680–1754), playwright and theatre manager, was born near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. He appears to have joined the army as a young man but by spring 1703 was in London as associate of Christopher Rich at the Drury Lane theatre, where he…...
Talbot, James
Talbot, James (c.1768–1850),3rd Baron Talbot of Malahide , diplomat and spy, was born at Malahide Castle, Co. Dublin, second son among seven sons and five daughters of Richard Talbot, soldier, and Margaret Talbot (née O'Reilly). Educated at…...
Taylor, William Desmond
Taylor, William Desmond (1872–1922), silent film director and celebrity murder victim, was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner at Straw Hill House, Carlow town, Co. Carlow, on 26 April 1872, second child and oldest son among two daughters and three sons (one of whom died in infancy) of…...
Toal, Maureen
Toal, Maureen (1930–2012), actress, was born Mary Toal on 7 September 1930 in a nursing home on the North Circular Road, Dublin, one of five children (two boys and three girls) of Thomas Toal, a clerk in Irish Shell, and his wife Mary (née Bates). The family lived in Kincora Park,…...
Tomelty, Joseph
Tomelty, Joseph (1911–95), actor and playwright, was born 12 March 1911 in Portaferry, Co. Down, son of James Tomelty, house painter and keen traditional musician, and Mary Tomelty (née Drumgoole). Apprenticed to his father's trade from the local school Ballyphilip at the age of 12…...
Touhey, Patrick J. (‘Patsy’)
Touhey, Patrick J. (‘Patsy’) (1865–1923), traditional musician and vaudeville entertainer, was born 27 February 1865 in Cahertinny, Bullaun, Loughrea, Co. Galway, son of James Twohill, or O'Toole (1839–75) (all variations of the surname being anglicisations of the Irish ‘Ó Tuathail…...
Towb, Harry
Towb, Harry (1925–2009), actor, was born Harris Towb in Larne, Co. Antrim, on 27 July 1925, the second child of Jack (or Jacob) Towb and his wife Bessie (Amelia) Towb (née Sergai). Bessie Towb had been born to a Jewish family in Belfast, while Jack was born in a shtetl (town),…...
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic, was born on 20 August 1949 in Falkirk, Scotland, the only child of Dionisio Tullio, a restaurant owner and his wife Irene (née Fusco). Although Tullio’s parents were Italian, his mother was raised between…...
Turner, Samuel
Turner, Samuel (1765?–1810?), United Irishman and informer, was born in Co. Armagh, the only son of Jacob Turner (1739–1803), a merchant and JP, of Turner's Glen and Lurgan. Samuel Turner was admitted aged 16 to…...
Tyrrell, Edward
Tyrrell, Edward (d. 1713), priest-catcher, was of obscure origin. He was said to have been the son of a man from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, who had been executed for sheep stealing; it was further alleged that he turned informer against the family who subsequently brought him up…...
van Gelderen, Gerrit
van Gelderen, Gerrit (1926–94), naturalist, wildlife film-maker, broadcaster, and author, was born 26 August 1926 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, eldest child of Johannes Gerardus van Gelderen, a local-authority employee who lived within the municipal park where he worked. Familiar from…...
Van Homrigh (Vanhomrigh), Esther (Hester)
Van Homrigh (Vanhomrigh), Esther (Hester) (1688–1723), Jonathan Swift's (qv) ‘Vanessa’, was born 14 February 1688 in Dublin, eldest of the four children of Bartholomew Van Homrigh (qv),…...
Waddell, Samuel John (‘Rutherford Mayne’)
Waddell, Samuel John (‘Rutherford Mayne’) (1878–1967), playwright, actor, and civil servant, was born 15 July 1878 in Tokyo, Japan, the fourth child (and fourth son) among eight sons and two daughters of the Revd Hugh Waddell (1840–1901), a presbyterian missionary born in Glenarm, Co.…...
Walker, Alexander Alfred
Walker, Alexander Alfred (1930–2003), film critic and cinema historian, was born 22 March 1930 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, only child of Alfred Walker, commercial traveller, and his wife Ethel Linda Harris (née Andrews). The family were presbyterian, though not especially observant…...
Warden, Joseph Frederick
Warden, Joseph Frederick (1836–98), actor and theatre manager, was born 12 December 1836 in Hull, Yorkshire. His first stage appearance was in the role of Lemuel in John Baldwin Buckstone's ‘The flowers of the forest’ at Scarborough Theatre. Eighteen months later he joined Charles…...
Wasson, Moore Dunlop
Wasson, Moore Dunlop (1918–2009), presbyterian minister and television producer, was born 2 December 1918, the first-born child of Robert Wasson and Emmeline Wasson (née Bell). His father was at that time a soldier, his mother was a milliner before her marriage, and the family lived…...
Whaley, Thomas (‘Buck’)
Whaley, Thomas (‘Buck’) (1766–1800), politician and rake, was born 15 December 1766, son of Richard Chapel Whaley (1700–69) a wealthy landowner, of Whaley Abbey, Co. Wicklow, and the only son of Richard Whaley (a. 1663–1725) and his wife Susanna, daughter of John Whaley…...
Whalley, John
Whalley, John (1653–1724), quack, astrologer, and compiler of almanacs, was born 20 April 1653, son of a Cromwellian adventurer; no further details of his parents are known. Working as a cobbler in England before arriving in Dublin (March 1682), he compiled his first almanac the…...
Whinnery, Thomas
Whinnery, Thomas (1759/60–1830), postmaster and spy, was in business at Newry, Co. Down, as a wine and spirit merchant until 1794 or 1795, when he was appointed postmaster of Belfast. As a state official he had a duty to open and read letters passing through his premises at 6…...
Whitehead, O. Z. (Oothout Zabriskie; 'Zebby')
Whitehead, O. Z. (Oothout Zabriskie; 'Zebby') (1911–98), actor and Bahá'í pioneer, was born 18 March 1911 in New York city, USA, the son of O. Z. Whitehead, a wealthy banker living in Manhattan's Upper East Side, and his wife Maria. Enjoying a comfortable childhood, he attended the…...
Whitton, Eleanor Constance
Whitton, Eleanor Constance (1879–1956), campaigner for animal welfare, was born in Co. Longford, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander Beatty, Church of Ireland minister. She appears to have been educated locally. In 1902 she married Henry M. Whitton, registrar of the court of appeal…...
Wickham, William
Wickham, William (1761–1840), chief secretary for Ireland and British spymaster, was born November 1761 in England, first son of Henry Wickham, lieutenant-colonel in the British army, and Elizabeth Wickham (née Lamplugh). Educated at Winchester and Harrow, he entered Christ Church…...