French, (William) Percy
French, (William) Percy (1854–1920), songwriter, humourist, entertainer, and painter, was born 1 May 1854 in Cloonyquin House, parish of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, second son and third child among four sons and five daughters of Christopher French (1821–97), landowner, and Susan Emma French…...
Gahan, (Winifred) Muriel Françoise
Gahan, (Winifred) Muriel Françoise (1897–1995), promoter of cooperation and traditional crafts, was born 27 October 1897 at Magherabeg House, near Donegal town, the second daughter of (Fredrick George) Townsend Gahan, a civil engineer with the Congested Districts Board, and…...
Geary (Garry), Thomas Augustine (Timothy)
Geary (Garry), Thomas Augustine (Timothy) (1775–1801), composer, was born in Dublin in 1775 (his date of birth is sometimes given as 1772), the son of Timothy Garry (senior). Geary (who signed himself ‘Timothy Garry’ at the age of fifteen) later adopted the first names Thomas Augustine…...
Gilbert, Claudius
Gilbert, Claudius (1669/70–1743), clergyman and university benefactor, was born in Belfast, the only son and heir of Claudius Gilbert (qv), a nonconformist clergyman and prolific pamphleteer who appears to have conformed to the…...
Gildea, Sir James
Gildea, Sir James (1838–1920), philanthropist, was born 23 June 1838 in Kilmane, Hollymount, Co. Mayo, third son of the Rev. George Robert Gildea (1803–87), provost of Tuam, and Esther Gildea (née Greene) of Greenmount, Co. Wexford. The Gildeas had settled in Mayo in the early…...
Glucksman, Lewis
Glucksman, Lewis (1925–2006), philanthropist and businessman, was born 22 December 1925 in New York, the second of three children of Jack Glucksman, owner of a factory that manufactured table lamps, and his wife Zipporah. His parents were second-generation Hungarian Jews. Raised in…...
Goodman, James (Séamus Gudman)
Goodman, James (Séamus Gudman) (1828–96), clergyman, Irish-language scholar, and music collector, was born 22 September 1828 at Ballyameen near Dingle, Co. Kerry, second son among five sons and four daughters of Thomas Chute Goodman, clergyman, and Mary Goodman (née Gorham). Brought up…...
Gordon, Maurice Leonard (‘Maurie’)
Gordon, Maurice Leonard (‘Maurie’) (1910–90), sports administrator, businessman, and community activist, was born 10 January 1910 in Leeds, England, only son and elder of two children of Joseph Gordon (originally Seltzer), textile worker from Russia, and Bessie Gordon (née Bellow…...
Goulding, Valerie
Goulding, Valerie (1918–2003), philanthropist and senator, was born Valerie Hamilton Monckton on 12 September 1918 in Kent, younger of two children (she had an elder brother) of Walter Monckton, barrister (later a confidant of King Edward VIII and afterwards a conservative cabinet…...
Grimshaw, Robert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Grimshaw, Nicholas. View the original entry....
Guinness, Anne Lee (Annie)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Plunket, William Conyngham. View the original entry....
Guinness, Arthur Edward
Guinness, Arthur Edward (1840–1915), Baron Ardilaun , businessman, MP, and philanthropist, was born 1 November 1840 at St Anne's, Clontarf, Co. Dublin, eldest son of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness (qv), 1st baronet and MP, and…...
Guinness, Edward Cecil
Guinness, Edward Cecil (1847–1927), 1st earl of Iveagh , businessman and philanthropist, was born 10 November 1847 at St Anne's, Clontarf, Co. Dublin, youngest of three sons of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness (qv), brewer, of…...
Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee
Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee (1798–1868), 1st baronet, brewer, politician, and philanthropist, was born 1 November 1798 in Dublin, third son of Arthur Guinness, head of the brewing firm Arthur Guinness & Co., and his wife, Anne, eldest daughter of Benjamin Lee of Dublin.…...
Hackett, Sir John Winthrop
Hackett, Sir John Winthrop (1848–1916), newspaper owner and editor, politician, and philanthropist, was born 4 February 1848 in Crinken, Co. Dublin, twin of Jane Georgina and third eldest among eight children of the Rev. John Winthrop Hackett, perpetual curate of Crinken, and his…...
Hamilton, Kathleen
Hamilton, Kathleen (1905–90), duchess of Abercorn , public figure, was born Mary Kathleen Crichton on 8 July 1905 in London. Her parents were both members of prominent landed families well connected to British high society, especially to Queen Mary (1867–1953), who was asked to be…...
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy')
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy') (1928–2008), singer, folklorist, television producer and documentary maker, was born on 5 December 1928 in Miss Kells's nursing home on the Castlereagh Road in Belfast, the son of Leslie Hammond, a tram driver, and his wife Annie (née Lamont). His parents…...
Harrison, Frank Llewelyn
Harrison, Frank Llewelyn (1905–87), musicologist, organist, and composer, was born 29 September 1905 in Dublin, the second son of Alfred Francis and Florence May Harrison. He became a chorister at St Patrick's cathedral in 1912, occasionally playing the organ for cathedral…...
Harty, Sir (Herbert) Hamilton
Harty, Sir (Herbert) Hamilton (1879–1941), pianist, accompanist, composer, arranger, and conductor, was born 4 December 1879 in Hillsborough, Co. Down. His father, William Michael Harty (b. Limerick, 1852; d. Hillsborough, Co. Down, 1 November 1918), became a chorister and organ…...
Herbert, Victor
Herbert, Victor (1859–1924), composer, was born 1 February 1859 in Dublin, son of Edward Herbert, artist, and Fanny Herbert (née Lover). Victor's father died when he was 3, and he was initially raised by his grandfather, the novelist and composer …...
Hewson, George Henry Philips
Hewson, George Henry Philips (1881–1972), organist, composer, and teacher, was born 19 November 1881, youngest among ten children of Edmund Hewson and his wife Caroline (née Page). In 1888 he joined the school and choir of St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin. He showed an early aptitude…...
Holmes, Augusta Mary Anne
Holmes, Augusta Mary Anne (1847–1903), composer, was born 16 December 1847 in Paris of Irish parents, Captain Dalkieth Holmes, who had settled in Paris in 1820, and his wife, Augusta, née Shearer (d. 1857). Her mother published two pieces of prose: The law of Rouen, a…...
Holmes, Elizabeth
Holmes, Elizabeth (d. 1877), philanthropist, was probably a daughter of Richard Holmes (d. 1820) of Oakfield, Co. Sligo, and Anne Holmes (née Erskine). She had at least two brothers: one was Joseph (fl. 1845–68), a JP,…...
Hudson, Henry
Hudson, Henry (1798–1889), collector of traditional music, was born 23 March 1798, probably in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, third son of Edward Hudson and Frances Hudson (née Barton). Family tradition states that he was given the middle name ‘Philerin’ (‘love of Ireland’), which suggests…...
Jaffé, Sir Otto
Jaffé, Sir Otto (1846–1929), businessman and philanthropist, was born 13 August 1846 in Hamburg, Germany, third son among four sons and five daughters of Daniel Joseph Jaffé (1809–74) and his wife Frederiké. Daniel Joseph Jaffé was a merchant in the Hamburg firm of Jaffé Brothers, who…...