Allen, Dave
Allen, Dave (1936–2005), comedian, was born David Edward Tynan O'Mahony on 6 July 1936 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, youngest of three sons of (Gerard John) Cullen Tynan O'Mahony (nicknamed 'Pussy'), journalist, manager of the Irish Times, and raconteur,…...
Chevron, Philip
Chevron, Philip (1957–2013), musician, songwriter and composer, was born Philip Ryan on 17 June 1957 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, the elder of two children of (Philip) Brendan Ryan (1927–97) and Christine Ryan (née LaGrue), both born in inner city Dublin. He grew up in Lorcan Drive…...
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…...
Dwyer, Bernie
Dwyer, Bernie (1943–2013), journalist, filmmaker and political activist, was born in Dublin on 14 December 1943 to Mary (née Fagan) and Arthur Hannon , a clerk at Dublin Corporation. She spent her early childhood in Drimnagh, before the family moved to Sutton, Co. Dublin. She left…...
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’)
Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’) (1931–2014), actor and theatre director, was born on 15 March 1931 in his aunt’s house at 13 Gawn Street, Belfast, the younger of two children and only son of James Ellis senior, a sheet-metal worker at Harland & Wolff shipyard, and his mother Matilda (‘Tilly…...
Gowan, Thomas
Gowan, Thomas (1631–83), presbyterian minister and philosophy teacher, was born in Caldermuir, Scotland, an undeveloped region on the western border of Edinburghshire. His parentage is not known. He studied at the College of Edinburgh, where he graduated…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’)
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’) (1878–1952), folk-song collector, was born in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, youngest among five sons of William Henry and Mary Henry (née Biggart). He had two sisters; one of his brothers became town clerk of Coleraine. Educated locally, he entered the customs…...
Hitchcock, Reginald Ingram Montgomery (‘Rex Ingram’)
Hitchcock, Reginald Ingram Montgomery (‘Rex Ingram’) (1893–1950), film director,was born 18 January 1893 at 58 Grosvenor Square, Rathmines, Dublin, the elder of two sons of Francis Ryan Montgomery Hitchcock, clergyman and Donnellan lecturer at Trinity College Dublin (1912), and his wife…...
Hutcheson, Francis
Hutcheson, Francis (1694–1746), philosopher, was born 8 August 1694 in Drumalig, Co. Down, second among three sons of John Hutcheson – at the time presbyterian minister of Downpatrick – and his first wife, the daughter of an army officer, James Trail of Killyleagh. The Hutcheson…...
Keating, Justin Pascal
Keating, Justin Pascal (1930–2009), politician, veterinarian and television presenter, was born 7 January 1930 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, younger of two sons of Seán Keating (qv), artist, and…...
Lally, Mick
Lally, Mick (1945–2010), actor, was born on 10 November 1945 in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo, the eldest of seven children (two sons and five daughters) of Thomas Lally, a hill farmer with thirty acres, and his wife May (née McGing). The district was bilingual and Lally grew up as a native…...
Lennon, Peter Gerard
Lennon, Peter Gerard (1930–2011), journalist, documentary film-maker and social critic, was born on 28 February 1930 at 30 North Frederick Street, Dublin, the eldest of three sons of Peter Joseph Lennon and his wife Delia (née Fenton). His mother was a former post office worker…...
McCann, James (‘Jim’)
McCann, James (‘Jim’) (1944–2015), singer, was born on 26 October 1944 in Dublin, one of seven children (five sons and two daughters) of Thomas McCann, a schools inspector with the Department of Education, and his wife Winifred (née Murphy). Growing up in the Dublin suburb of Rathgar,…...
McCosh, James
McCosh, James (1811–94), presbyterian minister, philosopher, and academic, was born 1 April 1811, near Patna, Ayrshire, Scotland, second and only surviving son and fifth child of seven born to Andrew McCosh, farmer, and Jean Carson, his wife. Educated at the local parish school,…...
McCullough, John Edward
McCullough, John Edward (1832–1885), actor, was born on 14 November 1832 in the family home in the townland of Blakes in Dunboe, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the second of four children (one boy, three girls) to James McCullough, a presbyterian small farmer, and his wife Mary. Mary died…...
Moriarty, John Stephen
Moriarty, John Stephen (1938–2007), philosopher and shaman, was born 2 February 1938 at Moyvane, near Listowel, Co. Kerry, fourth of six children (two sons and four daughters) of James Moriarty, smallholder and native speaker of Irish (with eleven cows and 'thirty-two acres of bad,…...
Morrison, Bill (William McKay)
Morrison, Bill (William McKay) (1940–2011), dramatist, was born on 22 January 1940 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, the son of Hugh Morrison, principal of Ballymoney Model School, and his wife Annie (née McKay). Receiving primary education at Ballymoney Model, and secondary education…...
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’)
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’) (‘MacNamara, Gerald’) (1865–1938), playwright, writer and artist, was born in Co. Down on 27 August 1865, the second eldest of eight sons of George Morrow, a painter, decorator and founder of Morrow & Sons Ltd, and his wife Catherine (née MacNamara).…...
Nowlan, David Shackleton
Nowlan, David Shackleton (1936–2010), journalist, critic and medical doctor, was born on 19 May 1936 at 16 Lower Hatch Street, Dublin, the eldest of four children (two boys and two girls) of Revd George Nowlan (1904–74), rector (1935–9) of St Matthias's church, Dublin, and his wife…...
Raftery, Mary Frances Thérèse
Raftery, Mary Frances Thérèse (1957–2012), campaigning journalist and documentary maker, was born on 21 December 1957 in Dublin to Adrian Raftery, an Irish diplomat, and Ita Raftery (née Elmes). She had one sister and two brothers. The family lived in France for much of her early life,…...
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…...
Shaw, James Johnston
Shaw, James Johnston (1845–1910), economist, barrister, and judge, was born 4 January 1845 at Kirkcubbin, Co. Down, second son of John Maxwell Shaw (d. 1852), merchant and farmer, and Anne Shaw (née Johnston). His father died when he was only seven, leaving his mother to raise a…...
Toland, John
Toland, John (1670–1722), freethinker and polemical writer, was probably born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal, on 30 November 1670. Reputed to be the illegitimate son of a catholic priest, Toland may have been baptised ‘Joannes Eugenius’, which he later altered to a pen name, ‘Janus Junius’.…...
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…...