Adrian (Bor), Max
Adrian (Bor), Max (1903–73), actor, was born 1 November 1903 in Ireland, the son of Edward Norman Cavendish Bor, a Bank of Ireland agent (or manager), and Mabel Lloyd (née Thornton). The family lived successively at Maryborough, Callan, and Waterford. Max was educated at Portora…...
Barlow, James William
Barlow, James William (1826–1913), historian and writer, was born 21 October 1826 in Co. Dublin, eldest son of the Rev. William Barlow and Catherine Barlow (née Disney). He was marked by his mother’s unhappiness: as a young woman she had been in love with…...
Berkeley, George
Berkeley, George (1685–1753), philosopher and Church of Ireland bishop of Cloyne, was born 12 March 1685 in or near Kilkenny city, and spent his childhood at Dysart Castle, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Little is known of his parents other than that his father, William Berkeley, came to…...
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán)
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán) (1889–1975), revolutionary, politician, government minister, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 April 1889 at Magheragall, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of James…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Burke, Edmund
Burke, Edmund (1730–97), politician and philosopher, was born 12 January 1730 (per the Gregorian calendar) in Dublin, second son among four surviving children of Richard Burke (d. 1761), an attorney of the court of exchequer, and his wife Mary (c. 1702–1770), fourth child and…...
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel (1912–87), actress, broadcaster, and teacher, was born 29 April 1912 in Limerick, the daughter of Peter Dobbin, county surveyor for Co. Clare, and Kathleen (née Vance), his second wife. Reared in Kilkishen House, Co. Clare, she was educated at St Brandon's…...
Butler, William Archer
Butler, William Archer (1812?–1848), clergyman and professor of moral philosophy, was second son of Pierce Archer Butler and Anna Maria Butler (née Gallwey); their seven children were brought up as Roman Catholics by their mother, though the father, who had several times been…...
Carpenter, Nathanael
Carpenter, Nathanael (1589–1628), scholar and clergyman, was born 7 February 1589 in Northleigh, Devon, England, where his father, John Carpenter (d. 1621), had a living as a clergyman. No details of his mother are known. He matriculated (June 1605) at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and…...
Casson, Christopher Thorndike
Casson, Christopher Thorndike (1912–96), actor, was born 20 January 1912 at Prestwich, Manchester, Lancashire, England, younger son among two sons and two daughters of Sir Lewis Casson (1875–1969) and Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976), both of whom were among the foremost actors…...
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
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…...
French, Robert
French, Robert (1841–1917), photographer, was born 11 November 1841 in Dublin, eldest of the seven children of William French, a court messenger, and Ellen French (née Johnson). At the age of nineteen, in September 1860, he joined the Constabulary (later…...
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…...
Gregory, (William) Robert
Gregory, (William) Robert (1881–1918), painter, theatre designer, sportsman, and airman, was born 20 May 1881 in London, only child of Sir William Gregory (qv) of Coole Park, Co. Galway, and his second wife, Isabella Augusta…...
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…...
Heitler, Walter
Heitler, Walter (1904–81), theoretical physicist and philosopher, was born 2 January 1904 in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, son of Adolf Heitler, a Jewish engineering professor, and Ottilie Heitler (née Rudolf ). His largely classical early education left him with a lifelong interest…...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Hill, Dick
Hill, Dick (1938–2010), television administrator and producer, was born Warnford Matthew De Courcy Hill in Cork city on 23 August 1938, the son of Richard Warnford Hill, bank manager, of Kinsale, Co. Cork, and his wife Olive (née McIlwaine). He was the only child of his father's…...
Hinde, John Wilfrid
Hinde, John Wilfrid (1916–97), photographer and postcard manufacturer, was born 17 May 1916 in Street, Somerset, England, into a close-knit Quaker family, who later became Christian Scientist. His great-grandfather was James Clark, co-founder of the Clark's footwear company. During…...
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…...
Lawrence, William Mervin
Lawrence, William Mervin (1840–1932), photograph merchant, was born 5 July 1840 in the General Post Office, Lower Sackville (later O'Connell) St., Dublin, second surviving son of William Lawrence of Pembrokeshire, Wales, then clerk of works at the…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...