Anderson, John
Anderson, John (1815–1905), woollen merchant, geologist, bibliographer, and local politician, was born 8 July 1815 near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. After moving to Belfast he entered (1840) the woollen business in Donegall St. founded by James Young in 1795. Anderson's eminence…...
Baillie, George
Baillie, George Lockhart (c. 1848–1922), pioneer of Irish golf, was born around 1848 in Inveresk, Scotland, the son of Lockhart Baillie, an Inland Revenue official of Inveresk, and his wife Margaret (née Telfer). From the age of ten George played golf at the nearby Royal…...
Bell, Sir William Ewart
Bell, Sir William Ewart (1924–2001), rugby international and civil servant, was born 13 November 1924 in Belfast, son of the Rev. Dr Frederick George Bell, an ordained minister of the presbyterian church, and Margaret Jane Bell (née Ewart), a qualified teacher. He was the eldest…...
Best, George
Best, George (1946–2005), professional footballer, was born 22 May 1946 in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, eldest child among two sons and four daughters of Richard 'Dickie' Best (1919–2008), a shipyard iron turner with Harland and Wolff, and his wife Ann Mary 'Annie' Best (née…...
Bryce, James
Bryce, James (1806–77), geologist and teacher, was born 22 October 1806 at Killaig, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, third son of James Bryce (qv) (1767–1857) and Catherine Bryce (née Annan). His father had recently been appointed…...
Burkitt, James Parsons
Burkitt, James Parsons (1870–1959), ornithologist and engineer, was born 20 August 1870 at Killybegs, Co. Donegal, second son among five sons and two daughters of Thomas Henry Burkitt, presbyterian minister, and Emma Eliza Burkitt (née Parsons). He was educated at Galway grammar…...
Crawford, Adair
Crawford, Adair (1748–96), doctor and chemist, was born in Ballytromery, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, third son among four sons and two daughters of Thomas Crawford, presbyterian minister in Crumlin 1724–82, and Anne Crawford (née Mackay). His brothers were Thomas Crawford,…...
Devlin, Joseph Francis (‘Frank’)
Devlin, Joseph Francis (‘Frank’) (1900–88), badminton player, was born 19 January 1900 at 11 Wellington Place, Dublin, to Joseph Edmund Devlin, government official, and Edith Devlin (née Jeneken). He was the only child in a mixed-denomination marriage and as a result there were…...
Drummond, James
Drummond, James (1786?–1863), botanist, was born near Forfar, Angus, Scotland, probably in late 1786 or early 1787, as he was baptised in the parish church of Inverarity on 8 January 1787. He was the eldest child among two sons and two daughters of Thomas Drummond (b. 1757), a…...
Duncan, George Alexander
Duncan, George Alexander (1902–2006), economist, was born 15 May 1902 in the family home in Bridge Street, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, the second son of Alexander Duncan, a physician and surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth (née Linn). He was educated at Ballymena Academy and Campbell College…...
Dunlop, Robert
Dunlop, Robert (1960–2008), motorcycle racer, was born 25 November 1960, fourth child among three sons and four daughters (including his twin sister Margaret) of William Dunlop, a motor mechanic, and his wife May (née Barkley), of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, where Robert attended school.…...
Dunlop, William Joseph (‘Joey’)
Dunlop, William Joseph (‘Joey’) (1952–2000), racing motorcyclist, was born 25 February 1952 at Unshinagh, near Dunloy, Co. Antrim, second among seven children of William Dunlop, motor mechanic, and his wife May (née Barkley). Joey received his early education at Ballymoney High School,…...
Edwards, William Victor (‘Billy’)
Edwards, William Victor (‘Billy’) (1887–1917), rugby, swimming, and water polo international, was born 16 October 1887 in Strandtown, Belfast, the son of Alfred Edwards, merchant, from Strandtown, and Mary Edwards (née Wilson). He was educated at Thanet College, Margate, England;…...
Fearon, William Robert
Fearon, William Robert (1892–1959), biochemist, was born 14 October 1892 in Holles St., Dublin, the only son of a presbyterian minister, William Fearon of Kells, Co. Meath, and Nannie Fearon (neé Morrow). His father died when he was very young and from the age of 3 he lived with…...
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec')
Foster, Alexander Roulston ('Alec') (1890–1972), rugby international, schoolmaster and political activist, was born on 22 June 1890 in Derry city, the younger son among two sons and four daughters of John Foster and his wife Christina ('Chrissie') (née Roulston(e)). John Foster was…...
Gamble, Josias (or Josiah) Christopher
Gamble, Josias (or Josiah) Christopher (1778–1848), presbyterian minister and chemical manufacturer, was born in August 1778, fourth of five sons of David Gamble, farmer, from near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, whose wife's maiden name was Rutherford, and who also had a daughter.…...
Hincks, Thomas Dix
Hincks, Thomas Dix (1767–1857), presbyterian minister, naturalist, and scholar, was born 24 June 1767 at Bachelor's Quay, Dublin, son of Edward Hincks (d. 1772), a customs officer from Chester, England. His mother's maiden name was Dix, and after the premature death of her…...
Irwin, Sir Samuel Thompson
Irwin, Sir Samuel Thompson (1877–1961), surgeon, rugby player, and politician, was born 3 July 1877 in Limavady, Co. Londonderry, son of John Irwin of Limavady. He was educated at Foyle College, Derry, and QCB, where he graduated…...
Leebody, John Robinson
Leebody, John Robinson (1840–1927), scientist, commentator, and college president, was born in January 1840 in Ballinderry, Co. Antrim, the second son of Rev. Henry Leebody (d. 1879), presbyterian minister there, and his wife, Madeline Sophia (née Robinson). He was educated…...
Lee, Robert Pearson
Lee, Robert Pearson (1921–2012), veterinary scientist, was born at home at 41 Marguerite Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, on 8 May 1921, the youngest of four children (two sons and two daughters) of George Angus McLean Lee, a pharmaceutical chemist of Aberdeenshire farming stock, and…...
Lewis, William Cudmore McCullagh
Lewis, William Cudmore McCullagh (1885–1956), physical chemist, was born 29 June 1885 in Belfast, the only son of the five children of Edward Lewis, linen merchant, and his wife, Frances Welsh McCullagh, daughter of Rev. William Cudmore McCullagh of Ballysillan presbyterian church,…...
MacAdam, James
MacAdam, James (1801–61), manufacturer and geologist, was born in High Street, Belfast, the first child and the elder of two surviving sons of James MacAdam (1775–1821), merchant, and Jane MacAdam (née Shipboy) (1774–1827), a Belfast native. Two siblings died in infancy while a…...
Macalister, Alexander
Macalister, Alexander (1844–1919), zoologist and anatomist, was born 9 April 1844 in Dublin, the second son of Robert Macalister, a member of an Argyllshire family who had come to reside in Dublin, and Margaret Anne Macalister (née Boyle), youngest daughter of Colonel James Boyle…...
MacBride, David
MacBride, David (1726–78), doctor and scientist, was born 26 April 1726 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, son of Robert MacBride (1687–1759), presbyterian minister at Ballymoney, and his wife, a Miss Boyd from Killaghy, Co. Down, whose father may have been David Boyd. Robert McBride was…...
Mason, Thomas Holmes
Mason, Thomas Holmes (1877–1958), photographer, naturalist, meteorologist, and businessman, was born 9 September 1877, eldest among three children of Thomas Mason, optical manufacturer, and Sarah Mason (née Barry) of Dublin. Having worked in the family business in Parliament St.,…...