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…...
MacMunn, Charles Alexander
MacMunn, Charles Alexander (1852–1911), doctor, army officer and physiologist, was born 11 April 1852 at Seafield House, Easky, Co. Sligo, the home of his father Dr James MacMunn, medical officer to the Easky dispensary and the Dromore West Union workhouse. After attending Dromore…...
Maple, William
Maple, William (d. 1762), chemist and one of the founding members of the Dublin Society, was born outside Ireland. He was middle-aged by the time he appears in Dublin in summer 1711 when he began his long association with the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) laboratory shortly before its…...
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.,…...
McClelland, John Alexander
McClelland, John Alexander (1870–1920), physicist, was born in Dunalis in the parish of Dunboe, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, and was baptised on 1 December 1870, youngest among eleven children of William McClelland, a presbyterian farmer, and Margaret McClelland (née Morrison).…...
McConnell, Albert Joseph
McConnell, Albert Joseph (1903–93), mathematician and university provost, was born 19 November 1903 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, third child of Joseph McConnell, boot merchant, and Annie McConnell (née Orr). A presbyterian, he was educated at Ballymena Academy and entered…...
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis)
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician, was born 23 October 1929 at the family home at 5 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest of three children (he had a sister, Marion, and a brother, John) born to Thomas Henry…...
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William
Molyneux (Molyneaux), William (1656–98), scientist and political writer, was born in Dublin, 17 April 1656, eldest surviving son of Samuel Molyneux (1616–93), master gunner of Ireland and his wife, Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of William Dowdall, merchant of Dublin. His great-…...
Molyneux, Samuel
Molyneux, Samuel (1689–1728), scientist and politician, was born 18 July 1689, son of William Molyneux (qv) and his wife, Lucy Molyneux (née Domvile), at Chester. His mother died in 1691 and his father, who followed the…...
Molyneux, Sir Thomas
Molyneux, Sir Thomas (1661–1733), physician, natural historian, and antiquarian, was born 14 April 1661, near Gormond's (Ormond, Wormwood) Gate on Cook St., Dublin, second son among five sons and two daughters of Samuel Molyneux (d. 1693), lawyer, landowner, and army captain, and his…...
Monck, William Henry Stanley
Monck, William Henry Stanley (1839–1915), philosopher and astronomer, was born 21 April 1839 at Skeirke, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son of Thomas Stanley Monck, curate of Skeirke 1829–50, and Lydia Elinor Monck (née Kennedy). The family moved (1850) to Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny,…...
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort
Mullins, Frederick William Beaufort (1804–54), MP and gentleman scientist, was born 29 June 1804, eldest of three sons of the Rev. Frederick Ferriter Mullins of Beaufort House, Killarney, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Croker of Johnstown. His grandfather…...
Murphy, Robert
Murphy, Robert (1806–43), mathematician, was born in Mallow, Co. Cork, fifth son among seven sons and three daughters of John Murphy, shoemaker and Church of Ireland parish clerk in Mallow, and his wife Margaret (maiden name unknown). His father died (1814), leaving the family…...
O'Brien, Matthew
O'Brien, Matthew (1814–55), mathematician, was born at Ennis, Co. Clare, the son of Matthew O'Brien, a doctor. Educated initially by a private tutor, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, in July 1830 at the age of sixteen, but in November 1834 transferred to Gonville and Caius…...
O'Neill, (Katharine) Jean
O'Neill, (Katharine) Jean (1915–2008), Lady O'Neill of the Maine , plantswoman and horticulturalist, was born 16 January 1915 at 41 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, one of five children of William Ingham Whitaker, landowner and horticulturalist of Pylewell Park, near Lymington, Hampshire…...
Parsons, William
Parsons, William (1800–67), astronomer and 3rd earl of Rosse , was born 17 June 1800 at York, England, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Sir Lawrence Parsons (1758–1841) of Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), and Alice Parsons (née Lloyd), daughter of a…...
Patterson, Robert
Patterson, Robert (1743–1824), mathematician and educator, was born 30 May 1743 at Hillsborough, Co. Down, eldest son among three sons and two daughters of Robert Patterson, presbyterian farmer, and Jane Patterson (née Walker). Educated locally, he displayed a natural talent for…...
Perceval, Robert
Perceval, Robert (1756–1839), physician, chemist, traveller, and founding member of the RIA, was born 30 September 1756 in Dublin, third and youngest son of William Perceval, barrister, and his second wife, Elizabeth Perceval (née Ward; d.…...
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael
Purser, Francis (‘Frank’) Carmichael (1876–1934), neurologist, was born 16 September 1876 in India, son of William Edward Purser (b. 1845), official in the Indian civil service, and Elizabeth Purser (née Geoghegan), his cousin. After the death of his mother (1877), he was sent to…...
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock
Rambaut, Arthur Alcock (1859–1923), astronomer, was born 21 September 1859 in Waterford city, third son of the Rev. Edmund Francis Rambaut (BA, TCD), Church of Ireland clergyman and curate of…...
Richardson, William
Richardson, William (1740–1820), cleric, geologist, agriculturist, and pamphleteer, was probably born at Castleroe, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the only son of Charles Richardson (d. 1743) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Hercules Heyland of Coleraine. He was educated at…...
Richey, James Ernest
Richey, James Ernest (1886–1968), geologist, was born 24 April 1886 at Desertcreat rectory, Co. Tyrone, son of John Richey, Church of Ireland rector, and Susanna Richey (née Best). He spent his childhood in Desertcreat and was educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, and at…...
Roberts, Michael
Roberts, Michael (1817–82), mathematician, was the eldest son of Captain Michael Roberts, of Kilmoney Abbey near Carrigaline, Co. Cork, and Elizabeth Roberts (née Townsend Stewart). His twin brother was William Roberts (1817–83), also a mathematician and scholar and fellow of…...
Robinson, David Willis
Robinson, David Willis (1928–2004), scientist and horticulturalist, was born 2 April 1928 in Belfast, second son of William Robinson and his wife Eva (née Rice), who had two other sons. His father had a small building business, and in the difficult years of the 1930s also sold bedding…...
Robinson, Thomas Romney
Robinson, Thomas Romney (1793–1882), astronomer and mathematical physicist, was born 23 April 1793 in St Anne's parish, Dublin, eldest son of Thomas Robinson, an English portrait painter, and Ruth Robinson (née Buck). He was named after his father's painting master, George Romney.…...