Ó Ceallaigh, Cormac
Ó Ceallaigh, Cormac (1912–96), nuclear physicist, was born 29 July 1912 in Dublin, the only son among two children of Séamus Ó (Ua) Ceallaigh (James O'Kelly), consultant obstetrician and assistant master at the Coombe Hospital, and his wife Maire Cecilia (‘Birdie’) (née Ferran),…...
O'Donovan, James Laurence (‘Jim’, ‘Seamus’)
O'Donovan, James Laurence (‘Jim’, ‘Seamus’) (1896–1979), scientist and republican, was born 3 February 1896 in Castleview, Co. Roscommon, fifth among seven children (three daughters and four sons) of Daniel J. O'Donovan, excise officer, and Margaret O'Donovan (née Brennan), of Co. Cork…...
O'Kelly, Matthias Joseph
O'Kelly, Matthias Joseph (1786–1868), naturalist and catholic activist, was the son of Joseph O’Kelly of Co. Kildare, and lived at 147 James St., Dublin, before moving to Rochestown House, Rochestown Avenue, Killiney, Co. Dublin, with his wife, children, and two sisters. He had a…...
O'Leary, William J.
O'Leary, William J. (1869–1939), Jesuit priest and scientist, was born 19 March 1869 in Dublin, son of Dr William H. O'Leary (qv), MP for Drogheda 1874–80, surgeon, and professor of anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons in…...
O'Meara, Robert Allen Quain
O'Meara, Robert Allen Quain (1903–74), professor of medicine and medical scientist, was born 1 December 1903 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, younger son of Timothy Joseph O'Meara (fl. 1895–c.1938), doctor, and his wife (née Allen). He was educated at Clongowes Wood…...
Ó Raifeartaigh, Lochlainn Séamus
Ó Raifeartaigh, Lochlainn Séamus (1933–2000), theoretical physicist, scholar, and senior professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, was born 11 March 1933 in Clontarf, Dublin, second eldest among three sons and three daughters of…...
O'Reilly, Joseph Patrick
O'Reilly, Joseph Patrick (1829–1905), chemist, engineer, and mineralogist, was born 11 July 1829 in Monaghan, fifth son among thirteen children of Thomas O'Reilly, solicitor, and Cecilia O'Reilly (née Devin). The family moved to Dublin on his father's appointment as master of the…...
O'Sullivan, Cornelius
O'Sullivan, Cornelius (1841–1907), brewer's chemist, was born 20 December 1841 at Bandon, Co. Cork, one of seven children (three boys and four girls) of James O'Sullivan, merchant, and his wife Elizabeth (née Morgan). He attended Denny Holland's private primary school in Bandon,…...
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…...
Philbin, Eva Maria
Philbin, Eva Maria (1914–2005), chemist and university professor, was born 3 January 1914 in Ballina, Co. Mayo, the elder of two daughters of George Ryder , a postman and later a publican, and his wife Kate (née Donegan). Eva attended the Convent of Mercy in Ballina, and then went…...
Quinlan, Patrick Michael
Quinlan, Patrick Michael (1919–2001), mathematical physicist and senator, was born 7 December 1919 at Ballinacrana, Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, one of the two sons and a daughter of Jeremiah Quinlan and his wife, Josephine (née Casey), who lived comfortably on a modest farm in the…...
Reilly, Joseph
Reilly, Joseph (1889–1965), chemist, was born 3 September 1889 at 11 Creighton Street, Dublin, the son of Joseph Reilly, a policeman, from Longford, and Margaret Reilly (née Fulham), from Galway. His father died before Joseph's birth. Educated at the Christian Brothers’ School,…...
Renouf, Louis Percy Watt
Renouf, Louis Percy Watt (1887–1968), zoologist, was born 11 December 1887 in Lewisham, London, son of Philip Renouf and Jane Renouf (née Tomlin) of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. His father, a mechanical engineer, worked on the design and manufacturing of bicycles and…...
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…...
Ryan, Hugh
Ryan, Hugh (1873–1931), chemist, was born 15 September 1873 in Dolla near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, second son of John Ryan, small farmer and shopowner at Dolla, and Sarah Ryan (née Quinn) of Ballymackey. His scientific interest may have been influenced by previous members of his…...
Scannell, Mary J. P. ('Maura')
Scannell, Mary J. P. ('Maura') (1924–2011), botanist, was born on 18 March 1924 in Cork city, one of seven children (five daughters and two sons) of Patrick Scannell, a carrier and contractor, and his wife Margaret (née Murnane). The family was well off, living in a villa on the South…...
Shanks, James
Shanks, James (1854–1912), farmer, agrarian activist, and self-taught naturalist and historian, was born 4 November 1854 on Ballyfounder farm, two miles south of Portaferry on the Ards peninsula, Co. Down. A presbyterian, after attending Portaferry no. 2 national school until age…...
Sigerson, George
Sigerson, George (1836–1925), physician, biologist, poet and author, was born 11 January 1836 at Holyhill, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, youngest of William and Nancy Sigerson's eleven children. His parents’ marriage had a romantic background: in the 1820s William Sigerson, a catholic from…...
Sullivan, William Kirby
Sullivan, William Kirby (1820/21/2–1890), chemist, Young Irelander, and president of QCC, was born in Cork, the son of James Bartholomew Sullivan (O'Sullivan) (d. 1829), an industrialist in Cork. James Bartholomew, known locally as ‘Jimmy Batt…...
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles)
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles) (1922–2005), cardiologist, inventor of the Swan–Ganz catheter, was born 1 June 1922 in Sligo town, one of four sons of Harold Swan and his wife Marcelle (née Kelly); both his parents were physicians who had met while studying medicine at…...
Templeton, John
Templeton, John (1766–1825), naturalist and philanthropist, was born at Bridge St., Belfast, son of James Templeton, a prosperous wholesale merchant, and his wife Mary Eleanor, daughter of Benjamin Legg of Belfast and Malone. Background and education The…...
Thomson, James
Thomson, James (1786–1849), professor of mathematics, was born 13 November 1786 in Annaghmore, near Ballynahinch, Co. Down, third son and fifth child of James Thomson and Agnes Thomson (née Nesbit), farmers. James was taught to read by his older sisters, worked his way unaided…...
Tinney, Sheila Christina (née Power)
Tinney, Sheila Christina (née Power) (1918–2010), mathematical physicist, was born on 15 January 1918 in Galway city, fourth daughter of Michael Power (1885–1974), professor of mathematics in UCG (1912–55), and Christina Power (née…...
Torrens, David Smyth
Torrens, David Smyth (1897–1967), professor of physiology and amateur horologist, was born 10 September 1897 in the Carragh district of Culnaman townland, Moneydig, Garvagh, Co. Londonderry, eldest son among three sons and a daughter of David Torrens, farmer, and Margaret Torrens…...
Wade, Walter
Wade, Walter (c.1740–1825), botanist, was born in Dublin, son of John Wade (d. 1799), chemist and apothecary, and Katherine Wade. In 1767 John Wade's proposal, sanctioned by (Royal) King and Queen's College of Physicians Ireland ((R)K&QCPI; forerunner of RCPI), to establish…...