Leared, Arthur
Leared, Arthur (1822–79), physician and traveller, was born in Wexford, son of Richard Leared, merchant. He graduated BA (1845), MB (1847), and MD (1860) from…...
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…...
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn (1896–1991), entomologist and traveller, was born 16 August 1896 at 20 Pont St., Belgravia, London, youngest of three daughters of Lt-col. Mountifort John Courtenay Longfield and his wife Alice Elizabeth (née Mason) of Castle Mary, Cloyne, Co. Cork, the…...
Magee, Patrick
Magee, Patrick (1924–82), actor, was born on 31 March 1924 in Edward Street, Armagh town, eldest of five children of Patrick McGee, schoolteacher and eventually principal of St Patrick's primary school. When he joined Actors' Equity he changed his surname to 'Magee' to avoid confusion…...
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’)
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’) (1895–1975), actress and writer, was born 24 October 1895 at Castlewellan, Co. Down, the second daughter of the marriage of Hugh, fifth earl of Annesley (qv) and Priscilla…...
McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold
McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold (1819–1907), Royal Naval officer and Arctic explorer, was born 8 July 1819 at 1 Seatown Place, Dundalk, Co. Louth, eldest surviving son of Henry McClintock, collector of customs in Dundalk and formerly an officer in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and his…...
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…...
Molloy, Charles
Molloy, Charles (1690–1767), dramatist and journalist, was born in Dublin in 1690, son of Hugh Molloy; nothing is known of his mother. He is believed to have been educated at TCD, though no records survive to confirm this. Moving to…...
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).…...
Moryson, Fynes
Moryson, Fynes (1566–1630), secretary to Lord Mountjoy and writer on Ireland, was third surviving son of Thomas Moryson (d. 1591), of Cadeby, Lincolnshire, England, clerk of the pipe and MP (for Great Grimsby in the parliaments of 1572, 1584, 1586, and 1588–9), and his wife…...
Mossop, Henry
Mossop, Henry (c.1728–1774), actor and theatre manager, was born in Dublin, son of the Rev. John Mossop. In 1737 his father was appointed prebend of Kilmeen, Tuam, Co. Galway, but Henry remained in Dublin, where he was raised by his uncle, a bookseller. Educated at a…...
O Brien, Conor
O Brien, Conor (1880–1952), sailor and author, was born Edward Conor Marshall O'Brien on 3 November 1880 in Cahirmoyle, Co. Limerick, the son of Edward William O'Brien, JP, and Julia O'Brien (née Marshall). A grandson of…...
Otway, Caesar
Otway, Caesar (1780–1842), protestant clergyman, travel writer, and antiquary, was the elder son in the family of two sons and two daughters of Loftus Otway (1755–89), a merchant at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and his wife Sarah, daughter of William Woodward of Cloughprior. Born in Co.…...
Oulton, Walley Chamberlain
Oulton, Walley Chamberlain (c.1765–c.1820), dramatist and theatre historian, was born in Dublin, son of Walley Oulton, a merchant, and his wife Catherine (née Walker). Very little is known of his life outside his work. Educated locally by Dr Thomas Ball (1718?–…...
Palliser, John
Palliser, John (1817–87), explorer, was born 29 January 1817 in Dublin, eldest son of Wray Palliser (1788–1863) of Derryluskan, Co. Tipperary, and Comeragh, Co. Waterford, JP and lieutenant-colonel of the Waterford Artillery Militia, and…...
Parke, Thomas Heazle
Parke, Thomas Heazle (1857–93), army surgeon and African traveller, was born 27 November 1857 at Clogher House, Kilmore, Co. Roscommon, second son among ten children of William Parke, a well-to-do farmer, and Henrietta Parke (née Holmes). His ancestors were of Kentish stock. Educated…...
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.…...
Pococke, Richard
Pococke, Richard (1704–65), Church of Ireland clergyman, traveller, and antiquary, was born in Southampton, England, on 19 November 1704, son of Richard Pococke, rector of Colmer, Hampshire, and his wife Elizabeth, the only daughter of another clergyman, Isaac Milles (1639?–1720).…...
Reid, Christina
Reid, Christina (1942–2015), playwright, was born on 12 March 1942 in Ardoyne in North Belfast, the eldest of three children and only daughter of James Orchin, a Belfast dock worker, and Christina Orchin, who worked as a linen mill worker and later a waitress. Although the family…...
Reid, Thomas
Reid, Thomas (1791–1825), naval surgeon and author, was one of four sons of Thomas Reid, farmer, from Cadian, near Eglish, Co. Tyrone. He received a classical education from the family pastor, the presbyterian minister Hugh Bell, before attending the Royal College of Surgeons in…...
Robinson, Lennox
Robinson, Lennox (1886–1958), playwright and director, was born Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson on 4 October 1886 near Douglas, Co. Cork, youngest of seven children (of whom twins died in infancy) of Andrew Craig Robinson, stockbroker, and Emily Anna Robinson (née Jones). When Lennox was…...
Rodway, Norman John Frank
Rodway, Norman John Frank (1929–2001), actor and theatre producer, was born 7 February 1929 in Dublin, son of Frank Rodway, manager of a shipping agency, and Lilian Rodway (née Moyles). The couple had recently moved to Dublin from London. They settled in Malahide, north of Dublin, where…...
Rugheimer, Gunnar
Rugheimer, Gunnar , (1923–2003), RTÉ controller of programmes, was born 26 February 1923 in Stockholm, Sweden, to Carl Rügheimer (b. 1893), hat manufacturer, and his wife Sonja Traugott (b. 1901); both were Jewish and had been born in Sweden of Danish descent. After attending…...
Sheridan, Thomas
Sheridan, Thomas (1719–88), actor, theatre manager, and orator, was third son of Thomas Sheridan (qv), schoolmaster and essayist, of Dublin; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at home by his father until the age of 13.…...
Simpson, Alan Patrick
Simpson, Alan Patrick (1920–80), theatre director, was born in Baggot Street, Dublin, son of Walter Simpson, Church of Ireland minister. Sent to Belfast to broaden his outlook, he was educated at Campbell College and spent a brief period in Germany before returning to Dublin in the late…...