Anderson, Sir James Caleb
Anderson, Sir James Caleb (1792–1861), baronet and steam-coach promoter, was born 21 July 1792 in Cork, eldest of two sons and one daughter of John Anderson (1747–1820), banker of Cork, and his second wife, Elizabeth (d. 1830), daughter of James Semple, merchant of Waterford.…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1873–1912), shipbuilder, was born 7 February 1873 at Ardara, Comber, Co. Down, where his family, members of the non-subscribing presbyterian church, had been prominent in business for several generations. He was the second son of Thomas Andrews (1843–1916), for…...
Bagwell, John Philip (‘Jack’)
Bagwell, John Philip (‘Jack’) (1874–1946), railway executive and politician, was born 11 August 1874, only son of the historian Richard Bagwell (qv), of Marlfield, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and …...
Bianconi, Charles
Bianconi, Charles (1786–1875), transport entrepreneur, was born Joachim Carlo Guiseppe Bianconi on 24 September 1786 at Tregolo, near Como in Lombardy, Italy, the second of five children of Pietro and Maria Bianconi. His father owned a farm and a silk mill, and was agent for the…...
Binns, John
Binns, John (1730?–1804), silk merchant, canal developer, and radical politician, was the son of Joshua Binns, who in 1719 was admitted to the Dublin weavers' guild by special grace. John Binns was admitted to the guild by birth in 1756, so he was probably born in the mid 1730s.…...
Bloomfield, John Caldwell
Bloomfield, John Caldwell (1823–97), landlord and entrepreneur, was born 5 February 1823, eldest son of John Colpoys Bloomfield and Frances Arabella Bloomfield (née Caldwell); there were three other sons and a daughter. His mother, a descendant of Sir John Caldwell, was coheiress…...
Bourne, Richard
Bourne, Richard (1770–1851), steamship owner and a founder of the P & O company, was born at Fethard Castle, Co. Tipperary, youngest of several sons. Entering the Royal Navy (1787), he was promoted lieutenant (1797) and commanded the Felix (1804); twice rewarded for…...
Bulleid, Oliver Vaughan Snell
Bulleid, Oliver Vaughan Snell (1882–1970), railway engineer, was born 19 September 1882 at Invercargill, New Zealand, eldest child of William Bulleid (originally of North Taunton, Devon, England) and his wife, Marian, daughter of Oliver Vaughan Pugh of Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire,…...
Burgess, Henry Givens
Burgess, Henry Givens (1859–1937), transport administrator, was born 6 April 1859 at Finnoe House, near Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, son of George Burgess, land steward of the Waller family; his mother's maiden name was Givens. His father farmed in an area so ‘troubled’ by…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth (1905–89), conservationist and creator of the Ulster Way, was born in Belfast on 12 July 1905, the second son of four children (two boys and two girls) of John Malcolmson Capper, a cotton yarn merchant, and Elizabeth Jane Capper (née Stewart); the family was…...
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery (1854–1926), ship designer and businessman, and his two brothers John Carlisle (1856–1945), engineer and shipowner, and Henry Montgomery Carlisle (1863?–1945), shipowner, were sons of John Carlisle (d. 1884), teacher, and Catherine Carlisle (née…...
Cordner, Joseph (James)
Cordner, Joseph (James) (1875–1963), pioneer aviator, was born 11 February 1875 in Derryinver, Co. Armagh, twin brother of Edward Cordner and son of Ussiagh Cordner, farm labourer, and Anne Cordner. Educated locally, Joseph (who may also have been known as ‘James’) and Edward opened…...
Crosbie, Richard
Crosbie, Richard (1756?–1800?), balloonist, was born in Co. Wicklow, second son among five children of Sir Paul Crosbie, 4th baronet and barrack master at Bray, Co. Wicklow, and Mary Crosbie (née Daniel), an Englishwoman. His elder brother was (Sir)…...
Dargan, William
Dargan, William (1799–1867), engineer, was born 28 February 1799 in Co. Carlow. His parents were Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan, his father being a well-to-do farmer who was a tenant of Lord Portarlington. Much of William's early life is obscure. Likewise the exact place of birth is…...
Deasy, Henry Hugh Peter
Deasy, Henry Hugh Peter (1866–1947), soldier, explorer, and pioneer motorist, was born 29 June 1866 in Dublin, second son of Rickard Deasy (qv), privy councillor for Ireland and previously lord justice of appeal, of Carysfort,…...
Doyne, William Thomas
Doyne, William Thomas (1823–77), railway engineer, was born in April 1823 at Old Leighlin, Co. Carlow, second son of the Rev. Thomas Doyne and Sophia Doyne (née Armstrong). At the age of 16 he entered the University of Durham and studied engineering for a year. In 1840 he was…...
FitzGibbon, Abraham Coates
FitzGibbon, Abraham Coates (1823–87), railway engineer and antiquary, was born 23 January 1823 at Mount Eagle, Kilworth, Co. Cork, second son of Lt Philip FitzGibbon, RN, and Elizabeth FitzGibbon (née Coates) of Killinure, Co. Wicklow. Educated at the…...
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher (1898–1965), aviator, was born 6 January 1898 at 35 Mountjoy Prison Cottages, North Circular Road, Dublin, second of three sons and one daughter of Michael Fitzmaurice, prison warder, and Mary Agnes Fitzmaurice (née Riordan), both of whose families…...
Hemans, George Willoughby
Hemans, George Willoughby (1814–85), railway engineer, was born 27 August 1814 at Ryllon near St Asaph, north Wales, son of Capt. Alfred Hemans of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment and the poet Felicia Hemans (née Browne; 1794–1835) who were married in 1812. In 1818, after a short and…...
Horan, James
Horan, James (1911–86), priest, community activist, and airport developer, was born 5 May 1911 at Tooreen, Partry, Co. Mayo, eldest of three sons and four daughters of Bartley Horan, farmer and builder, of Partry, and Catherine Horan (née Casey) of Kilkieran, Co. Mayo. After education…...
Hutton, John
Hutton, John (1757–1830), founder of the firm of John Hutton & Sons (1779–1923), Ireland's premier coachbuilders, was born 8 June 1757 in Dublin, son of Robert Hutton (d. 1779), tannery owner, and Sarah Hutton (née Lewis; d. 1781). In the year of his father's death John Hutton…...
Hutton, Thomas
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hutton, John. View the original entry....
Irwin, Herbert Carmichael (‘Bird’, ‘Bertie’)
Irwin, Herbert Carmichael (‘Bird’, ‘Bertie’) (1894–1930), athlete and aeronaut, was born 26 June 1894, apparently in Co. Dublin, one of four children of Thomas Frederick Nesbitt Irwin and his wife Elinor Emily Lindsay (née Carroll). The family subsequently lived in Dublin at an address…...
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’)
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’) (1914–2016), aviator and founder of Weston aerodrome, was born on 11 June 1914 in Barronrath, Straffan, Co. Kildare, one of nine children, to Edward ‘Cub’ Kennedy, breeder of racehorses (including the famous stallion the Tetrarch), and his wife Beryl…...