Gann, Thomas William Francis
Gann, Thomas William Francis (1867–1938), archaeologist and explorer, was born 13 May 1867 in Murrisk Abbey, Co. Mayo, son of William Gann, gentleman, and Elizabeth Rose Gann (nèe Garvey). His family moved to England and he was educated at King's School, Canterbury, Kent, before…...
Gibbings, Robert John
Gibbings, Robert John (1889–1958), engraver, illustrator, and author, was born 23 March 1889 in Co. Cork, son of the Rev. Edward Gibbings, rector of Carrigrohane, and Caroline Gibbings (née Day). He was educated at boarding schools in Fermoy and Cork before entering…...
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey (1537–83), soldier and explorer, was second son of Otho Gilbert (d. 1547) of Compton, near Dartmouth. Sir Walter Ralegh (qv) was his half-brother from the second marriage of his mother, Catherine, daughter of Sir…...
Godley, John Raymond
Godley, John Raymond (1920–2005), 3rd Baron Kilbracken of Killegar , pilot, journalist, traveller, landowner and environmentalist, was born 17 October 1920 in Chester Street, Belgravia, London, England, the eldest of two sons (Wynne being the younger) and a daughter (Kathleen) of…...
Grattan, Thomas Colley
Grattan, Thomas Colley (1781–1864), novelist, travel writer, and diplomat, was born in Dublin, the son of Colley Grattan, a solicitor, and his wife Elizabeth (neé Warren). His father retired early and settled in Clayton Lodge, near Castle Carberry, Co. Kildare, but the family's home was…...
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre)
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre) (1940–2006), broadcaster and travel writer, was born 11 February 1940 in Dundonald, east Belfast. Her father was a civil servant employed in the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland and her mother was a dressmaker. She had one brother. Anne attended Strathearn…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Gubbins, Beatrice
Gubbins, Beatrice (1878–1944), watercolour artist and traveller, was born 19 September 1878 in Co. Limerick, the youngest of the two sons and five daughters of Thomas Wise Gubbins, distiller, and his wife, Frances Gertrude (née Russell) of Askeaton, Co. Limerick. The family moved to…...
Guinness, Walter Edward
Guinness, Walter Edward (1880–1944), 1st Baron Moyne , soldier, politician, traveller, and anthropologist, was born 29 March 1880 in Dublin, third son of Edward Cecil Guinness (qv), 1st earl of Iveagh, and Adelaide Maria Guinness…...
Gwynn, Arthur Montagu
Gwynn, Arthur Montagu (1908–2008), medical doctor, naturalist, explorer and editor, was born 5 August 1908 in the family home, St Dymphna's, Clontarf, Dublin, second eldest of three sons and two daughters of Edward John Gwynn (qv),…...
Haddick, Victor Anderson
Haddick, Victor Anderson (1887–1950), soldier, traveller, writer, and film maker and promoter, was born 14 June 1887 at Crinkill (Crinkle), Parsonstown (Birr), King's Co. (Offaly), the eldest son of Richard J. Haddick, a soldier, and his wife Jane Anne (née Anderson). He was educated…...
Hayward, (Harold) Richard
Hayward, (Harold) Richard (1892–1964), author and singer, was born 25 October 1892, one among five sons and a daughter of Walter Scott Hayward and Louise Ivy Hayward. The family was English, but settled in Larne, Co. Antrim, and Richard attended Larne grammar school. After his marriage…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Houghton, Daniel
Houghton, Daniel (1740–91), army officer and African explorer, was born in Ireland, son of William Houghton. He entered the army in October 1758 and was commissioned as an ensign in the 69th Foot. In July 1759 he was promoted to lieutenant and served with his regiment in Gibraltar…...
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis')
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis') (1743?–1833), American frontierswoman, was born aboard the ship William and Mary, when her parents, Thomas Jemison and his wife Jane (née Erwin), (both of protestant Scotch-Irish heritage) were emigrating to colonial Pennsylvania, departing from…...
Johnson, James
Johnson, James (1777–1845), physician and medical and travel writer, was born in February 1777 at Ballinderry, Co. Antrim, youngest son of a local farmer. Educated locally, he was orphaned while still young and became an apprentice to a surgeon-apothecary in Portglenone, Co. Antrim…...
Johnston, John
Johnston, John (1762–1828), fur trader, was born 25 August 1762 near Portrush, Co. Antrim, son of William Johnston and Elizabeth Johnston (née McNeil). The family, which had come from Scotland two generations earlier, owned Craige, an estate near the Giant's Causeway. Johnston's father…...
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret (1800–85), artist, traveller, and antiquarian, was second daughter among three sons and four daughters of Richard Le Poer Trench (qv), later 2nd earl of Clancarty, and Henrietta Margaret Le Poer Trench…...
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger (c.1761–c.1835), soldier, politician, and writer, was the only son of Maurice Keatinge (d. 1777), high sheriff of Co. Kildare (1774) and MP for Harristown (1776–7), and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Walter Bagenal of Dunleckney…...
Kellett, Sir Henry
Kellett, Sir Henry (1806–75), vice-admiral (RN) and polar explorer, was born 2 November 1806 at Clonacody, Co. Tipperary, son of John Dalton Kellett; nothing is known of his mother. His cousin was Commander Arthur Kellett, RN. He entered the Royal…...
Kirker, James
Kirker, James (1793–1852/3), scalp-hunter and frontiersman, was born on 2 December 1793 in Kilcross, Co. Antrim, the son of Gilbert Kirker, a grocer of Carnaghlis, Co. Antrim, and his wife Rose (née Anderson). His paternal ancestors had fled Scotland for Antrim in the 1680s to escape…...
Lamport, William
Lamport, William (1611?–1659), adventurer, was baptised in Wexford town, Co. Wexford, soon after his birth, which was probably on 25 February 1611, though he later claimed it occurred up to four years later. He was the youngest of four children of Richard Lamport, a ship's pilot of…...
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…...
Legge, Thomas
Legge, Thomas (d. 1808), traveller and mystic, was born in Donaghadee, Co. Down, the son of a ship-owner who transported Irish emigrants to America. Little else is known about his family background, although towards the end of his life he reportedly told a Scottish doctor that his…...