Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Brooke, Stopford Augustus
Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1832–1916), clergyman and author, was born 14 November 1832 at ‘Glendoen’, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, eldest of eight children of the Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, the local curate, and Anna Brooke (née Stopford). When his maternal grandfather and…...
Bruce, Michael
Bruce, Michael (1686–1735), presbyterian minister, was born 27 July 1686, eldest son among ten children of James Bruce (qv), minister of Killyleagh, Co. Down, and Margaret Bruce (née Traill). His brother was William Bruce (d. 1755);…...
Carmichael, Richard
Carmichael, Richard (1779–1849), surgeon, medical reformer, and benefactor, was born 6 February 1779 in Dublin, fourth son of Hugh Carmichael, solicitor, and Sarah Carmichael (née Rogers), and was educated privately by the Rev. John Fea. Apprenticed to Robert Moore Peile (1763?–…...
Carnduff, Thomas
Carnduff, Thomas (1886–1956), writer, was born 30 January 1886 in Sandy Row, Belfast, youngest among six children of James Graham Carnduff (1842?–1900), an invalided army schoolteacher, and his second wife Jane (née Bollard; d. 1891). The family were poor, and living on their father…...
Carr, George Whitmore
Carr, George Whitmore (1780–1849), clergyman and temperance pioneer, was born in New Ross, Co. Wexford, eldest son of the Rev. Edward Carr, rector (1802–15) of Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny, and Sarah Carr (née Foster) of Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Educated at the John Ivory endowed…...
Carson, Alexander
Carson, Alexander (1776–1844), nonconformist minister, was born c.September 1776 at Annahone, near Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, eldest son of William Carson. His mother's name and his father's occupation are unknown. Intended for the ministry at an early age, he was…...
Charters, John
Charters, John (1796–1874), millowner and philanthropist, was born 24 June 1796 in Gobrana, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, son of Alexander Charters and Eleanor Charters (née Mackey). He possibly attended the Belfast Academical Institution; in 1836, with two partners, he established…...
Chevron, Philip
Chevron, Philip (1957–2013), musician, songwriter and composer, was born Philip Ryan on 17 June 1957 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, the elder of two children of (Philip) Brendan Ryan (1927–97) and Christine Ryan (née LaGrue), both born in inner city Dublin. He grew up in Lorcan Drive…...
Clare, Anthony Ward
Clare, Anthony Ward (1942–2007), psychiatrist and media personality, was born 24 December 1942 in Dublin, the youngest of three children (two girls and a boy) of Bernard Clare, state solicitor with the land registry, and his wife Agnes (née Dunne). Clare recalled his father as a gentle…...
Cochrane, Ian
Cochrane, Ian (1941–2004), writer, was born 7 November 1941 in a two‑room cottage at Moylarg, Dromona (near Cullybackey), Co. Antrim. He was the third of five children of Tom and Sadie Cochrane and had three brothers and a sister. 'We lived in a little house right out in the country,…...
Cole, John Morrison
Cole, John Morrison (1927–2013), journalist and broadcaster, was born into a working-class presbyterian family on 23 November 1927 in Whitewell Road, Belfast, the son of George Cole, a small electrical contractor of Whitewell Road, and his wife Alice (née Morrison). Growing up in…...
Cole, Sir William
Cole, Sir William (1571?–1653), English soldier and planter, was the only son of Emmanuel Cole, third son of Thomas Cole of London, and appears to have been raised in Devonshire. He may have studied at Cambridge, graduating BA and…...
Cooney, Edward
Cooney, Edward (1867–1960), evangelist, was born 11 February 1867 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, one of twelve children of William Rutherford Cooney, a prosperous anglican draper, and his methodist wife Emily (née Carson). He was educated at Enniskillen Model School and Portora…...
Cousins, James Henry Sproull
Cousins, James Henry Sproull (1873–1956), writer, teacher, and theosophist, was born 22 July 1873 in Cavour Street, Belfast, the eldest child of James Cousins, a deep-sea mariner of Glastry, Co. Down, and Susan Cousins (née Davey), of Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. Educated at a local…...
Crofton, Sir John Wenman
Crofton, Sir John Wenman (1912–2009), physician, scientist and public health campaigner, was born on 27 March 1912 at the family home, 55 Merrion Square South, Dublin, the only son (between two sisters) of William Mervyn Crofton, physician and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary…...
Cromwell, Henry
Cromwell, Henry (1628–74), soldier and administrator, was born 20 January 1628 at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, fourth son of Oliver Cromwell (qv) and Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier). He fought only in the closing stages of…...
Cromwell, Oliver
Cromwell, Oliver (1599–1658), lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, was born 25 April 1599 in Huntingdon, fifteen miles (24 km) north-west of Cambridge, England, the eldest son of Robert Cromwell, younger son of a knight, and his wife Elizabeth Steward. His two brothers died…...
Cronin, Edward
Cronin, Edward (1801–82), missionary, was born in Cork city, son of a Roman Catholic father and protestant mother whose names are unknown; he had cousins whose names were Drury. He came to Dublin c.1826 to train as a doctor at the Meath Hospital and was at first welcomed…...
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William (1839–97), engineer and evangelist, and his brothers Sir William John (1844–1911), engineer, and (Thomas) Hastings (Henry) (1846–1926), classical scholar, were sons of Maj. Francis Crossley of the East India Company, governor of the Andaman Islands…...
Crossley, Hastings
This is a co-subject for the entry on Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William. View the original entry....
Crossley, William John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William. View the original entry....
Darby, John Nelson
Darby, John Nelson (1800–82), religious leader and writer, was born 18 November 1800 in Great George's St., London, sixth and youngest son of John Darby and Anne Darby (née Vaughan); there were also three daughters, one of whom married (1806)…...
Davies, Moya Llewelyn
Davies, Moya Llewelyn (1881–1943), political activist, was born Mary O'Connor in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, on 25 March 1881, third of five daughters of James O'Connor (qv) (1836–1910), journalist and nationalist MP, and his first wife, Mary.…...