Co. Antrim

Johnston, Robert (1840–1937), nationalist, was born 17 March 1840 in Deerfin near Crebilly, Co. Antrim, one of four sons and four daughters of James Johnston, farmer, and Peg Johnston (née Dempsey) of a farming family in Liminary, Ballymena. Johnston is an anglicised form of the…

Jones, William Todd (1757–1818), political reformer, was born at Lisburn, Co. Antrim, in December 1757, the first son of a physician, Conway Jones (1721–78) of Homra (a townland 4 km south of Lisburn but in Co. Down), and his wife Mary Wray (née Todd), daughter of William Todd and…

Joy, Francis (1697–1790), notary, printer, paper manufacturer, and founder of the Belfast News Letter, was born in 1697 at Killead, Co. Antrim, the younger son of Richard Joy, a prosperous presbyterian farmer, and his wife Jane (née Ellis) of Carrickfergus. He settled in…

Killen, James Bryce (1842–1916), barrister, journalist, and radical, was born 14 August 1842 in Kells, Co. Antrim, into a presbyterian family, the fourth son of Samuel Killen and his wife, Mary Jane (Mabel) Shaw. Educated at the RBAI…

Killen, Thomas Young (1826–86), presbyterian minister, was born 30 October 1826 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, eldest child among six daughters and three sons of Edward Killen, a prosperous merchant, and Mary Killen (née Young; d. 1893). His father moved in retirement (c.1832…

Killen, William Dool (1806–1902), presbyterian church historian, was born 5 April 1806 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, elder son of John Killen, merchant, and Martha Killen (née Dool). Through his paternal grandmother, Blanche Brice, he could claim descent from…

Kinahan, Sir Robert George Caldwell (‘Robin’) (1916–97), businessman and politician, was born 24 September 1916 in Belfast, second son of Henry Kinahan, Belfast businessman, and his wife Ula, daughter of the Rt Rev. C. T. P. Grierson, bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore. He was…

King, William (1650–1729), Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin and lord justice, was born 1 May 1650 in Antrim town, one of at least five children born to James King, a Scots presbyterian, and his wife, who had migrated to Ireland from Barra, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He…

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…

Kirkpatrick (Kilpatrick, Killpatrick), James (c.1692–1770), physician and poet, was born at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, into a commercial family; his parents' names are unknown. He matriculated (1708) at Edinburgh University but left before graduating and returned to Ireland…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Knowles, William James. View the original entry.

Knowles, William James (1832–1927), archaeologist, was born 29 January 1832 in Fenagh, near Cullybackey, Co. Antrim, eldest son of James Knowles and Jane Knowles (née Ewart). He was educated privately, and became land agent to the Casement estate in Ballymena; he was high constable…

Lamont, Donal Raymond (1911–2003), missionary bishop and critic of the Rhodesian government, was born Daniel Patrick Lamont in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, on 27 July 1911, son of Daniel Lamont, master shoemaker and merchant, and his wife Margaret (née Tumelty), music teacher; he had…

Lanyon, Sir Charles (1813–89), civil engineer and architect, was born 6 January 1813 at Eastbourne, Sussex, third son of John Jenkinson Lanyon, purser in the Royal Navy, and Catherine Lanyon (née Mortimer). Privately educated locally, he was articled under Jacob Owen (from 1832 of…

Larmor, Joseph (1857–1942), mathematical physicist, was born 11 July 1857 at Ballycarrickmaddy, Magheragall, Co. Antrim, eldest among five sons and two daughters of Hugh Larmor, well-to-do farmer turned grocer, and his wife Hannah, eldest daughter of Joseph Wright of Stoneyford, Co.…

Lawlor, Henry Cairnes (1870–1943), businessman and archaeologist, was born 16 April 1870 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, youngest child among eight sons and four daughters of John Hilliard Lawlor (murdered 31 May 1889), manager of the local Provincial Bank of Ireland, and his wife,…

Lawlor, Hugh Jackson (1860–1938), church historian and dean of St Patrick's, Dublin, was born 11 December 1860 at Ballymena, Co. Antrim, third son of John Hilliard Lawlor (b. 1819), bank manager, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Lieut-col. John Elliott Cairnes (1785–1847). John…

Leebody, John Robinson (1840–1927), scientist, commentator, and college president, was born in January 1840 in Ballinderry, Co. Antrim, the second son of Rev. Henry Leebody (d. 1879), presbyterian minister there, and his wife, Madeline Sophia (née Robinson). He was educated…

Lester, Seán (John Ernest) (1888–1959), diplomat, was born 27 September 1888 at Woodburn, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, son of Robert John Lester, owner of a Belfast grocery shop, and Henrietta Mary Lester (née Ritchie). Briefly educated at the Methodist College, Belfast (1901–2), he left…

Loughridge, Lavinia Winifred (1930–2014), nephrologist and physician, was born on 20 May 1930 in Templepatrick, Co. Antrim, the younger of two children of John (‘Jack’) Carson Loughridge, a dispensary doctor in the town, and his wife Winifred Elizabeth Loughridge (née Wallace). Her…

Lynn, Robert John (1873–1945), unionist politician and journalist, was born near Bushmills, Co. Antrim, the son of a small farmer. Following his education at a local national school and further private tuition, in 1893 he began his journalistic career, first working in Derry and…

Macartney, George (1737–1806), Earl Macartney , diplomat, chief secretary, and colonial governor, was born 3 May 1737 at Lisanoure, near Dervock, Co. Antrim, the only surviving son of George Macartney (d. 1779), a landowner of Lisanoure, who in 1732 married Elizabeth (d. 1755),…

MacBride, David (1726–78), doctor and scientist, was born 26 April 1726 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, son of Robert MacBride (1687–1759), presbyterian minister at Ballymoney, and his wife, a Miss Boyd from Killaghy, Co. Down, whose father may have been David Boyd. Robert McBride was…

Mac Conaill, Michael Isadore Aloysius (1902–87), anatomist, was born Michael McConnell on 27 July 1902 at Woodvale, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, eldest child as one of the two sons and three daughters of Michael McConnell, spirit merchant, and Lucie Agnes McConnell (née Gallagher). His…

MacDonnell, Angela Christina (‘Angela Antrim’) (née Sykes) (1911–84), countess of Antrim , sculptor, cartoonist, and illustrator, was born 6 September 1911 at Eddlethorpe, near Malton, Yorkshire, youngest daughter and fifth child among three sons and three daughters of Sir Mark Sykes,…