Bobby Sands was an Irish patriot and politician. He was born in 1954 at Belfast, Northern Ireland and died in 1981 following a hunger-strike at Long Kesh prison. Following the civil unrest in Northern Ireland, and the Sands family being harassed out of their home, Bobby Sands joined the IRA and in 1973 was arrested on arms charges. He is best remembered for his political writings (at the time of his death he had been elected to the British parliament) and the hunger-strike in which a number of IRA members starved themselves to death in protest at being treated as criminals, rather than political prisoners, by the British government. Research Bobby Sands More information about Bobby Sands
George Lillie Craik was a Scottish writer. He was born in 1799 at Fifeshire and died in 1866. He was an extensive contributor to the Penny Cyclopaedia in the departments of history and biography. His first independent work of any importance was his Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties published between 1830 and 1831. Other works were: Romance of the Peerage; Spenser and his Poetry; History of Literature and Learning in England, afterwards recast into History of English Literature and the English Language; History of British Commerce; English of Shakspeare; Bacon, his Writings and Philosophy; etc. In 1849 he was appointed professor of English literature in Queen's College, Belfast, an appointment which he held until his death. Research George Craik
Hugh M'Calmont, first Earl Cairns, was an Irish jurist. He was born in 1819 and died in 1885. He graduated with distinction at Dublin University, came to London to study law, was called to the bar in 1844, and was made QC in 1856. In 1858, LordDerby being premier, he was appointed solicitor-general, and received a knighthood, having been member of parliament for Belfast since 1852. He now took a prominent position in parliament, was made attorney-general by LordDerby in 1866, and also lord justice of appeal, and the following year was raised to the upper house as Baron Cairns. In 1868 he became lordchancellor under Benjamin Disraeli, retiring with the fall of the government the same year. He strongly opposed the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and the Irish land legislation that immediately followed. In 1874 he again became lordchancellor under Benjamin Disraeli, and held this position during the six years that the administration lasted, being created Viscount Garmoyle and Earl Cairns in 1878. After 1880 he took less part in public affairs. Research Hugh M'Calmont
James Bryce was an Irish writer and politician. He was born in 1838 at Belfast and died after 1905. Educated at Glasgow, and Trinity College, Oxford, he became a fellow of Oriel College and a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and in 1870-1893 was regius professor of civil law at Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1880 as member for the Tower Hamlets division of London, and since 1885 represented South Aberdeen as a Liberal and Home Ruler, being Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Liberal ministry of 1892, and afterwards President of the Board of Trade. In 1905 he became Irish Secretary. His two most important works are The Holy Roman Empire (1864) and the American Commonwealth (1888); others are Transcaucasia and Ararat, and Impressions of South Africa. Research James Bryce
James Galway is an Irish flutist. He was born in 1939 at Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied at the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School in London, the Paris Conservatoire, and privately under French virtuoso flutists Jean Pierre Rampal and Marcel Moyse. Between 1961 and 1975 he played in the orchestras of Sadler's WellsOpera, Covent Garden Opera, the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1975 he launched his career as a concert soloist and made his debut in the USA in 1978. He became widely known through television appearances, an international concert schedule, and recordings ranging from classical and popular music to jazz and folk music. Research James Galway
Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer. He was born in 1667 in Dublin and died in 1745. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at KilkennyGrammar School and Dublin University. Secretary to Sir William Temple from 1689 until 1692 he went on to Oxford in 1692 and took his MA degree. In 1695 he was ordained as a priest and worked for a while at Kilroot, Belfast before returning to Moor Park. He wrote a number of biting satires, including his most famous work Gulliver's Travels which was an attack on the English society of the time. Research Jonathan Swift
Peter Guthrie Tait was a Scottish mathematician and physicist. He was born in 1831 at Dalkeith and died in 1901. Educated at Edinburgh University and at Porterhouse, Cambridge, he was appointed professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Belfast in 1854 and professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh in 1860, a post he held until almost his death. Research Peter Tait
Samuel Davidson was an Irish biblical scholar. He was born in 1807 and died in 1898. He studied at Glasgow and Belfast, entered the Presbyterian ministry, and was for a time a divinity professor at Belfast, afterwards joined the Congregationalists, and was a professor in their college at Manchester, but had to resign owing to his advanced theological views, and settled in London. His works include: Introduction to the New Testament; Introduction to the Old Testament; Biblical Criticism; translation of the New Testament, from Tischendorf's text; Canon of the Bible; Doctrine of Last Things. Research Samuel Davidson
Thomas Andrews was an Irish chemist. He was born in 1813 at Belfast and died in 1885. He studied chemistry at Glasgow under Thomas Thomson, and for a short time in Paris; then medicine at Belfast, Dublin, and Edinburgh, taking the degree of MD at the last place. After practising and teaching chemistry for ten years in Belfast, he was appointed vice-president of the Northern College there, which in 1849 was converted into Queen's College at which point he became president, and was professor of chemistry in Queens College from 1845 to 1879. He published important researches into the heat evolved and absorbed in chemical combinations, and in connection with the liquefaction of gases. Research Thomas Andrews
Thomas Stott was an Irish poet. He was born in 1755 at Hillsborough, County Down and died in 1829. He entered the linen bleaching business at Dromore, County Down and made a lot of money, while also writing poetry published in 'The Northern Star', 'Belfast Newsletter' and other local papers in Ireland and in England including 'The London Morning Post', usually under the pseudonym of 'Hafiz'. Research Thomas Stott
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