54.5964° N, 5.9301° W

BELFAST

Most Famous People Born in Belfast, United Kingdom

Notable people
1,393
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1949
Most distinctive
Loyalist 272.1×

A divided city whose most distinctive profession in the entire dataset, at more than two hundred times the global rate, is loyalist — paired with republican at more than thirty, the statistical footprint of the Troubles. Belfast's other distinctive shelves are boxers, rugby players (grouped as 'player'), footballers, and cricketers at concentrations that outpace every other city on the island. Van Morrison, George Best, Kenneth Branagh, and C.S. Lewis all grew up within walking distance of the Lagan, and the 19th-century shipbuilding establishment that built the Titanic anchors the older half of the bench.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Belfast during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 179 notable births.

What Belfast Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Belfast's biggest profession — 23% of all notables (321).

Belfast over-indexes on loyalist272.1× the global rate.

Belfast under-produces painter — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Football321
  2. Politician160
  3. Actor77
  4. Player59
  5. Boxer36
  6. Cricket34
  7. Writer32
  8. Sport28
  1. Loyalist21272.1×
  2. Republican1632.3×
  3. Boxer366.5×
  4. Player592.2×
  5. Football3212.1×
  6. Cricket341.9×
  1. Painter180.5×
  2. Writer320.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Belfast's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All1,393
Sort By

Showing 39 of 1,393 notable people

0045 POLITICIAN

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon

1871 - 1940

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0147 PAINTER

Paul Henry (painter)

1876 - 1958

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0159 NOVELIST

Forrest Reid

1875 - 1947

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0181 WRITER

Robert Wilson Lynd

1879 - 1949

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0204 PHYSICIST

Alfred Robb

1873 - 1936

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0290 ZOOLOGIST

John Stanley Gardiner

1872 - 1946

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0313 POLITICIAN

Frederick C. Alderdice

1872 - 1936

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0424 POLITICIAN

Joseph Devlin

1871 - 1934

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0449 DIPLOMAT

Frederick Maze

1871 - 1959

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0469 FOOTBALL

Tommy Morrison (footballer, born 1874)

1874 - 1940

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0472 AUTHOR

James Cousins

1873 - 1956

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0512 AUTHOR

Joseph Campbell (poet)

1879 - 1944

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0527 PLAYWRIGHT

J. B. Fagan

1873 - 1933

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0579 PLAYER

Tom McGown

1876 - 1956

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0652 SKIPPER

Charles Macleod-Robertson

1870 - 1951

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0742 FOOTBALL

Pat Reilly

1873 - 1937

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0749 POLITICIAN

Thomas Moles

1871 - 1937

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0817 POLITICIAN

Dawson Bates

1876 - 1949

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0851 POET

Elizabeth Shane

1877 - 1951

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0864 POLITICIAN

Thomas Loftus Cole

1877 - 1961

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0869 JUDGE

Thomas Joseph Campbell

1871 - 1946

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0875 PRIEST

John Hind (bishop in Fukien)

1879 - 1958

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0905 ENGINEER

Henry Dunlop

1876 - 1931

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0931 FOOTBALL

Bob Crone

1870 - 1943

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0966 CHEMIST

Samuel Smiles (Chemiker)

1877 - 1953

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1096 POLITICIAN

John Donovan (Irish politician)

1878 - 1922

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1101 PRIEST

John Crozier (bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry)

1879 - 1966

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1119 FOOTBALL

Gideon Baird

1877 - 1897

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1138 PHYSICIAN

Henry MacCormac (dermatologist)

1879 - 1950

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1189 MISSING

James Hanna McCormick

1875 - 1955

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1220 PLAYER

James Lytle

1875 - 1928

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1233 WRITER

Charles Barry (écrivain)

1877 - 1963

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1272 FOOTBALL

Alec McCartney

1879 - 1968

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1279 PAINTER

Jack Morrow

1872 - 1926

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1285 NAVY

Thomas Cahey

1870 - 1935

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1291 FOOTBALL

Jack Taggart

1872 - 1927

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1324 FOOTBALL

Ezekiel Johnston

1871 - 1942

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1340 FOOTBALL

Bill Purves

1870 - 1900

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1368 FOOTBALL

Charles Creighton (referee)

1876 - 1949

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