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.
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 loyalist — 272.1× the global rate.
Belfast under-produces painter — only 0.5× the global rate.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Writing
- Science
- Music
- Other
- Filtered to 1910s Clear ×
Chaim Herzog
1918 - 1997
William Conway (cardinal)
1913 - 1977
John Herivel
1918 - 2011
Seamus Twomey
1919 - 1989
William Bedell Stanford
1910 - 1984
Sam Kydd
1915 - 1982
Davis McCaughey
1914 - 2005
Gerard Dillon
1916 - 1971
Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry
1919 - 1999
Colin Middleton
1910 - 1983
Artie Bell
1914 - 1972
Maurice Gibson
1913 - 1987
Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin
1910 - 1991
James Joseph Magennis
1919 - 1986
Jackie Vernon (footballer)
1918 - 1981
Ronnie Adams
1916 - 2004
Sam Thompson (playwright)
1916 - 1965
William McGrath
1916 - 1992
Harry Baird (footballer)
1913 - 1973
Sammy McManus
1911 - 1976
Robin Kinahan
1916 - 1997
Jackie Brown (footballer)
1914 - 1990
Cecil Allan
1914 - 2003
Ray Davey
1915 - 2012
J. C. Beckett
1912 - 1996
Herbert Kirk
1912 - 2006
Frank Pierce
1915 - 1999
Maurice Canning Wilks
1910 - 1984
John Armstrong (archbishop of Armagh)
1915 - 1987
Sydney Sparkes Orr
1914 - 1966
Walter Rusk
1910 - 1940
Edward Boyce (athlete)
1913 - 1938
Billy Hull
Born 1912
Betty Sinclair
1910 - 1981
Jimmy Warnock
1912 - 1987
Muriel Kennett Wales
1913 - 2009
Mercy Hunter
1910 - 1989
Robert Alexander (rugby union and cricket)
1910 - 1943
Sam Walker (rugby union)
1912 - 1972
Walter McMillen
1913 - 1987
John Boyd (Dramatiker)
1912 - 2002
Con Lehane (Irish republican)
1911 - 1983
William Hood (footballer)
1914 - 1992
Norman Kernaghan
1917 - 1997
Jimmy McAlinden
1917 - 1993
Malcolm Butler (Irish footballer)
1913 - 1987
Vic Aicken
1914 - 1972
Sam Kirkwood
1910 - 1980
John Graham (Irish republican)
1915 - 1997
Philip Watson
1919 - 2009
Joseph Barnes (Irish doctor)
1914 - 2017
John Adair (arbitre)
Born 1919
Harry McKibbin
1915 - 2001
Bill Corkhill
1910 - 1978
Tommy Priestley
1911 - 1985
Séamus McFerran
1916 - 1968
Jimmy Walsh (Antrim hurler)
1911 - 2008
Charles Posnett
1914 - 1997
Thomas McMurray
1911 - 1964
Thomas Newburn
1918 - 2003
Alfred McMurray
1914 - 1988
William Christie (Ulster politician)
1913 - 2008
Boy Martin
1914 - 1991
Doris Blair
Born 1915
Max McCready
1918 - 1994
John Lavery (footballer, born 1919)
Born 1919