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 1920s Clear ×
John Stewart Bell
1928 - 1990
Brian Moore (novelist)
1921 - 1999
Danny Blanchflower
1926 - 1993
Siobhán McKenna
1923 - 1986
James White (author)
1928 - 1999
Joe Cahill
1920 - 2004
Gerry Fitt
1926 - 2005
Brendan Smyth
1927 - 1997
John Cole (journalist)
1927 - 2013
Jack Kyle
1926 - 2014
Elizabeth Shaw (artist)
1920 - 1992
George G. Hall
1925 - 2018
Charlie Tully
1924 - 1971
Alf McMichael
1927 - 2006
Jim McFadden
1920 - 2002
J. J. Murphy (actor)
1928 - 2014
Billy Simpson
1929 - 2017
Rinty Monaghan
1920 - 1984
Len Graham (footballer)
1925 - 2007
Desmond Fennell
Born 1929
Frank Carson
1926 - 2012
Gordon Foster
1921 - 2010
Sam McAughtry
1921 - 2014
Sammy McCrory
1924 - 2011
Billy McKee
1921 - 2019
Margaret Guilfoyle
1926 - 2020
Cecil Walker
1924 - 2007
Paddy Devlin
1925 - 1999
Jimmy Bruen
1920 - 1972
Donald Acheson
1926 - 2010
Sammy Smyth
1925 - 2016
Hugh Shields
1929 - 2008
Cromie McCandless
1921 - 1992
Mary Beckett
1926 - 2013
Kevin McAlinden
Born 1920
R. J. G. Savage
1927 - 1998
Billy McMillen
1927 - 1975
Joan Turner
1922 - 2009
Roy Bradford
1921 - 1998
David Robinson (horticulturist)
1928 - 2004
Deborah Brown
Born 1927
Phil Solomon (music executive)
1924 - 2011
Sammy Smyth (loyalist)
1929 - 1976
Brian McConnell, Baron McConnell
1922 - 2000
John Johnston (econometrician)
1923 - 2003
James Bingham
1925 - 2009
Jack Agnew
1922 - 2010
Billy McComb
1922 - 2006
Denis Martin
1920 - 1988
Derek Fielding
1929 - 2014
Andy Thompson (Canadian politician)
1924 - 2016
Tommy Dickson
1929 - 2007
John Aiken (RAF officer)
1921 - 2005
Donald Murray (judge)
1923 - 2018
Cecil Moore (soccer)
Born 1926
Robin Boyd (theologian)
1924 - 2018
Proinsias MacCana
1926 - 2004
Bill Collins (footballer, born 1920)
1920 - 2010
Norman Lockhart (footballer)
1924 - 1993
Bobby Brennan
1925 - 2002
Sarah Conlon
1926 - 2008
David Agnew (footballer)
1925 - 1966
Chuck Faulkner
1922 - 2000
Jimmy Nelson (rugby player)
1921 - 2014
Patrick Horsbrugh
1920 - 2014
Jimmy Todd
1921 - 2007
Victor Milligan
1929 - 2009
Kevin Armstrong
1922 - 1992
Johnny McKenna
1926 - 1980
Jim Feeney
1921 - 1985
Tony McShane
1927 - 2012
Bobby McIlvenny
1926 - 2016
H. Douglas Keith
1927 - 2003
Lloyd Hall-Thompson
1920 - 1992
Anne Crookshank
1927 - 2016
Patrick Thursby
1922 - 1994
Clancy McDermott
1920 - 2007
Larry Warke
1927 - 1989
Bobby McLaughlin
1925 - 2003
Stuart Pollock
1920 - 2017
Gerry Burrell
1924 - 2014
Robert Forsythe
Born 1925
Eddie Marks
1924 - 1966
Wilson Scott
1927 - 2018
Noel Campbell (hurler)
1920 - 1985
Terry McCavana
1921 - 2015
Hugh Ferguson (footballer)
1926 - 1994
William McKee
1926 - 1982
William Arthur Harland
1926 - 1985
Paddy McIlvenny (footballer, born 1924)
1924 - 2013
Jack Shearer (priest)
1926 - 2001
Billy Smyth
1925 - 2005
Lily Spence
Born 1924
David Proctor (footballer, born 1929)
Born 1929
William Hosmer
1925 - 2002