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 1940s Clear ×
George Best
1946 - 2005
Van Morrison
Born 1945
Gerry Adams
Born 1948
Stephen Rea
Born 1946
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Born 1943
Mairead Maguire
Born 1944
Betty Williams (Nobel laureate)
1943 - 2020
Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)
Born 1948
Alex Higgins
1949 - 2010
Ian McElhinney
Born 1948
Patricia Quinn
Born 1944
John Watson (racing driver)
Born 1946
Eric Bell
Born 1947
Martin Waddell
Born 1941
Derek Mahon
1941 - 2020
Tony Banks, Baron Stratford
1942 - 2006
Frances Tomelty
Born 1948
Ciaran Carson
1948 - 2019
Terry Neill
Born 1942
David McWilliams (musician)
1945 - 2002
Kate Hoey
Born 1946
Mike Gibson (rugby union)
Born 1942
Shaun Davey
Born 1948
Bernard MacLaverty
Born 1942
W. Brian Arthur
Born 1946
Denis MacEoin
Born 1949
Iris Robinson
Born 1949
Noel Sharkey
Born 1945
Brendan Hughes
1948 - 2008
George Armstrong (footballer)
1944 - 2000
Sammy Nelson
Born 1949
Reg Empey
Born 1947
Pat Finucane
1949 - 1989
William M. Anderson
Born 1948
Brian Mawhinney
1940 - 2019
Pat Rice
Born 1949
Doc Neeson
1947 - 2014
Shaw Clifton
Born 1945
Freddie Scappaticci
Born 1946
Bryan Hamilton
Born 1946
Lou Martin
1949 - 2012
Sam McBratney
1943 - 2020
Martin Dillon
Born 1949
Ralph Bryans
1942 - 2014
Stewart Parker
1941 - 1988
Christopher J. H. Wright
Born 1947
Eric Wrixon
1947 - 2015
Leslie Megahey
Born 1944
Jim McCourt
Born 1944
James Morwood
1943 - 2017
Derek Thompson (actor)
Born 1948
Tom Burns (bishop)
Born 1944
Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Born 1944
Stephen Myers
Born 1946
Nuala Ahern
Born 1949
Jim Boyce
Born 1944
Tommy Jackson (footballer, born 1946)
Born 1946
John Cushnahan
Born 1948
Samuel Patterson
Born 1948
Anthony Farquhar
Born 1940
John Wilson (drummer)
Born 1947
Damien Magee
Born 1945
Martin Harvey
1941 - 2019
Derek Lundy
Born 1946
Charles C. Adams Jr.
Born 1947
Kenneth Montgomery
Born 1943
Jimmy Nicholson
Born 1943
Robert P. Gordon
Born 1945
Wallace Browne, Baron Browne of Belmont
Born 1947
George Cassidy (bishop)
Born 1942
Eileen Pollock
Born 1947
Mike Bull
Born 1946
Roy Coyle
Born 1946
Jim Armstrong (guitarist)
Born 1944
Sammy Duddy
1945 - 2007
David Craig (Northern Irish footballer)
Born 1944
William Moore (loyalist)
1949 - 2009
Ernie Graham
1946 - 2001
Michael Coey
Born 1945
Roy Walker (comedian)
Born 1940
Jack Holland (writer)
1947 - 2004
Kevin McAlea
Born 1949
Seamus Finnegan
Born 1949
Sammy Morgan
Born 1946
Anne Gregg
1940 - 2006
Inez McCormack
1943 - 2013
David Hopkins
Born 1949
Dermot Nesbitt
Born 1947
William Boyd McCleary
Born 1949
Pat Bishop
1946 - 2000
Robin Newton
Born 1945
Gerry Kelly (broadcaster)
Born 1948
Larry Marley
1945 - 1987
Martin Meehan (Irish republican)
1945 - 2007
Tom Hartley
Born 1945
Andy Tyrie
Born 1940
Richard Lloyd (racing driver)
1945 - 2008
Eric McMordie
Born 1942
Rosena Brown
Born 1945
Gordon Burns
Born 1942
Paddy Maguire (boxer)
Born 1948
Elizabeth Weir
Born 1948
Paddy Morgan
Born 1943
Derek Lord
Born 1947
Cedric Wilson
Born 1948
Philip Caves
1940 - 1978
Jackie McDonald
Born 1947
Sean Caffrey
1940 - 2013
Joe McCann
1947 - 1972
Brian Nelson (Northern Irish loyalist)
1949 - 2003
William Marchant (loyalist)
1948 - 1987
Paul Magee
Born 1948
Ronnie Briggs
1943 - 2008
Robert Bates (loyalist)
1948 - 1997
Davy Payne
1949 - 2003
Danny Trainor
1944 - 1974
Jeff Dudgeon
Born 1946
Des Rea
1944 - 2016
Kenny McClinton
Born 1947
Wendy Millar
Born 1944
Walter McFarland
1945 - 2014
John Moles
1949 - 2015
Alan Chambers (Northern Ireland politician)
Born 1947
Hugh Smyth
1941 - 2014
David Sloan (politician)
Born 1949
George Campbell (Australian politician)
Born 1943
Peter McVerry
Born 1944
Christopher Harte
Born 1949
Ken Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)
Born 1942
John Cowan (footballer)
Born 1949
Sammy Todd
Born 1945
Billy Campbell (Northern Irish footballer)
Born 1944
David Catherwood
Born 1946
Alan Campbell (footballer, born 1944)
Born 1944
Donna Armstrong
Born 1949
Michael Moriarty (judge)
Born 1946
George Jones (radio presenter)
Born 1943
Johnny Johnston (footballer)
Born 1947
Jimmy McGeough
Born 1944
Ray Gaston
Born 1946
Roy Walsh
Born 1949
Jimmy Potter
Born 1941
Sammy McMillan
Born 1941
Jim Dougal
1945 - 2010
Peter Rafferty
Born 1948
Albert Larmour
Born 1947
Alan McNeill
Born 1945
Eric Welsh (footballer)
Born 1942
Gillie Mc Pherson
Born 1949
Cyril W. Wilkinson
Born 1940
John Anderson (producer)
Born 1948
Norman Patterson (soccer)
1945 - 2012
Billy McKeag
Born 1945
Johnny Jamison
Born 1948
Graham Crothers
Born 1949
John Higgins (bowls)
Born 1941