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
- Field: Actor Clear ×
Kenneth Branagh
Born 1960
Ciarán Hinds
Born 1953
Stephen Rea
Born 1946
Paula Malcomson
Born 1970
Una O'Connor (actress)
1880 - 1959
Warren Christie
Born 1975
Ian McElhinney
Born 1948
Patricia Quinn
Born 1944
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Born 1966
Siobhán McKenna
1923 - 1986
Michael Smiley
Born 1963
Laura Donnelly (actress)
Born 1982
James McCaffrey (actor)
Born 1959
Mark Ryder
Born 1989
Moyna Macgill
1895 - 1975
Geraldine Hughes
Born 1970
Martin McCann (actor)
Born 1983
Shane Brolly
Born 1970
Ian Beattie
Born 1965
Bríd Brennan
Born 1955
Albert Sharpe
1885 - 1970
Frances Tomelty
Born 1948
Larry Holden
1961 - 2011
Austin Trevor
1897 - 1978
Eileen Percy
1900 - 1973
Rachel Tucker
Born 1981
Karen Hassan
Born 1981
Damian O'Hare
Born 1977
Stuart Graham (actor)
Born 1967
Zara Turner
Born 1968
Harish Patel
Born 1950
Jenn Murray
Born 1986
James Greene (Northern Irish actor)
Born 1931
Sam Kydd
1915 - 1982
Anthony Boyle
Born 1994
J. J. Murphy (actor)
1928 - 2014
Geraldine O'Rawe
Born 1971
Declan Mulholland
1932 - 1999
Conor MacNeill
Born 1988
Kate Thompson (romantic novelist)
Born 1959
Gerard McCarthy
Born 1981
Derek Thompson (actor)
Born 1948
James Ellis (actor)
1931 - 2014
John Travers (actor)
Born 1989
Glen Wallace
Born 1976
Gerald Home
Born 1950
Nauheed Cyrusi
Born 1982
Marie Jones
Born 1951
Barry McEvoy
Born 1967
Eileen Pollock
Born 1947
Jonjo O'Neill (actor)
Born 1978
Gerard Jordan
-
Harold Goldblatt
1899 - 1982
Joan Turner
1922 - 2009
Pat Bishop
1946 - 2000
Niall Wright
Born 1991
J. G. Devlin
1907 - 1991
Hagan Beggs
1937 - 2016
Harry Rosenthal
1893 - 1953
Holly Quin-Ankrah
Born 1987
Rosena Brown
Born 1945
Omar Sani
Born 1969
Jonathan Harden
Born 1979
Patrick O'Kane
Born 1965
Tara Lynne O'Neill
Born 1975
Paul Loughran
Born 1969
Derek Lord
Born 1947
Brian Rooney (actor)
Born 1972
Sean Caffrey
1940 - 2013
John Fegan (actor)
1907 - 1981
Thelma Percy
1903 - 1970
Leah MacRae
-
Chuck Faulkner
1922 - 2000
Gerard McCabe
Born 1980
Dan Gordon (actor)
Born 1961
Dara Coleman
Born 1972
Josie Walker
Born 1970