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
Painter18
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Showing 18 of 1,393 notable people

0037 PAINTER

John Lavery

1856 - 1941

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0147 PAINTER

Paul Henry (painter)

1876 - 1958

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0338 PAINTER

Henry Arthur McArdle

1836 - 1908

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0371 PAINTER

Gerard Dillon

1916 - 1971

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0389 PAINTER

Colin Middleton

1910 - 1983

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0433 PAINTER

Muriel Brandt

1909 - 1981

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0493 PAINTER

John Luke (artist)

1906 - 1975

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0543 PAINTER

Anne Donnelly

Born 1932

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0595 PAINTER

Colin Davidson (artist)

Born 1968

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0621 PAINTER

Andrew Nicholl

1804 - 1886

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0641 PAINTER

Thomas Carr (artist)

1909 - 1999

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0675 PAINTER

Rita Duffy

Born 1959

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0690 PAINTER

James Ward (Irish artist)

1851 - 1924

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0726 PAINTER

James Bingham

1925 - 2009

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0730 PAINTER

Maurice Canning Wilks

1910 - 1984

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0849 PAINTER

Mercy Hunter

1910 - 1989

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0971 PAINTER

Padraig Marrinan

1906 - 1975

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1279 PAINTER

Jack Morrow

1872 - 1926

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