53.3495° N, 6.2602° W

DUBLIN

Most Famous People Born in Dublin, Ireland

Notable people
3,490
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1946
Most distinctive
Cricket 2.6×

A city defined by what it sends abroad and what it keeps at home. Dublin's notables are split almost in two: a literary tradition that the rest of the English-speaking world claims as its own — Wilde, Shaw, Beckett, Swift, Burke — and a sporting culture in Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie that exists almost exclusively on the island itself. The result is a profession mix that looks both unusually international and unusually local at the same time.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Dublin during each.

What Dublin Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Dublin's biggest profession — 21% of all notables (746).

Dublin over-indexes on cricket2.6× the global rate.

  1. Football746
  2. Politician316
  3. Actor234
  4. Player179
  5. Cricket118
  6. Writer108
  7. Singer95
  8. Painter92
  1. Cricket1182.6×
  2. Player1792.6×
  3. Football7461.9×
  4. Author501.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Dublin's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Music
  • Other
All3,490
Sort By

Showing 18 of 3,490 notable people

0055 POLITICIAN

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

1737 - 1805

Preview
0416 OFFICER

Henry Hamilton (governor)

1734 - 1796

Preview
0526 LAWYER

George Bryan

1731 - 1791

Preview
0534 PAINTER

George Barret Sr.

1730 - 1784

Preview
0551 PLAYWRIGHT

Isaac Bickerstaffe

1733 - 1812

Preview
0805 GOVERNOR

Hugo Oconór

1732 - 1779

Preview
1006 PAINTER

Peter Mazell

1733 - 1808

Preview
1145 POLITICIAN

Matthew Locke (U.S. Congress)

1730 - 1801

Preview
1200 ENGRAVER

Edward Fisher (engraver)

1730 - 1785

Preview
1307 OFFICER

Josiah Martin

1737 - 1786

Preview
1852 COMPOSER

Charles Thomas Carter

1735 - 1804

Preview
1979 PAINTER

Robert Carver (painter)

1730 - 1791

Preview
2003 HISTORIAN

Edward Ledwich

1738 - 1823

Preview
2159 ENGRAVER

Richard Purcell

1736 - 1766

Preview
2202 PAINTER

Henry Brooke (artist)

1738 - 1806

Preview
2402 BIOGRAPHER

John Carteret Pilkington

1730 - 1763

Preview
2586 MERCHANT

James Delamain

1738 - 1800

Preview
3204 ACTOR

John Henry (actor)

1738 - 1794

Preview