# List of people from Belfast

This is a list of notable people born, raised or resident in Belfast.

## Arts

* Derek Bell (1935–2002), harpist and composer
* Eric Bell (born 1947), guitarist; former member of Them and Thin Lizzy
* James Bingham (1925–2009), artist
* Doris Blair (1915–2011), artist
* Kenneth Branagh (born 1960), actor and director
* Jake Burns (born 1958), musician (Stiff Little Fingers)
* Vivian Campbell (born 1962), musician (Dio, Def Leppard)
* Ciaran Carson (1948–2019), poet and novelist
* George Cassidy (1936–2023), musician
* Catoan, band
* Nathan Connolly (born 1981), musician (Snow Patrol)
* Mairtín Crawford (1967–2004), poet
* Gerald Dawe (born 1952), poet
* Gerald Dillon (1916–1971), artist
* Laura Donnelly (born 1982), actress
* Jamie Dornan (born 1982), actor
* Barry Douglas (born 1960), concert pianist
* Garth Ennis (born 1970), comics writer
* Padraic Fiacc (1924–2019), poet
* Olga Fielden (1903–1973), playwright and novelist
* James Galway (born 1939), musician
* Joe Graham (1944–2021), writer and historian
* Stuart Graham (born 1967), actor
* Ceara Grehan, theatre and opera singer
* Karen Hassan (born 1981), actress
* Kaz Hawkins (born 1973), musician
* Hector Heathwood (born 1957), photographer of erotica, fetish and burlesque
* Paul Henry (1876–1958), painter
* John Hewitt (1907–1987), poet
* Ciarán Hinds (born 1953), actor
* P.J. Holden (born 1969), comic artist
* David Holmes (born 1969), DJ
* Brian Desmond Hurst (1895–1986), film director
* Oliver Jeffers (born 1977), artist
* Brian Keenan (born 1950), hostage and writer
* Ian Knox (born 1943) comic artist and political cartoonist
* Sam Kydd (1915–1982), actor
* Ben Kyle (born 1981), musician, leader of Romantica
* Sir John Lavery (1856–1941), artist
* C.S. Lewis (1898–1963), author and scholar
* Michael Longley (born 1939), poet
* Ian Masterson, musician
* Paul Masterson, music producer
* Gerry McAvoy (born 1951), musician
* Christopher McCafferty, DJ, club promoter
* Gerard McCarthy (born 1981), actor and television presenter
* John McCrea (born 1966), comic artist
* Ian McDonald (born 1960), science fiction author
* Siobhán McKenna (1922–1986), actress
* Ali McMordie (born 1959), musician (Stiff Little Fingers)
* Katie Melua (born 1984), musician
* Seaneen Molloy, blogger and columnist
* Brian Moore (1921–1999), novelist
* Gary Moore (1952–2011), musician, blues and rock guitarist formerly of Thin Lizzy
* Van Morrison (born 1945), musician
* Clara Mulholland (1849–1934), writer
* Ruby Murray (1935–1996), singer/actress
* Doc Neeson (1947–2014), musician
* Una O'Connor (1880–1959), actress
* Jonjo O'Neill (born 1952), actor
* Patricia Quinn (born 1944), actress in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
* Stephen Rea (born 1946), actor
* Bob Shaw (1931–1996), science fiction author
* Duke Special (born 1971), musician
* Bronágh Taggart, actress
* Austin Trevor (1897–1978), actor
* Rachel Tucker (born 1981), actress (West End)
* And So I Watch You From Afar (formed 2005) instrumental math rock band

## Business

* Thomas Andrews, shipbuilder
* Andrew Mulholland, flax manufacturer
* William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, shipbuilder and politician
* Frank Carson, comedian
* Nauheed Cyrusi, actress, model, VJ
* Mary Gormley, beauty queen (Miss Universe Ireland 2000)
* John Kelly, coal merchant, shipowner
* Sir Samuel Kelly, coal merchant, shipowner
* Mickey Marley, street entertainer
* Declan Mulholland, actor
* Ruby Murray, singer
* Holly Quin-Ankrah, actress
* Roy Walker, comedian
* Adrian Zagoritis, songwriter

## Law

* Robert James McMordie, Irish barrister, politician, and Lord Mayor of Belfast
* Professor Denis Moloney, solicitor

## Media

* Gerry Anderson (1944–2014), radio and TV presenter; born and raised in Derry
* Christine Bleakley (born 1979), TV presenter; born in Newry; grew up in Newtownards
* Andrea Catherwood (born 1967), newsreader; born and raised in Belfast
* Eamonn Holmes (born 1959), television presenter; born and raised in Belfast
* John Irvine, broadcast journalist; born and raised in Belfast
* Shauna Lowry (born 1970), television presenter; born and raised in Belfast
* Abeer Macintyre (born 1964), television and radio presenter; born in Amman and moved to Belfast in 1969
* Lyra McKee (1990–2019), journalist; born and raised in Belfast
* Colin Murray (born 1977), radio DJ and journalist; born and raised in Belfast
* Denis Murray (born 1951), broadcast journalist; born in Worcestershire and raised in Belfast
* Bill Neely (born 1959), broadcast journalist; born and raised in Belfast
* Stephen Nolan (born 1973), radio and TV presenter DJ; born and raised in Belfast
* Julian Simmons (born 1952), UTV, TV presenter and public figure; born in Kent and raised in Belfast
* Fionnuala Sweeney, CNN presenter and reporter; born and raised in Belfast

## Military

* Bryan Budd, soldier and posthumous Victoria Cross recipient
* Patrick Carlin, Victoria Cross recipient
* Colonel Tim Collins, former commander, Royal Irish Regiment, British Army
* James Joseph Magennis, submariner and Victoria Cross recipient
* William Frederick McFadzean, soldier and posthumous Victoria Cross recipient

## Politics

* Gerry Adams (born 1948), republican political leader
* Paddy Ashdown (1941–2018), former leader of the Liberal Democrats; born in New Delhi, brought up near Comber
* Tony Banks (1942–2006), later Lord Stratford, politician; born in Befast, grew up in London
* Sarah "Venie" Barr, political and community activist
* May Blood, Baroness Blood (1938–2022), Labour member of the House of Lords
* Robert Bradford (1941–1981), assassinated unionist politician; born in Limavady
* Sir William Cairns (1826–1886), colonial administrator and Governor of Queensland, Australia
* Mairead Corrigan (born 1944), Nobel Laureate (Peace)
* James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon (1871–1940), Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
* Reg Empey (born 1947), unionist political leader
* Frank Gault (1826–1896), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Gerry Fitt (1926–2005), later Lord Fitt, nationalist political leader
* Chaim Herzog (1918–1997), sixth President of Israel
* Mary McAleese (born 1951), eighth President of Ireland
* David McCalden (1951–1990), far-right activist and AIDS victim
* Arlene McCarthy (born 1960), politician; Member of the European Parliament for North West England for the Labour Party from 1994 to 2014
* Henry Joy McCracken (1765–1798), leading member of the Society of the United Irishmen
* Adam McGibbon (born 1988), environmentalist and writer
* Julia McMordie (1860–1942), Ulster Unionist Party politician; first female High Sheriff of Belfast; born in Hartlepool
* Peter Robinson (born 1948), unionist political leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland
* Bobby Sands (1954–1981), anti H-Block MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone; hunger striker
* David Trimble (1944–2022), Nobel Peace Prize winner; first First Minister of Northern Ireland
* Betty Williams (1943–2020), Nobel Laureate (Peace)

## Religious

* William Conway (1913–1977), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh
* Henry Cooke (1788–1868), Presbyterian minister
* Robin Eames (born 1936), Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh

## Science

* Thomas Andrews (1813–1885), chemist and physicist
* Isobel Agnes Arbuthnot (1870–1963), botanist and botanical collector based in South Africa
* John Stewart Bell (1928–1990), physicist
* Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943), astronomer (discoverer of pulsars); born in Lurgan
* Sidney Elisabeth Croskery (1901–1990), doctor; born in Gortgranagh, Killinure, County Tyrone
* John Boyd Dunlop (1840–1921), inventor and veterinary surgeon; born in Dreghorn, North Ayrshire, and studied to be a veterinary surgeon at the Dick Vet, University of Edinburgh, moving to Downpatrick, Ireland in 1867
* George Crawford Hyndman (1796–1867), biologist
* Charles Lanyon (1813–1889), architect; born in Eastbourne, Sussex; moved to Antrim in 1836 to become county surveyor until 1860; elected Mayor of Belfast in 1862
* William Lewis (1885–1956), Professor of Physical Chemistry, Liverpool; propounded collision theory
* Samuel Martin Stephenson (1742–1833), prominent Belfast doctor who founded a hospital, the medical society and medical school
* William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), mathematical physicist, engineer, and leader in the physical sciences of the 19th century

## Sport

* Tom Armstrong, football player
* George Best, football player
* Billy Bingham, football player and manager
* Danny Blanchflower, football player
* William Clay, football player
* Sammy Clingan, pro footballer
* Ray Close, boxer
* David Cullen, basketball player and 2007 winner of the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award at the ESPY awards for work with Peace Players International
* Joey Dunlop, international motorcycle champion
* Dave Finlay, professional wrestler
* Johnny Flynn, football player
* John Graham, NASCAR driver
* David Healy, football player
* Alex Higgins, former world snooker champion
* Eddie Irvine, Formula One driver
* Damaen Kelly, former professional boxer and Olympic bronze medalist
* Jim Magilton, football player and manager
* Wayne McCullough, former world champion boxer and Olympic medalist
* Alexander McDonnell, early 19th-century chess master
* Sammy McIlroy, football player
* Eric McMordie, football player
* Rinty Monaghan, former undisputed world flyweight boxing champion
* Alanna Nihell, boxer
* Owen Nolan, Ice hockey player
* Andrew Patterson, cricketer
* Mark Patterson, cricketer
* Mary Peters, athlete and Olympic gold medalist
* Paul Stirling, cricketer
* Tucker, professional wrestler
* John Watson, Formula One driver
* Norman Whiteside, football player

## Other

* John Bodkin Adams (1899–1982), doctor and suspected serial killer; born and raised in Randalstown; attended Queen's University Belfast; obtained post as general practitioner in Eastbourne in 1922
* Hamish Kippen (1987–2008), Canadian fashion photographer and former junior athlete; born in Belfast, emigrated with family to Toronto in 1989
* Alexander Robinson (c. 1901–1995), boxer and loyalist paramilitary; born and lived in Belfast