Biographies A-Z

Fitzwilliam, William Wentworth (1748–1833), 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam (GB), 4th Earl Fitzwilliam (Ire.), lord lieutenant of Ireland, was born William Fitzwilliam at Milton House, Peterborough, on 30 May 1748, the eldest son of William Fitzwilliam (1720–…

Flackes, William David (‘Billy’) (1921–93), journalist, was born 14 April 1921 in Bogay, Co. Donegal, son of William David Flackes, coachman and gardener, and Jane Flackes (née McGarvey). The family later moved to Jordanstown, on the outskirts of Belfast, where Billy (as he was always…

Flaherty, Bernard (Williams, Barney) (1823–76), actor, was born 20 July 1823 in the barracks, Cork, the son of Michael Flaherty. The family emigrated to America, where Michael became a grocer and later a boarding-house keeper near the Bowery, in Manhattan, New York. Bernard grew up…

Flaherty, Robert (1884–1951), filmmaker, was born 16 February 1884 in Iron Mountain, Michigan, eldest among seven children of Robert Flaherty, a protestant miner who had emigrated from Ireland by way of Quebec, and his catholic, German-born wife, Susan (née Kloeckner). Robert was…

Flaithbertach (d. 765), son of Loingsech and king of Tara, belonged to Cenél Conaill, a dynasty of the Uí Néill federation, which by the eighth century (if not earlier) had divided into Northern and Southern groupings. His father Loingsech (…

Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…

Flanagan, James Bernard (‘Jamie’) (1914–99), policeman, was born 15 January 1914 at 68 Bridge St., Derry city, son of James Flanagan, RIC sergeant, and Susan Flanagan (née McFeely). Educated locally, he joined the…

Flanagan, John J. (1873–1938), athlete, was born 9 January 1873 at Kilbreedy, Co. Limerick, son of Michael Flanagan of Kilbreedy. Having played inter-provincial hurling for Munster and won Irish and British titles throwing the hammer, a discipline of which his father had been a…

Flanagan, John Woulfe (1852–1929), journalist on The Times, was born 6 April 1852, the eldest of six sons and five daughters in the family of Stephen Woulfe Flanagan (1817–91), PC (Ire.), a judge of the landed estates court and owner of 3…

Flanagan, Oliver Joseph (1920–87), politician and catholic lay activist, was born 22 May 1920 in Mountmellick, Co. Laois, eldest of three sons of Charles Flanagan, stonemason, and Mary Flanagan (née Kelly); of his brothers, Ted became a carpenter and Charles a missionary priest.…

Flanagan, Pauline (1925–2003), actress, was born 29 June 1925 in Sligo town, youngest child of Patrick J. Flanagan and his wife Elizabeth (née McLynn). Her paternal family, originally from Co. Fermanagh, were driven out by anti‐catholic pogroms and resettled in Sligo, where her parents…

Flanagan, Seán (1922–93), GAA footballer and politician, was born 26 January 1922 in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, second eldest child among four sons and two daughters of Stanislaus Flanagan, national school teacher, and Ann Flanagan (née Spelman). He was educated at St Jarlath's…

Flanagan, Terence Philip ('T. P.'; 'Terry') (1929–2011), painter, was born 15 August 1929 at 18 The Hollow, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, the eldest among four sons and three daughters of William Flanagan and his wife Margaret (née Maguire). His father held a series of clerical jobs in…

Flann (d. 896), son of Lonán, was acknowledged by contemporary annalists as a poet of distinction, although his historical identity and career are hard to separate from later legend. His obit in the Annals of Inisfallen styles him rí filed nÉrenn (king of the poets of…

Flann (d. 979) son of Máel Máedóc, Leinster poet and airchinnech (superior) of Killeshin (Co. Laois), belonged to the Uí Máeluidir group of the Dál Cormaic Loisc branch of the Laigen, and is described in genealogies as ‘Flann fili m. Maíl Máedóc’, the son of…

Flannán (8th cent.), anchorite, founder of Killaloe, and saint in the Irish tradition, is traced to the north Munster dynasty of Dál Cais. His father, Tairdelbach son of Caidléne, himself accorded a reputation for sanctity, was an early ruler of In Déis Becc (in south-east Limerick…

Flann dá Chongal (d. 740?), son of Díummasach and king of Uí Fhailge, features prominently in the genealogies of Uí Fhailge, where he is represented as the common ancestor of a number of lineages including Clann Cholccan, Clann Chináeda, Clann Máel-ugrai, Clann Chairpri, and Uí…

Flannery, Austin (1925–2008), priest, scholar, editor, journalist and social justice campaigner, was born William ('Liam') Flannery on 10 January 1925 at Rear Cross, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of seven children of William K. Flannery and his wife Margaret Flannery (née Butler),…

Flannery, Martin Raymond (1941–2013), theoretical physicist, was born on 8 January 1941 in Claudy, Co. Londonderry, one of the younger children in a family of seven of James Flannery and Bridget Flannery (née Lohan). His parents were the two teachers in the primary school at Altahoney,…

Flannery, Michael (1902–94), Irish-American republican activist, was born in January 1902 in Knockshegowna, near Roscrea, in north Co. Tipperary, the sixth of seven children. His paternal grandfather was evicted three times during the period of the famine, his father was active in…

Flannery, Thomas J. (Ó Flannghaile, Tomás) (1846–1916), Irish-language scholar and revivalist, was born 5 April 1846 in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, second son of Pádraig Ó Flannghaile and his wife Sadhbh Ní Chlochartaigh. He began his education under Peadar Ó hOisín, a local schoolmaster.…

Flann Mainistrech (‘of the monastery’) (d. 1056), lector (head of the monastic school) of Monasterboice, and one of the most distinguished poets and historians of pre-Norman Ireland, belonged to the Cianachta of Brega. His father is identified as Echthigern son of Óengus; his…

Flann Sinna (‘of the Shannon’) (d. 916), son of Máel-Sechnaill and king of Tara, was a member of the Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Southern Uí Néill. His father Máel-Sechnaill (qv) had died as king of Tara in 862; his mother was Lann…

Flattisbury, Philip (fl. 1500–1519), compiler and antiquary, was from a Co. Kildare family and was an adherent of the earls of Kildare. He is remembered for two works completed for the earls in the early 1500s. In 1503 he commenced work on a collection of documents dealing…

Fleetwood, Charles (d. 1692), soldier and lord deputy of Ireland, was third son of Sir Miles Fleetwood of Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England, and his wife Anne, daughter of Nicholas Luke of Woodend, Bedfordshire. After being admitted to Gray's Inn (30 November 1638), he became a…