Biographies A-Z

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Iarlaithe (Jarlath)

Iarlaithe (Jarlath) (fl. c.550), founder and first bishop of Tuam, and a saint in the Irish tradition, is traced to the Conmaicne of Connacht. According to the genealogies, his father was Lug son of Dana, who belonged to the Conmaicne, and his mother was Mongfinn…

Ibar (Ibhar, Iberius, Ivory)

Ibar (Ibhar, Iberius, Ivory) (d. 500?), bishop and founder of Becc-Ériu and a saint in the Irish tradition, was probably of Ulster origin. The genealogies give his father as Lugna son of Corc, who, according to the strongest tradition, was a dynast of the East Ulster Uí Echach. Ibar's…

Iliff, William Angus Boyd

Iliff, William Angus Boyd (1898–1972), civil servant and administrator, was born 2 October 1898 in Kircubbin, Co. Down, son of John Boyd Iliff, local merchant, and Emily Iliff (née Browne). He was educated at Mountjoy School, Dublin, before attending the Cadet College, Wellington,…

Illann

Illann (d. 527?), son of Dúnlaing and putatively overking of Leinster, was an early representative of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Dúnlaing (qv) son of Énnae Nia, allegedly a grandson of Bressal Bélach, is eponymous ancestor of the…

Ímar (Ívaar)

Ímar (Ívaar) (d. 873), son of Gofraid, was joint king of the Scandinavians of Dublin. The Irish annals record that he came to Ireland around the mid ninth century and became joint ruler of viking Dublin with Amlaíb Find (Olaf the White). According to some accounts, Ímar, Amlaíb,…

Ímar (Ívaar)

Ímar (Ívaar) (d. 1000), grandson of Ragnall and king of Waterford, belonged to a junior line of the Hiberno-Scandinavian dynasty known as Uí Ímair. This lineage, which ruled Dublin, claimed descent from Ímar (qv) (d. 873), king of Dublin.…

Indract (Indrechtach)

Indract (Indrechtach) (d. 726), pilgrim and martyr, was – according to a twelfth-century passio (Oxford, Bodl., Digby 192) – the son of an Irish king. He was martyred with his companions near Glastonbury by one of the thegns of King Ine of Wessex (688–c.726),…

Inge, Hugh

Inge, Hugh (a. 1470–1528), OP, bishop of Meath, archbishop of Dublin, and chancellor of Ireland, was born in Somerset, England, and was at Oxford as early as 1482 when he was admitted as a scholar of New College.…

Ingham, Charles Cromwell

Ingham, Charles Cromwell (1796/7–1863), painter, was born in Dublin. Nothing is known of his family or early education. Having attended drawing classes at the Dublin Society schools since 1809, he became in 1812 a pupil of William Cuming…

Ingle, James John (‘Jimmy’)

Ingle, James John (‘Jimmy’) (1921–87), boxer, was born 21 July 1921, eldest among sixteen children of Charlie (‘Hoppy’) Ingle, dock labourer, and Sarah Ingle (née Lawless) of Penrose St., Ringsend, Dublin. Ingle was educated at Haddington Road school, and left at fourteen to work…

Inglis, Anthony Vivian (‘Tony’)

Inglis, Anthony Vivian (‘Tony’) (1911–97), film art director, was born 14 April 1911 in Dublin, son of John J. Inglis, civil engineer, and Annie Inglis (née O'Reilly). During the 1916 rising the family house in Mount St. was occupied by British soldiers. Tony had a brief vocation…

Inglis, Brian St John

Inglis, Brian St John (1916–93), journalist and historian, was born 31 July 1916 at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, the only child of Sir Claude Cavendish Inglis (qv), civil engineer in Poona (latterly Pune), India, born in…

Inglis, Charles

Inglis, Charles (1734–1816), clergyman and loyalist in America, was born at Glencolumbkille, Co. Donegal, youngest of three sons of the Rev. Archibald Inglis, clergyman at Glen and Kilcar; there are no details of his mother. Orphaned at the age of 11, he was prevented by lack of…

Inglis, Liam (William English)

Inglis, Liam (William English) (1709–78), Augustinian priest and Jacobite poet, was born either in Newcastle, Co. Limerick, or in Co. Tipperary. Although little light can be shed on his parentage or early years, Risteard Ó…

Inglis, Sir Claude Cavendish

Inglis, Sir Claude Cavendish (1883–1974), irrigation and hydraulics engineer, was born 3 March 1883 in Dublin, sixth among seven children (six sons and one daughter) of Sir Malcolm Inglis, a wealthy gentleman, and Caroline Inglis (née Johnston), both of Scotland. Educated in Ireland…

Ingoldsby, Richard

Ingoldsby, Richard (c.1664/5–1712), soldier and lord justice, was a son of Sir George Ingoldsby and Mary Ingoldsby (née Gould). George Ingoldsby and his brother Henry Ingoldsby (qv) arrived in Ireland with the Cromwellian…

Ingoldsby, Sir Henry

Ingoldsby, Sir Henry (1622–1701), soldier and officeholder, was the son of Sir Richard Ingoldsby, landowner, and Elizabeth Ingoldsby (née Cromwell) of Lethenborough, Buckinghamshire, England. He may have attended the Thame grammar school in Buckinghamshire (like his brother Richard…

Ingram, Edward A. (‘Eddie’)

Ingram, Edward A. (‘Eddie’) (1910–73), cricketer, was born 14 August 1910 in 4 Le Bas Terrace, Rathmines, Dublin, third among at least three children of Edward Addison Ingram, a civil servant in the post office, who had been born in England, and Elizabeth Mary Stanislaus Ingram (…

Ingram, John

Ingram, John (1887–1973), engineer, educationalist, and civil servant, was born 5 February 1887 in Derry, the son of William John Ingram, of Shipquay Street, Derry, a civil service clerk. He attended the Londonderry model school as a presbyterian, before transferring to St Columb'…

Ingram, John Kells

Ingram, John Kells (1823–1907), economist, poet, and academic, was born 7 July 1823, eldest of five children of the Rev. William Ingram and Elizabeth Ingram (née Cooke). His father, a scholar at TCD in 1790, was rector of Templecarne,…

Ingram, Thomas Dunbar

Ingram, Thomas Dunbar (1826–1901), barrister and historian, was born 28 July 1826 in Newry, Co. Down, second son of the Rev. William Ingram and Elizabeth Ingram (née Cooke). His elder brother was the economist, poet, and academic John…

Ireland, Beatrice de Courcy (‘Betty’, ‘Bet’) (née Haigh)

Ireland, Beatrice de Courcy (‘Betty’, ‘Bet’) (née Haigh) (1911–99), socialist and anti-war activist, was born 25 May 1911 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, youngest of four daughters of Philip Haigh, a Yorkshire-born architect, and Victoria Alice Haigh (née Brunker), a native of…

Ireland, Denis Liddell

Ireland, Denis Liddell (1894–1974), journalist, writer, and senator, was born 29 July 1894 in Belfast, son of Adam Liddell Ireland, linen manufacturer, of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and Isabella Ireland (née McHinch). He was educated at

Ireland (Hutcheson), Francis

Ireland (Hutcheson), Francis (1721–84), composer, was born in Dublin 13 August 1721, the son of Francis Hutcheson (d. 1746), a presbyterian minister who ran a private school in Dublin between about 1716 and 1730 before serving as professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow University (1730…

Ireland, John

Ireland, John (1838–1918), archbishop of St Paul, Minnesota, was born 11 September 1838 in Burnchurch, Co. Kilkenny, eldest son among two sons and four daughters of Richard Ireland, artisan, and Judith Ireland (née Naughton). In 1850 he emigrated to America with his family,…