Biographies A-Z

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

O'Riordan, Michael

O'Riordan, Michael (1857–1919), rector of the Irish College, Rome, was born in Kilmurray, Co. Limerick, son of John O'Riordan, a wealthy local farmer. Educated at the local national school and at the diocesan seminary in Limerick, he proved intellectually gifted and subsequently…

O'Riordan, Michael (Micheál; Mick)

O'Riordan, Michael (Micheál; Mick) (1917–2006), communist, was born 12 November 1917 at 37 Pope's Quay, Cork city, youngest among three sons and two daughters of Michael O'Riordan, a carter, and his wife Julia (née Creed), a small farmer's daughter and former domestic servant. Despite…

Orme, Stanley

Orme, Stanley (Stan) (1923–2005), Baron Orme of Salford , minister of state in the Northern Ireland Office, was born in Sale, Cheshire, on 5 April 1923, son of Sherwood Orme, clerk, and his wife Nellie (née Drew). Orme was brought up in poverty by his mother, and this was an abiding…

Ormonde, John Michael (Seán, Jackie

Ormonde, John Michael (Seán, Jackie ) (1905–81), politician, was born 15 September 1905 at Lismore, Co. Waterford, the son of John Ormonde, shopkeeper, and his wife, Ann Ormonde (née O'Brien). Educated at the Lismore CBS, he was…

Ormsby, John

Ormsby, John (1829–95), writer and translator, was born 25 April 1829 at Gortner Abbey, Co. Mayo, eldest child of George Ormsby (d. 1836), captain in the 3rd Dragoon Guards and high sheriff of Mayo in 1827, and his wife, Marianne, third daughter of Humphrey Jones of Mullinabro,…

Ormsby, Sir Lambert Hepenstal

Ormsby, Sir Lambert Hepenstal (1849–1923), surgeon, was born 19 July 1849 at Onehunga Lodge, Auckland, New Zealand, the only son among five children of George Owen Ormsby (1814–61), civil engineer, and Selina Ormsby (née Hepenstal) (d. 1901), daughter of Revd Lambert Watson…

Ó Rodaighe, Tadhg ((O) Rod(d)y, Thady/ Thadeus; Roddij, Thadei; Tadhg mac Gearóid Óig)

Ó Rodaighe, Tadhg ((O) Rod(d)y, Thady/ Thadeus; Roddij, Thadei; Tadhg mac Gearóid Óig) (1614–1706), scholar, patron, and Jacobite, was a native of Achadh na Croise (Aroddy), Fenagh, Co. Leitrim. The death (2 August 1680) of his father, Gearóid, is known to us from ‘Truagh an mhaidhmsi…

O'Rorke, Terence

O'Rorke, Terence (1819–1907), priest, professor of theology in the Irish College in Paris, and local historian, was born 20 May 1819 in Collooney, Co. Sligo, one of at least three sons and two daughters of John O'Rorke (1791–1874), and his wife Winifred (née McSharry) (1797–1876…

O'Rourke, Art

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Cathal Riabach. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Art

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Tadhg. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Brian na Múrtha

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Cathal

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Ualgharg. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Conchobar

O'Rourke, Conchobar (d. 1257), king of West Breifne, son of Tigernan O'Rourke, king of West Breifne, emerged as king of the shrinking O'Rourke kingdom in the late 1240s. From early in his reign Conchobar struggled against powerful enemies, led by the descendants of…

O'Rourke, Conn

O'Rourke, Conn (Conor ) (d. 1579), Franciscan friar and martyr, was the son of Brian O'Rourke, lord of Breifne, and appears to have been born c.1549. He may have entered the Franciscan friary at Creevelea, near Dromahair, Co. Leitrim, an institution that had been founded by…

O'Rourke, Domnall

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke, Conchobar. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Domnall Carrach

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Conchobar Buide. View the original entry.

O'Rourke (Falconer), Edmund

O'Rourke (Falconer), Edmund (1813–79), playwright and actor, was born in Dublin (nothing more is known of his background) and went on stage at a young age, playing utility roles around Britain for many years. His last provincial engagement was in autumn 1854, when he played Hamlet…

O'Rourke, Feidhlim

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Donnchadh. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Horace Tennyson

O'Rourke, Horace Tennyson (1880–1963), architect and town planner, was born 21 March 1880 in the family home at 34 Richmond Place North, Dublin, son of Francis P. O'Rourke, an accountant from ‘a noted professional family’, and Martha O'Rourke (née Rafferty). Horace's name on his…

O'Rourke, Hugh Gallda

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, John

O'Rourke, John (1809–87), priest and historian, may have come from a farming background and appears to have had some knowledge of Irish; some of his passing remarks refer to personal memories of the bitter hostility felt towards agents and bailiffs and a sense, instilled in the…

O'Rourke, Lochlainn

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Tadhg. View the original entry.

O'Rourke, Madeleine C.

O'Rourke, Madeleine C. (1951–2006), aviator and organiser of aviation events, was born in south Dublin in the spring of 1951, the daughter of Peter J. Byrne and his wife Olive (née Poole); there was an older brother. Her father was an electrical engineer with the…

O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Aodh Buidhe

O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Aodh Buidhe (c.1520–1566), lord of Breifne, son of Brian Ballach O'Rourke (qv), lord of Breifne, was an obscure and short-lived lord of that territory. Nothing is known of his early life or…

O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach

O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach (d. 1562), king of Breifne, was born into the ruling branch of the O'Rourke family, kings of West Breifne, sometime in the late fifteenth century. His paternal grandfather, Tighearnán…