Murphy, Maureen

Blake, Mary Elizabeth (1840–1907), poet, was born in September 1840 at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, daughter of Patrick McGrath and his wife Mary (née Murphy). The family emigrated in 1846 to Quincy, Massachusetts, USA, where Patrick McGrath was a marble-worker and businessman. After…

Brougham, John (1810–80), actor and playwright, was born 9 May 1810 in Dublin, in what appears to have been a respectable protestant family. His parents’ names are unknown, though his mother was said to be of huguenot extraction. It is possible that he was related to John Brougham (…

Cavanagh, Michael (1822–1900), Fenian, poet, and biographer, was probably born 22 January 1822 in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, the son of Andrew Cavanagh, a cooper of Cook St., Cappoquin, and his wife Mary (née Cullanane). He had six sisters, one of whom, Julia (b. 1833), was the wife…

Colum, Mary Catherine (‘Molly’) (1887–1957), critic, editor, and teacher, was born 13 June 1887 in Co. Sligo, daughter of Charles Maguire of Derryhawlagh, Killesher parish, Co. Fermanagh, and Maria Maguire (née Gunning). After the death of her parents, she was raised by her…

Croker, Thomas Crofton (1798–1854), antiquary and folklorist, was born 15 January 1798 in Buckingham Square, Cork city, the only son of Thomas Croker, major in the army, and his wife Maria, widow of a Mr Fitton; she was daughter and co-heir of Croker Dillon of Baltidaniel, Co. Cork…

Curtin, Jeremiah (1835–1906), folklorist, writer, translator and linguist, was born 6 September 1835 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, eldest among seven children of David Curtin, an Irish-speaker who emigrated from Bruree, Co. Limerick, and his wife Ellen (née Furlong) who came from Buttevant…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Devereux, Nicholas. View the original entry.

Devereux, Nicholas (1791–1855), merchant, banker, and philanthropist, was born 7 June 1791 in The Leap near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, youngest child of Thomas Devereux and Catherine Devereux (née Corish). Family tradition claims that the Norman Devereux family was descended from…

Drew, John (1827–62), actor, was born 3 September 1827 in Dublin, one of three sons and two daughters of Francis N. Drew, a cabinetmaker who later made pianos, and Elizabeth Drew (née Connor). The family emigrated to the US in 1837 on the SS South America and settled in…

Ford, Patrick (1837–1913), journalist and land reformer, was born 12 April 1837 in Galway, the son of Edward Ford (1805–80) and his wife Anne (née Ford) (1815–1893). He emigrated with his parents to the US in 1845 and never revisited Ireland. Although he devoted his life to Irish…

Goff, John W. (1848–1924), Fenian, lawyer, and judge, was born 1 January 1848 in Gorey, Co. Wexford. His parents died when he was a child and he was raised by an uncle in the north of England, where he received some schooling. He emigrated to New York at the age of sixteen and…

Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál) (1836–99), editor, publisher, and ‘father of the Gaelic language movement’ in America (Ford, 1899), was born 29 September 1836 at Currach Doire (Curraghderry), Baile an Mhuilinn (Milltown), near Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Patrick Logan, a small…

Lynch, Joseph Lawrence (‘Joe’) (1926–2001), actor and singer, was born 16 July 1926 in Mallow, Co. Cork, son of Jim Lynch, engine driver, and Madge Lynch (née Delany), bookbinder. He was educated at the North Monastery CBS in Cork city and…

Lynch, Patrick Neison (Neisen, Neeson, Niessen) (1817–82), catholic bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, and confederate diplomat, was born 10 March 1817 in the townland of Kibberidogue, in the catholic parish of Clones, Co. Monaghan, the eldest son of Conlaw Peter Lynch and…

MacManus, Patrick Francis (‘Frank’) (1909–65), writer and broadcaster, was born 8 March 1909 in ‘a little house on a narrow street’, 23 (20) Michael's Lane, Kilkenny, eldest child of Bernard MacManus, commercial traveller, and Julia MacManus (née Murphy). His father died when MacManus…

MacNeill, Máire (1904–87), folklorist, was born 7 December 1904 at Hazelbrook, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin, fifth child and second daughter of John (Eoin) MacNeill (qv) and Agnes (‘Taddie’) MacNeill (née Moore). After the family moved to 19…

Moore, Annie (1874–1924), first immigrant to land on Ellis Island, New York, was born on 24 April 1874 in Cork, the second child and only daughter of Matthew Moore and Julia Moore (née Cronin). Annie’s parents emigrated to New York in 1888, and she and her younger brothers, Anthony and…

Mulcahy, John Augustine (‘Jack’) (1906–94), industrialist, businessman, and philanthropist, was born 26 August 1906 at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, fifth among twelve children of Patrick Mulcahy, town clerk of Waterford , and Mary Mulcahy (née O'Shea). He was educated locally in the…

O'Brien, Máire (‘Máire Rua’) (1615?–1686), Gaelic aristocrat and figure in Irish folklore, was daughter of Sir Torlach Rua MacMahon, lord of East Corcabaskin or Clonderlaw, and his wife Mary, youngest daughter of Conor O'Brien (qv), 3rd…

O'Mahoney, Katharine Aloysia O'Keeffe (1851–1908), editor, educator, and writer, was born in Co. Kilkenny, daughter of Patrick O'Keeffe (b. 1803) and his wife Rose (b. 1824; maiden name unknown). The O'Keeffes emigrated to Methuen, Massachusetts, USA, c.1851 when she was…

O'Mahony, John (1815–77), founder of the Fenian Brotherhood and Gaelic scholar, was born probably on 12 January 1815 at Clonkilla, near Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, the son of Daniel O'Mahony, a catholic farmer and landowner; there is no record of his mother's name. Immensely proud of…

Ó Móráin, Dónall (1923–2001), Irish language campaigner, ceannasaí (chief executive) of Gael-Linn, and chairman of the RTÉ authority, was born 6 September 1923 at Waterville, Co. Kerry, only child of Mícheál Ó Móráin, a farmer who…

Paterson, William (1745–1806), lawyer, attorney general and governor of New Jersey, and US supreme court judge, was born 24 December 1745, probably in Antrim town, Co. Antrim (though some sources say he was born at sea), the eldest son among three sons and two daughters of Richard…

Peyton, Patrick Joseph (1909–1992), Holy Cross priest and radio and television evangelist (‘the Rosary Priest’), was born 9 January 1909 in Carracastle, near Ballina, Co. Mayo, sixth of the nine children of John Peyton (1868–1934), county road repair worker, and Mary Gillard Peyton (…

Thomson, Charles (1729–1824), radical leader in pre-revolutionary Philadelphia, and secretary of the continental congress and of the US congress, was born 29 November 1729 in the townland of Gorteade, in the parish of Maghera, Co. Londonderry, third child among five sons and a daughter…