Sturgeon, Sinéad

Cunningham, John (1729–73), poet, playwright, and actor, was born in Dublin. His father was of Scottish extraction, a wine cooper who invested a lottery win in a wine merchant business, but soon went bankrupt; his mother's name was Fleming. Cunningham was educated at a grammar…

Darley, George (1795–1846), poet, critic, and mathematician, was born in December 1795 in Dublin, eldest of the seven children of Arthur Darley (1766–1845), merchant and grocer, and his wife and distant cousin Mary (d. 1833), daughter of John Darley, a customs officer in Newry. Soon…

Davys, Mary (1674–1732), novelist, playwright, and poet, was born in Ireland. Little is known of her background, including her maiden name: she married the Rev. Peter Davys, headmaster of the free school of St Patrick's cathedral and writer of a well-known grammar book, …

Downes, George (1790–1846), travel writer and topographer, was born in South King St., Dublin, son of John Downes; no details of his mother are known. He worked as a draper's assistant in his youth before being befriended by one of the Shackletons of Ballitore, Co. Kildare, who…

Du Bois, Lady Dorothea (Annesley ) (1728–74), poet, novelist, and playwright, was born in Dublin, the eldest of seven daughters of Richard Annesley (qv), Lord Altham, later 6th earl of Anglesey, and his wife, Ann (née Simpson),…

Furlong, Thomas (1794–1827), poet, was born in Scarawalsh, near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, the son of a small farmer. He received little formal education and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a Dublin grocer. One of his earliest literary efforts, an elegy entitled ‘The burial’,…

Gardiner, Marguerite (Margaret) (1789–1849), countess of Blessington , writer, journalist, and society hostess, was born 1 September 1789 at Knockbrit, Co. Tipperary, the second daughter and fourth child of Edmund Power and his wife Ellen (née Sheehy), both from well-established…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Plunket, William Conyngham. View the original entry.

Guinness, Henry Grattan (1835–1910), evangelist and religious writer, was born 11 August 1835 at Montpelier House, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, the eldest of the family of three sons and one daughter of Captain John Grattan Guinness (1783–1850), and Jane Lucretia (d.…

Hall, Anna Maria (1800–81), writer, editor, and philanthropist, was born 6 January 1800 in Anne Street, Dublin, the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Fielding (d. 1856), a widow of Huguenot extraction. Her father, who died in Anna Maria's infancy, came from Co. Wexford. She spent her…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Hall, Anna Maria. View the original entry.

Hamilton, Elizabeth (1758–1816), writer, was born 25 July 1758 in Belfast, the youngest child of Charles Hamilton, a merchant from an old Scottish family, the Hamiltons of Woodhall, and his wife Katherine (Mackay) Hamilton (d. 1767) of Dublin. She had one sister, Katharine, and one…

Harkin, Hugh (1791–1854), journalist, teacher, poet, and nationalist, was born 6 July 1791 in Magilligan, Co. Derry. Little is known about his early life and education before he established a career as a teacher and journalist attached to various newspapers in both Britain and…

Joyce, Patrick Weston (1827–1914), educationalist, historian, linguist, translator and collector of folk music, was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick, one of the eight sons of Garrett Joyce, a shoemaker known locally as ‘Garrett the Scholar’ for his knowledge of poetry and religion, and…

Kavanagh, Julia (1824–77), novelist, short-story writer, and biographer, was born 7 January 1824 in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the only child of Bridget Fitzpatrick (d. 1887) and Morgan Peter Kavanagh (d. 1874), writer and philologist. She spent much of her childhood in Normandy and…

Keegan, John (1816?–49), poet and sketch writer, was born in the townland of Killeany, near Shanahoe, Queen's Co. (Laois), the son of Mary Keegan, née O'Mahony, probably in 1816 – though some sources suggest 1809; his father's name is not known. He lived with his parents in the home of…

Kenealy, William (1828–76), journalist, poet, and nationalist, was born 1 July 1828 in Cloyne, Co. Cork, the son of a blacksmith and farmer. He worked as a teacher and was appointed headmaster of Churchtown national school, but was dismissed when authorship of an inflammatory…

Knowles, James Sheridan (1784–1862), playwright, actor, and teacher, was born 12 May 1784 in Anne Street, Cork, the son of schoolteacher and lexicographer James Knowles (qv), a first cousin of…

Legge, Thomas (d. 1808), traveller and mystic, was born in Donaghadee, Co. Down, the son of a ship-owner who transported Irish emigrants to America. Little else is known about his family background, although towards the end of his life he reportedly told a Scottish doctor that his…

Lewis, John (fl. 1740–1769), painter and scenographer, was probably born in England or Wales. Little is known about his origins or artistic training, although he was painting for at least a decade before his arrival in Ireland, and it has been suggested that from 1739–45 he was a…

Lucas, Henry (c.1740–1802), lawyer and writer, was born in Dublin, the son of Charles Lucas (qv), the well-known politician and physician, and his first wife, Anne, née Blundell. Charles Lucas had to leave Ireland in 1749,…

Macklin, Charles (d. 1797), actor and playwright, was probably born at Culdaff, Co. Donegal, one of two children of Terence Meleghin (or McLaughlin) and his wife, Agnes (née Flanagan; c.1660–1759). After his father's death in 1704, he was educated at a boarding school in…

Maclise, Daniel (1806–70), painter, was born 25 January 1806 at Cork, and baptised at the presbyterian church on Prince's Street, Cork, on 2 February 1806. He was the son of a soldier of Scottish descent, Alexander McLeish (1777–1861), and Rebecca McLeish (née Buchanan). After 1835…

Macnaghten, Sir William Hay (1793–1841), diplomat, was born in Calcutta on 24 August 1793, the second child of the six sons and ten daughters of Sir Francis Workman Macnaghten, first baronet, barrister, of Dundarave, Co. Antrim, and Letitia, eldest daughter of Sir William Dunkin of…

Malone, Edmond (1741–1812), lawyer and literary scholar, was born 4 October 1741 in Dublin, the second son of Edmond Malone of Shinglas, Co. Westmeath, MP for Granard (1761–6) and a judge in the court of common pleas, and his wife, Catherine (née Collier) of Ruckholt, Essex. He…