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

Emmet, Thomas Addis

Emmet, Thomas Addis (1764–1827), United Irishman and lawyer, was born 24 April 1764 in Cork, second son among three surviving sons and one daughter of Robert Emmet (qv), state physician of Ireland, and Elizabeth Emmet (née Mason; d. 1803).…

England, John

England, John (1786–1842), catholic bishop and theologian, was born 23 September 1786 in Cork, one of ten children of Thomas England, hedge-schoolmaster and tobacconist, and Honora England (née Lordan). After education at protestant schools in Cork, he was for a while apprenticed…

England, Thomas Richard

This is a co-subject for the entry on England, John. View the original entry.

English, Adeline (‘Ada’)

English, Adeline (‘Ada’) (1875–1944), doctor, academic, and nationalist, was born 10 January 1875 in Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, younger daughter of Patrick English, pharmaceutical chemist, and Nora English (née McCardle). She was reared in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, though her father may…

Énnae Cennselach

Énnae Cennselach (5th cent.?), son of Labraid and putatively king of Leinster, was the eponymous ancestor of the south Leinster dynasty of Uí Chennselaig. A genealogical synchronism which makes Énnae coeval with

Énnae (Enda, Éanna)

Énnae (Enda, Éanna) (d. c.530), one of the earliest monastic founders of the Irish church, is said to have been born in the mid fifth century in the kingdom of Airgialla. His Latin Life, which is a late production, has a number of chronological incongruities. It states…

Ennis, Jacob

Ennis, Jacob (1728–70), portrait and historical painter, was baptised 29 February 1728 at St Peter's church, Dublin, son of James and Margaret Ennis (his father's occupation and his mother's maiden name are both unknown). He trained as an artist under…

Ennis, John James

This is a co-subject for the entry on Ennis, Sir John. View the original entry.

Ennis, Séamus

Ennis, Séamus (1919–82), musician, folklorist, singer, and broadcaster, was born 5 May 1919 in Jamestown Lodge, Finglas, Dublin, son of James Ennis, civil servant and warpiper from Dublin, and Mary Josephine Ennis (née McCabe) from Co. Monaghan. He had three sisters and two brothers.…

Ennis, Sir John

Ennis, Sir John (1800–78), 1st baronet, businessman, landowner, and politician, was born 15 August 1800, the only son of Andrew Ennis (d. 1834) of Roebuck, near Dublin, and his wife (née McManus). Andrew Ennis ‘engaged extensively in commercial pursuits and realised a very large…

Ensor, George

Ensor, George (1769–1843), barrister and political writer, was born in Dublin, son of George Ensor (qv), architect, and Sara Ensor (née Clarke), heiress to Ardress House, Co. Armagh. His uncle John Ensor (qv) was an…

Ensor, George

This is a co-subject for the entry on Ensor, John. View the original entry.

Ensor, John

Ensor, John (d. 1787), architect and developer, travelled as a young man from Coventry, England, to Ireland in the 1730s with his younger brother George. Their parents are said to have been Job Ensor and his wife Mary Hill. John was associated with…

Éogan

Éogan (d. 465), son of Niall, is the eponymous ancestor of the royal lineages of Cenél nÉogain. Éogan and his brothers Conall Gulban (qv) and Énnae have perhaps the best historical claim to represent the sons of…

Éogan

Éogan (fl. c.570), monk of Kilnamanagh, bishop of Ardstraw, and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged in all probability to Dál nAuluim, a forshloinne (subject people) of the Ulaid. The genealogies represent Éogan as the son of Cainnech, son of Bishop Erc. If…

Éogan Bél

Éogan Bél (d. 543), son of Cellach and overking of Connacht, probably belonged to the dynasty of Uí Fhiachrach. While an account in the Book of Leinster represents him as a son of the Uí Briúin dynast Duí Galach (alias Duí Tenga Uma?), the tradition that names his father as…

Éogan Mainistrech

Éogan Mainistrech (‘of the monastery') (d. 834), abbot of Armagh, Clonard, and Monasterboice, was probably of midlands origin. His father had the rare personal name of Ainbthech, which is attested among the Delbna. Éogan himself may well have commenced his career as fer…

Éogan Már

Éogan Már (‘the great’), according to Munster genealogical tradition, was son of Ailill Ólom (qv), a mythical king of Munster, and was the eponymous ancestor of the Éoganacht dynasties. Through a supposed liaison with Monchae the daughter…

Erard (Iorard, Urard)

Erard (Iorard, Urard) (d. 990), son of Cos, was celebrated as an important poet and as one of the principal learned men of pre-Norman Ireland. He seems to have spent his earlier career at Armagh: Geoffrey Keating (qv…

Erc

Erc (d. 513/15), bishop of Slane and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged to the obscure Munster population-group of Corco Auloimm. His father is named in the genealogies as Daig son of Branchú, and he shares his Corco Auloimm ancestry with St…

Ercnait

Ercnait (5th/ 6th cent.?), foundress of Dún dá Én and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged to the Cruithin lineage of Uí Nialláin, located in the vicinity of Armagh in what would later be the overkingdom of Airgialla. She belongs to the first generation of Irish religious…

Erle, Thomas

Erle, Thomas (c.1650–1720), soldier and lord justice of Ireland, was second-born but first surviving son of Thomas Erle (d. 1650) of Axmouth, Devon, and his wife Susanna, daughter of William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford (…

Errington, Sir George

Errington, Sir George (1839–1920), 1st baronet, politician, was born at Rockfield, south Co. Dublin, on 1 September 1839, eldest son of Michael Errington (1801–74) and his wife Rosanna, daughter of Ambrose More O'Ferrall (1752–1835) of Balyna, near Moyvalley, Co. Kildare. Michael…

Ervine, David (Walter)

Ervine, David (Walter) (1954–2007), loyalist paramilitary and politician, was born in Chamberlain St., east Belfast, on 21 July 1954, youngest of five children (two girls and three boys) of Walter Ervine, iron turner and shipyard worker, and his wife Elizabeth ('Dolly'). Walter Ervine…

Ervine, St John Greer

Ervine, St John Greer (1883–1971), Ulster dramatist, critic, and biographer, was born John Greer Ervine on 28 December 1883 in Belfast, son of William Ervine, printer, and Sarah Jane Ervine (née Greer), who may have been a deaf-mute. Ervine's father died soon after his birth. He…