Biographies A-Z

Ronayne, Charles O'Lomasney (1845–1929), doctor and antiquary, was born 14 June 1845 at Youghal, Co. Cork, son of Richard C. Ronayne of Youghal and Maria Ronayne (née O'Lomasney) of Peafield. He studied medicine at QCC. Following the…

Ronayne, Joseph Philip (1822–76), civil engineer and politician, was born at Mount Verdun, Cork, youngest son of Edward Ronayne, glassmaker, and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Meany of Dorrickmore, Co. Cork. He was educated in Cork at the school of Hamblin and Porter; then…

Roney, Frank (1841–1925), Fenian and trade unionist, was born 13 August 1841 in Belfast, the eldest of a family of eight. Roney inherited his nationalist and trade unionist principles from his parents. His father was a carpenter and secretary of a carpenters' union in Belfast, and…

Rooke, Charles Vaughan (‘C. V.’) (1869–1946), rugby player, was born 24 September 1869 at Summerhill, Dublin, son of Thomas Slator Rooke, gentleman and member of the Plymouth Brethren, from Dublin; and Adelaide Rooke (née Reid) originally of Rossbrook, Co. Armagh. Educated…

Rooke, William Michael (1794–1847), violinist and composer, was born 29 September 1794 in Dublin, the son of John Rourke (or O'Rourke), a Dublin tradesman. As a youth he played a variety of wind and stringed instruments and joined an orchestral society. He also studied harmony, and…

Rooney, Maude (1902–1974), consumers' and women's rights activist, was born Mary Maude Mahony in Co. Armagh, one of six children (three boys and three girls) of a retired RIC district inspector (who was a catholic), and his wife Frances Charlotte. She was raised in Holywood, Co. Down…

Rooney, Michael Henry (1902–90), journalist, was born 7 September 1902 in Ardglass, Co. Down, son of Henry Rooney, grocer, and Mary Rooney (née Small). Educated in the local national school, he obtained his first newspaper job in his teens as a newsboy with the Belfast nationalist…

Rooney, Philip (1907–62), writer, journalist, and scriptwriter, was born 26 March 1907 in Collooney, Co. Sligo, son of Henry Rooney and Margaret Rooney (née Mulligan), both national school teachers. His siblings included at least two brothers and a sister. He was educated locally…

Rooney, William (Ó Maolruanaidh, Liam) (1873–1901), journalist and poet, was born 20 October 1873 in 39 Mabbot Street (a tenement building in ‘the Monto’, Dublin), eldest among five sons and two daughters of Patrick Rooney (d. 1906), a coachbuilder, and Teresa Rooney (neé Buckley).…

Ros, Amanda McKittrick (1860–1939), writer, was born Anna Margaret McKittrick , 8 December 1860 in Drumaness, Ballynahinch, Co. Down, fourth child of Edward Amlave McKittrick, head teacher at Drumaness High School, and Eliza McKittrick (neé Black). She followed her father into…

Roseingrave, Daniel (d. 1727), musician, and his sons Thomas and Ralph, were at the forefront of musical activity in Dublin in the first half of the eighteenth century. They may be descendants of the Ralph Roseingrave who died in Dublin in 1667. Daniel Roseingrave had contact with…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Roseingrave, Daniel. View the original entry.

This is a co-subject for the entry on Roseingrave, Daniel. View the original entry.

Roseingrave, Tomás (1918–93), social scientist, was born Thomas Roseingrave on 4 July 1918 in Gort, Co. Galway, son of Thomas Roseingrave, engineer, of Gort, and Nora Roseingrave (née McMahon). From 1928 to 1934 he was educated at the O'Brien Institute in Dublin and subsequently…

Rosen, Albert (1924–97), orchestra conductor, was born 14 February 1924 in Vienna, Austria, second child and only son of Dr Ludwig Rosen, an Austrian lawyer, and Teresia Rosen (née Ruzickova), of Czech ethnicity. The household was not especially musical, and Rosen's talents were…

Rosen, Hans Waldemar (1904–94), music teacher and choral conductor, was born 15 July 1904 in Dresden, Germany, the only child of Ferdinand Rosetzka and Hedwig Rosetzka (née Thiele). In 1919 his father changed the family name to Rosen. Primarily of German extraction, he was reared in…

Ross, Florence Agnes (1870–1949), artist, was born 6 December 1870 in Ulster, youngest of the three children of the Rev. William Steward Ross and Agnes Ross (née Traill). Soon after her birth, the family moved from the North to live with their maternal grandmother, Mrs Annie Traill…

Ross, Jane (1810–79), folksong collector, was born 5 August 1810 in or near Limavady, Co. Londonderry, eldest child among four daughters and two sons of John Ross (1781–1830), captain in the Limavady yeomanry and owner of land, flour mills, and a bleach green, and his second wife…

Ross, Lt-col. Sir Ronald Deane (1888–1958), lawyer, soldier, and politician, was born 13 July 1888, the only son of John Ross (qv), lawyer and last lord chancellor of Ireland, and Katherine Mary Jeffcott Ross (née Mann), of Dunmoyle, Co.…

Ross of Bladensburg, Sir John Foster George (1848–1926), soldier, commissioner of DMP, author, and landscape gardener, was born 27 July 1848, second son of David Ross of Bladensburg, of Rostrevor, Co. Down, and his wife Harriet, eldest daughter of the 2nd Viscount Ferrard, and 9th…

Ross, Robert (1729–99), soldier and politician, was born at Rostrevor, Co. Down, eldest son of Robert Ross, MP for Carlingford, Co. Louth (1723–68), and later lord mayor of Dublin (1748–9), and his wife Anne. Deciding on a military career, he entered the army and purchased a…

Ross, Robert (1766–1814), major-general, was born in Dublin, second son of Maj. David Ross of Rostrevor, Co. Down, a veteran of the Seven Years War, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Adderley of Innishannon, Co. Cork, and half-sister of…

Ross, Sir John (1853–1935), judge, politician, and last lord chancellor of Ireland, was born 11 December 1853 in Derry, eldest son among eight children of the Rev. Robert Ross (d. 1894), presbyterian minister and moderator (1886–7) of the general assembly of the Presbyterian…

Rothe, David (1573–1650), bishop of Ossory and historian, was born in the city of Kilkenny, son of John Rothe (d. 1590) and his wife Lettice, only daughter of John Rothe Fitzpiers of New Ross. It is likely that he received his early education at Kilkenny in…

Roth, Edward (1922–76), first director general of RTÉ television, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, son of Edward Roth sr, and was brought up in an Irish catholic environment; his maternal and paternal grandparents were Irish. He enrolled at Boston University, where he earned…