Biographies A-Z

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Redmond, Mary

Redmond, Mary (1950–2015), solicitor and founder of the Irish Hospice Foundation, was born on 25 August 1950, third in a family of six girls and a boy, to Dr John Redmond, civil servant, and his wife Mary (Máire) (née Lannin). She described her childhood in the family home on Mount Eden…

Redmond, Mary

Redmond, Mary (1863–1930), sculptor, was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, daughter of a quarry worker, and moved at a young age with her family to Ardclough, near Straffan, Co. Meath, where her father was employed in the local limestone quarries, the chief source of wealth in the…

Redmond, Séamus

Redmond, Séamus (1925–96), trade unionist, was born 9 February 1925 in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, second son to James Redmond, company sergeant, and Mary Redmond (née McLoughlin). He was raised in the Curragh and Spike Island and later moved to Whitehall, Dublin. Educated at the…

Redmond, Sir Joseph Michael

Redmond, Sir Joseph Michael (1858–1921), doctor, was born in Donnybrook, Co. Dublin, one of at least five sons and two daughters of Denis Redmond, pawnbroker, of Belmont Lodge, and Bridget Emily Redmond (née Gorman). He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, the Catholic…

Redmond, William Archer

Redmond, William Archer (1825–80), MP, was born in March 1825 at Ballytrent, Co. Wexford, second son of Patrick Walter Redmond, JP and high sheriff of Co. Wexford, and his wife Hester, only daughter of Joseph Kearney of Rocklands, Co.…

Redmond, William Archer

Redmond, William Archer (1886–1932), politician, soldier, and lawyer, was born 16 October 1886 in London, only son among three children of John Edward Redmond (qv), member and subsequently leader of the Irish parliamentary party,…

Redmond, William Gerard (Liam)

Redmond, William Gerard (Liam) (1913–89), actor, was born 27 July 1913 in Ballinacurra, Co. Limerick, son of Thomas Redmond, technical teacher, and Ellen Redmond (née McAllister). He attended UCD, but spent most of his time in the college…

Redmond, William Hoey Kearney (‘Willie’)

Redmond, William Hoey Kearney (‘Willie’) (1861–1917), Irish nationalist and British soldier, was born 13 April 1861 in Grassendale, Liverpool, England, second son of William Archer Redmond (qv), and younger brother of…

Redpath, James

Redpath, James (1833–91), journalist, abolitionist and Land Leaguer, was born 24 August 1833 in Berwick-on-Tweed on the Anglo–Scottish border , eldest of nine children (two sons and two daughters survived to adulthood) of Ninian Davidson Redpath, schoolmaster, and his wife Maria (née…

Reed, Sir Andrew

Reed, Sir Andrew (1837–1914), inspector-general of the RIC, was born 26 September 1837 in Galway, the only son of John Reed, local land agent, and his wife Mary, daughter of John Adamson of Moate, Co. Westmeath. His mother died when Andrew was three and his father later remarried…

Rees, Merlyn

Rees, Merlyn (1920–2006), Baron Merlyn-Rees , secretary of state for Northern Ireland, was born in Cilfynydd (a pit village near Pontypridd), Mid Glamorgan, Wales on 18 December 1920, only child of Levi Rees, a miner, and his wife Edith (née Williams). Rees's paternal grandfather and…

Reeves, Alice

Reeves, Alice (1874–1955), matron of Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin, was born in December 1874, daughter of the Rev. Charles Robert Reeves, clergyman, and Charlotte Reeves (née Haire). She was orphaned at age five or six and was raised by her aunt. When she was nineteen she began…

Reeves, William

Reeves, William (1815–92), Church of Ireland bishop, antiquary, and librarian, was born 16 March 1815 at his grandfather's house in Charleville, Co. Cork, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of Boles D'Arcy Reeves, solicitor, and his wife Mary (d. of cholera, 1832), daughter…

Reford, Robert Wilson

Reford, Robert Wilson (1831–1913), businessman and philanthropist in Canada, was born 3 August 1831 in Moylena, near Muckamore, Co. Antrim, youngest son among three sons and a daughter of Joseph Reford, who was in the linen business, and Grizel (or Grace) Reford (née Wilson). His family…

Rehan, Ada

Rehan, Ada (1857–1916), American actress, was born 22 April 1857 in Limerick, fifth of six children of Thomas Crehan and Harriet Crehan (née Ryan) of Limerick (Thomas Crehan, an adventurer and speculator, was in prison for smuggling when he met and courted Harriet Ryan, the jail…

Reid, Alec (Alexander)

Reid, Alec (Alexander) (1931–2013), priest and peacemaker, was born at Leonard's Corner nursing home, South Circular Road, Dublin, on 5 August 1931, the eldest of two sons and two daughters of David Reid, a carpenter, and his wife Mary (née Flannery), a member of Cumann na mBan with…

Reid, Christina

Reid, Christina (1942–2015), playwright, was born on 12 March 1942 in Ardoyne in North Belfast, the eldest of three children and only daughter of James Orchin, a Belfast dock worker, and Christina Orchin, who worked as a linen mill worker and later a waitress. Although the family…

Reid, Eileen Florence Beatrice (née Oulton)

Reid, Eileen Florence Beatrice (née Oulton) (1894–1981), painter and musician, was born at 19 Upper Mount Street, Dublin, the only daughter and one of two children of George Nugent Oulton , a Dublin barrister. Her birthplace remained her home throughout her life. Educated at the…

Reid, Forrest

Reid, Forrest (1875–1947), novelist, was born 24 June 1875 at 20 Mount Charles, Belfast, youngest of six surviving children of Robert Reid, manager of Anderson's Felt Works, and his second wife, Frances Matilda (née Parr), of an aristocratic English family. His family moved to 15…

Reid, James Seaton

Reid, James Seaton (1798–1851), presbyterian historian, was born 19 December 1798 at Lurgan, Co. Armagh, eleventh son among seventeen children of Forrest Reid (d. 1801), schoolmaster, and Mary Reid (née Weir) of Derriaghy, Co. Antrim. Only five of the children survived childhood.…

Reid, Mary

Reid, Mary (1953–2003), republican and feminist, was born in Monaghan town (home of her maternal grandparents) on 25 April 1953. She was the eldest of six children (four girls and two boys) of Plunkett Reid, grocer, and his wife Patricia. Her childhood was spent in Pettigo, Co.…

Reid, Nano

Reid, Nano (1900–81), painter, was born Anne Margaret Reid on 1 March 1900 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, eldest among four children of Thomas Reid, publican, and Anne Reid (née Downey). The family lived above their pub on the corner of Peter St. and Fair St., and enjoyed a prosperous…

Reid, Richard Tuohill

Reid, Richard Tuohill (1823–83), lawyer and academic, was the only surviving son of Herbert Reid, a Killarney merchant, and Catherine Reid (née Tuohill). His father died young and he entered TCD as a sizar in 1841; he was admitted as a…

Reid, Thomas

Reid, Thomas (1791–1825), naval surgeon and author, was one of four sons of Thomas Reid, farmer, from Cadian, near Eglish, Co. Tyrone. He received a classical education from the family pastor, the presbyterian minister Hugh Bell, before attending the Royal College of Surgeons in…

Reid, Thomas Mayne

Reid, Thomas Mayne (1818–83), novelist and adventurer, was born 4 April 1818 at Ballyroney, Co. Down, son of the Rev. Thomas Mayne Reid (1787–1868), presbyterian minister and later senior clerk of the Irish general assembly, and his wife, a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Rutherford.…