Biographies A-Z

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Gill, Earl William

Gill, Earl William (1932–2014), musician and showband leader, was born on 14 October 1932 in East Wall, Dublin, one of two children of William (‘Billy’) Gill, a pianist and accordionist at the Queen’s Theatre, Dublin, and Mary Gill (née Hunter), a cellist. According to Earl, his unusual…

Gillespie, Sir Robert Rollo

Gillespie, Sir Robert Rollo (1766–1814), British army general, was born 21 January 1766 in Comber, Co. Down, the only child of Robert Gillespie (d. 1791) and his third wife, who was either the sister or daughter of James Bailie, MP for Hillsborough. He was educated at Norland House…

Gillespie, William (Billy)

Gillespie, William (Billy) (1891–1981), footballer, was born 6 August 1891 in Kerrykeel, Co. Donegal, the eldest son of seven children (four girls and three boys) of Robert Gillespie, an RIC sergeant, and his wife Eliza, a native of Co.…

Gill, Henry Joseph

This is a co-subject for the entry on Gill, Michael Henry. View the original entry.

Gill, Michael Henry

Gill, Michael Henry (1794?–1879), printer, was born c.1794, son of Henry Gill (d. 1797?) and his wife Catherine (née O'Neill). Henry, whose family probably originated in King's Co., was a woollen draper in Skinners’ Row, Dublin, and in the early 1790s was a member of the…

Gill, Michael Joseph

This is a co-subject for the entry on Gill, Michael Henry. View the original entry.

Gill, Mollie (Ní Giolla, Máire)

Gill, Mollie (Ní Giolla, Máire) (1891–1977), camogie player and administrator, was born Mary Anne Gill on 24 March 1891 at Murphystown, near Leopardstown, in south Co. Dublin, the daughter of James Gill, a shoe-maker, and his wife Jane (neé Daly). Census records suggest that she was the…

Gillooly, Laurence

Gillooly, Laurence (1819–95), catholic bishop of Elphin, son of Laurence Gillooly and his wife Margaret, née McGann, was born at Bothair Garbh, Gallowstown, Co. Roscommon (a mile outside Roscommon town on the main road to Boyle), on 18 May 1819. A hostile critic, the former Elphin…

Gill, Peter Edmund

Gill, Peter Edmund (d. 1892), newspaper editor, was probably born in Tipperary. Nothing is known of him prior to 1857, when he founded the Tipperary Advocate and Nenagh Commercial and Agricultural Adviser, publishing it from an office in Chapel Lane, Nenagh. It soon became…

Gill, Thomas Patrick

Gill, Thomas Patrick (1858–1931), journalist, politician, and secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, was born 25 October 1858 at Ballygraigue, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, the first of the four sons of Robert Gill, a civil engineer who was assistant county…

Gill, William Daniel

Gill, William Daniel (1916–92), geologist, was born 29 June 1916 at Hillam, Yorks., second child among three sons and three daughters of Richard Wells Gill, farmer, and Eva Gill (née Hesselgrave). He was educated at Castleford Grammar School and Leeds University, where he had a…

Gill, William Joseph

Gill, William Joseph (1908–81), amateur golfer and businessman, was born 10 May 1908 at 61 Mountjoy Square, Dublin, first child of Richard A. Gill, publisher, and Alice Gill (née Scallan). His great-grandfather was Michael Henry Gill…

Gilmartin, John Joe (‘Gil’)

Gilmartin, John Joe (‘Gil’) (1914–80), handball player, was born 9 June 1914 at Maudlin St., Kilkenny city, son of Joseph Gilmartin, printer for the Kilkenny Moderator, and Martina Gilmartin (née McNally). His uncle, Joe McNally of Westport, Co. Mayo, won the All-Ireland…

Gilmartin, Thomas James

Gilmartin, Thomas James (1905–86), anaesthetist, was born 29 September 1905 in Ballymote, Co. Sligo, son of James Gilmartin, shopkeeper and JP, and his first wife Margaret (‘Rita’) Gilmartin (née Coghlan). He was educated at Summerhill…

Gilmartin, Thomas Patrick

Gilmartin, Thomas Patrick (1861–1939), catholic archbishop of Tuam, was born on 18 May 1861 at Rhinshinna, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, son of Michael Gilmartin and his wife Mary (née McHale), who had a family of two sons and five daughters. With fosterage of children from large families then…

Gilmartin, Tom

Gilmartin, Tom (1935–2013), businessman and tribunal witness, was born on 11 March 1935 in Lislary, a coastland near the village of Grange, Co. Sligo, the eldest son of two sons and five daughters of James Gilmartin, a farmer of Lislary, and his wife Kathleen (née McDermott). His father…

Gilmore, George Frederick

Gilmore, George Frederick (1898–1985), republican socialist, was born 5 May 1898 on Hillside Terrace, Howth, Co. Dublin, the second son and second child among at least four sons and two daughters of Philip Gilmore, an accountant and evangelical protestant preacher from Co. Antrim…

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield (1829–92), musician and bandmaster, was born 25 December 1829 at Ballygar, Co. Galway, son of Patrick J. Gilmore, stonemason, and Mary Gilmore (née Sharkey). Initially destined for the priesthood, he was sent to work in a shop in Athlone, Co. Westmeath,…

Ginkel, Godard van Reede van

Ginkel, Godard van Reede van (1642–1703), earl of Athlone soldier , was born 4 June 1642 at Amerongen castle in the Dutch province of Utrecht, only son of Godard Adriaan van Reede van Amerongen and his wife Margareth, daughter of George Turnor, an Englishman who died at the siege of…

Ginnell, Laurence

Ginnell, Laurence (1852–1923), land agitator and politician, was born in April 1852 at Crowenstown, Delvin, Co. Westmeath, one of twins among three sons of Laurence Ginnell, agricultural labourer, and his wife Mary (née Monaghan). Little is known about his life before he became…

Giordani, Tommaso

Giordani, Tommaso (c.1733–1806), composer, was born at Naples, Italy, elder son among two sons and two daughters of Giuseppe Giordani, singer and librettist, and Antonia Giordani. When his father formed a small opera company he toured around Europe in the 1740s, where he…

Glass, (John) Basil Caldwell

Glass, (John) Basil Caldwell (1926–2005), politician, lawyer, and judge, was born 21 May 1926 in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, eldest of two sons and one daughter of John Glass (1894–1956), methodist minister, and his wife Muriel Florence (née Caldwell), whose father was also a methodist…

Gleeson, Evelyn

Gleeson, Evelyn (1855–1944), designer, was born 15 May 1855 in Knutsford, Cheshire, the daughter of Irish-born Edward Moloney Gleeson, a medical doctor. Her father had a practice in Knutsford but on a trip to Ireland he was struck by the poverty and unemployment and, with the advice…

Gleeson, Martin Maurice

Gleeson, Martin Maurice (1902–84), vocational teacher and administrator, was born 5 November 1902 at Stratford-on-Slaney, Co. Wicklow, the third of four children (two boys and two girls) of Martin M. Gleeson, a national school principal in Stratford-on-Slaney, and Mary Gleeson (née…

Gleeson, William Joseph (‘Bill’)

Gleeson, William Joseph (‘Bill’) (1901–82), businessman, was born 24 July 1901 in Caropaden, Dunmore, Co. Galway. The distinguished Galway GAA family, the Mahons, were cousins of the Gleesons. He received his primary education at…