Music and Dance

Johnston, James (1903–91), tenor, was born 13 August 1903 at 74 York Road, Belfast, where his father owned a butcher's shop. He was the third child and the first son among seven children of Thomas Johnston and his wife Margaret (née Chapman). The children all attended Duncairn…

Joyce, Margaret Alice (‘Poppie’; Sister Mary Gertrude) (1884–1964), Sister of Mercy and musician, was born 18 January 1884 at 41 Brighton Square West, Rathgar, Dublin, second eldest of ten surviving children (four sons and six daughters) of…

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…

Karl, Tom (1846–1916), tenor, was born Thomas Carroll on 19 January 1846 in Dublin. He studied in England under Henry Phillips and, on the recommendation of the great English tenor Sims Reeves, went to Italy (1868), where he studied under Sangiovanni and Trivulzi. It was as ‘Tom…

Keane, Rita (1923–2009), traditional singer and musician, was born on 31 December 1923 in the townland of Carragh, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway, one of eight children (four daughters and four sons) of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello; d. 1978), who were farmers. Rita attended…

Kearney, Peadar (1883–1942), revolutionary and song-writer, was born 12 December 1883 in Dorset St., Dublin, eldest of three sons and three daughters of John Kearney, grocer and businessman, and Katie Kearney (née McGuinness). Christened Peter Paul Kearney, he was educated at the…

Kelehan, John William ('Noel') (1935–2012), musician, conductor, composer and arranger, was born on 26 December 1935 in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, son of Patrick Kelehan, a railway fireman and engine driver, of 6 Great Western Avenue, Phibsborough, Dublin,…

Kelly, John (1912–89), fiddle and concertina player, was one of eight children born to Michael Kelly and Elizabeth Kelly (née Keane) of Rehy, Carrigaholt, in the parish of Kilballyowen on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare. He began to play the concertina at the age of seven,…

Kelly, Luke (1940–84), folk singer, was born 17 November 1940 in Lattimore Cottages, Sheriff Street, Dublin, second child (and second son) among four sons and two daughters of Luke Kelly (1904–67), a factory worker with Jacob's biscuit manufacturers, and Julia Kelly (née Fleming). In…

Kelly, Margaret ('Miss Bluebell') (1910–2004), show dancer, choreographer, and impresario, was born 24 June 1910 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, daughter (according to the birth certificate) of James Kelly, a tram conductor, of 14 Marlborough Street, and Margaret Kelly (née Ryan…

Kelly, Michael (1762–1826), actor, singer, and composer, was born 25 December 1762 in Dublin, eldest of the fourteen children of Thomas Kelly, wine merchant and deputy master of ceremonies at Dublin castle, and his wife, formerly a Miss McCabe, from Co. Westmeath. Displaying an…

Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’) (1917–85), composer and music teacher, was born in December 1917 in Wexford town, the fifth of six children of James Kelly, baker, and Margaret Kelly (née Redmond). His schooling took place at the local …

Kennedy, Frank (‘Frankie’) (1955–94), flute player, was born 30 September 1955 into the family of three girls and two boys of Bill and Agnes Kennedy, of Andersonstown, Belfast. He became interested in traditional music when he was around eighteen and was influenced initially by groups…

Kennedy, James (‘Jimmy’) (1902–84), songwriter, was born 20 July 1902 in Pretoria Terrace, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, one among two sons and two daughters of Joseph Hamilton Kennedy, RIC sergeant, and his wife Annie, née Baskin. The family…

Kennedy, William (1768–1834), uilleann piper and pipemaker, was born near Banbridge, Co. Down. He was blind from the age of four because of smallpox. When he was thirteen he was sent to learn the fiddle and was taught by the Armagh fiddle player and piper John Moorehead. While there…

Keogh, Doris (neé Cleary) (1922–2012), flautist and teacher, was born on 16 April 1922 on Leeson Street, Dublin, the daughter of Victor-Louis Cleary, an insurance agent and sometime professional flute player of Rathgar, Dublin, and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Hughes), who also had a…

Larchet, John Francis (1884–1967), musician, was born 13 July 1884 at Sandymount, Dublin, son of John Edward Larchet, manager of a wine business, and his wife Isabella Emily (née Farmar). Educated at the Catholic University School in Leeson St., Dublin, Larchet subsequently…

Lewis, Helen (1916–2009), Holocaust survivor, dance teacher, choreographer and memoirist, was born Helena Katz on 22 June 1916 into a well-off Jewish family in Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian empire (Bohemia became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia in 1918). She was an only child…

Locke, Josef (1917–99), singer and entertainer, was born Joseph McLaughlin 23 March 1917 at 19 Creggan St., Derry city, one of ten children of Patrick McLaughlin, butcher and cattle dealer, and Annie McLaughlin (née Doherty). Educated by the Christian Brothers and awarded for his…

Logier, Frederick (1801–67), organist, teacher, and composer, was born 25 April 1801 in the town of Cavan, the second child of the German pedagogue and inventor Johann Bernhard Logier (qv) and his first wife, Elizabeth Willman…

Logier, Johann Bernhard (1777–1846), pedagogue, composer, arranger, inventor, concert promoter, and music publisher and seller, was born 9 February 1777 in Kassel, Germany, the son of Johann Jacob Logier (1736–84), an organist and violinist, and Christina Elizabeth Gotze (1742–87…

Loughnane, William (‘Bill’, ‘Willie’) (1915–82), hurler, musician, doctor, and politician, was born 5 August 1915 in Feakle, Co. Clare, son of Willie Loughnane, farmer and shopkeeper, and Kate Loughnane (née McInerney), and educated at Feakle national school, St Flannan's College…

Lover, Samuel (1797–1868), artist, writer, and composer, was born 24 February 1797 in Dublin, eldest son of William Frederick Lover (d. 1833), a stockbroker who ran the British Exchange Office in Dublin and had various other commercial interests, and Abigail Lover (née Maher; d. 1810),…

Ludwig (Ledwidge), William (1847–1923), singer, was born 15 July 1847 in Arran Quay, Dublin, eldest son of William Ledwidge, chorister, of Dublin, and Teresa Ledwidge (née Burke). He attended the O'Connell Schools and came under the influence of Br Swan, and later entered a…

Lynch, Charles Edgeworth Cagney (1906–84), classical pianist, was born 22 October 1906 at Parkgariffe House, opposite Cobh Island, Co. Cork, the younger child (there was also a daughter, Violet) of Colonel Charles Joseph Lynch, a soldier, and his wife Dora (née Sutton). The family,…