Clarke, Frances

Grattan, Thomas Colley (1781–1864), novelist, travel writer, and diplomat, was born in Dublin, the son of Colley Grattan, a solicitor, and his wife Elizabeth (neé Warren). His father retired early and settled in Clayton Lodge, near Castle Carberry, Co. Kildare, but the family's home was…

Graves, Alfred Perceval (1846–1931), writer, folklorist, and schools inspector, was born 22 July 1846 at 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, the second son of nine children of Charles Graves (qv), clergyman and mathematician, and Selina…

Graves, Clotilde Inez Mary (‘Richard Dehan’) (1863–1932), novelist, dramatist, and journalist, was born 3 June 1863 at Buttevant barracks, Co. Cork, the third daughter of Major W. H. Graves and Antoinette Graves (née Deane). Her father was a cousin of the journalist and critic…

Gray, Elizabeth (‘Betsy’) (d. 1798), heroine of the 1798 rebellion, may have been the daughter of the widowed farmer Hans Gray (d. 1807) of Six Roads Ends, Gransha, Co. Down. However, as her story quickly lent itself to myth-making, establishing precise facts is not easy. The…

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Farrell, Elizabeth. View the original entry.

Grierson (Crawley), Constantia (c.1705–1732), editor, scholar, and one of Swift's female literary circle, was born Constantia Crawley in Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, into a poor family. Little is known of her early life or education, save from the memoirs of her friend…

Griffith, Elizabeth (1727–93), playwright, novelist, and actress, was born in Glamorgan, Wales, on 11 October 1727, the daughter of Thomas Griffith (1680?–1744), at one time actor–manager of the Smock Alley theatre, Dublin, and originally from Wales, and his wife, Jane (née Foxcroft…

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Grimley (Whelan), Ellen Jane (‘Nellie’) (c.1887–1960), trade unionist, the only daughter of John Whelan, a tradesman, was probably born in Belfast. Brought up in what she felt was a relatively comfortable home, she was conscious of the grinding poverty around her. She began…

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Gunning, Maria (1732–60), afterwards countess of Coventry , society beauty, eldest of the four daughters of John Gunning of Castlecoote, Co. Roscommon, and Bridget Gunning (née Bourke), daughter of the 6th Viscount Bourke of Mayo, was born at Hemingford Grey, near St Ives,…

Gyles, Althea (1868–1949), poet and artist, was born in Kilmurry, Co. Waterford. Her father, George Gyles, came from a well-connected Anglo-Irish family, who, according to W. B. Yeats (qv), were ‘so haughty that their neighbours…

Hall, Anna Maria (1800–81), writer, editor, and philanthropist, was born 6 January 1800 in Anne Street, Dublin, the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Fielding (d. 1856), a widow of Huguenot extraction. Her father, who died in Anna Maria's infancy, came from Co. Wexford. She spent her…

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Hamilton (Tighe), (Marianne) Caroline (1777–1861), artist and memoirist, was the second daughter of William Tighe (1738–82), of Rossana, Co. Wicklow, landowner and MP for Athboy, Co. Meath (1761–76), and Sarah Tighe (née Fownes) (1743–1829). Her father was a friend of…

Hannan, Mary Josephine (1865–1935?), doctor, was born in Dublin; nothing is known of her parents. One of the earliest female students admitted to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, she became in July 1890 the first Irishwoman to graduate…

Harkin, Hugh (1791–1854), journalist, teacher, poet, and nationalist, was born 6 July 1791 in Magilligan, Co. Derry. Little is known about his early life and education before he established a career as a teacher and journalist attached to various newspapers in both Britain and…

Haughton, James (1795–1873), social reformer and philanthropist, was born 5 May 1795 in Carlow town, eldest son of Samuel Pearson Haughton (1748–1828), corn merchant, and his wife Mary (née Pim) of Ruskin, Queen's Co. (Laois). Although both parents left the Society of Friends…

Hector, Annie (née French ) (Mrs Alexander ) (1825–1902), novelist, was born in Dublin 23 June 1825, the only daughter of Robert French, a Dublin barrister originally of Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, a descendant of the Church of Ireland bishop of Down and Connor…

Hickey, Emily Henrietta (1845–1924), poet, writer, and teacher, was born 12 April 1845 at Macmine Castle, near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, second daughter of the Rev. John Steuart Hickey, rector of Gorebridge, Co. Carlow, and his wife, formerly a Miss Newton King. She was a…

Hickson, Mary Agnes (1826–99), antiquarian, was born in Co. Kerry, possibly in Tralee, where her father, John James Hickson, practised as a solicitor. Her mother was probably Sarah Hickson, née Day. Interested in the history of her native Kerry, she became well known for her regular…

Hinkson, Katharine (née Tynan) (1859–1931), novelist, poet, and journalist, was born 23 January 1859 in South Richmond St., Dublin, the fifth of twelve children of Andrew Cullen Tynan , a prosperous farmer and cattle trader, and Elizabeth Tynan (née Reilly). From an early age she was…

Hobhouse, Mary Violet (née McNeill ) (1864–1901), novelist and poet, was born 8 June 1864 in London, the second daughter of Edmund McNeill, land agent and deputy lord lieutenant of Co. Antrim, and Mary (Miller) McNeill of Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. In 1866 the McNeills moved from…

Hoey, Frances Sarah (Mrs Cashel Hoey) (née Johnston ) (1830–1908), novelist and journalist, was born 15 February 1830 in Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin, one of eight children of Charles Bolton Johnston, secretary and registrar of Mount Jerome cemetery, Dublin, and his wife Charlotte…

Hogan, Michael (1832–99), poet, popularly known as the ‘Bard of Thomond’, was born 1 November 1832 at Thomond Gate, Limerick, the son of Arthur Hogan, a wheelwright, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. Educated locally, as a young man he briefly worked as a wheelwright, but abandoned the…