Kleinman, Sylvie

Byrne, Miles (1780–1862), United Irishman, French army officer, and author, was born 20 March 1780 at Ballylusk, Monaseed, Co. Wexford, the eldest son of Patrick Byrne, a middling catholic farmer, and Mary (née Graham). He joined the United Irishmen in the spring of 1797, and…

Carey, Mathew (1760–1839), author, bookseller and publisher, was born 28 January 1760 in Dublin, one of five sons to Christopher Carey, a baker who prospered provisioning the British navy, and Mary Carey (née Sheridan). Small and lame from infancy (having been dropped by his nurse),…

Curran, Richard Creagh (1776–1847), lawyer, was born in Newmarket, Co. Cork, the second child and eldest surviving son of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, lawyer, and parliamentarian, and Sarah (Creagh) Curran. Both parents were…

Curran, Sarah (1782–1808), fiancée of Robert Emmet, was born at her father's residence in Newmarket, Co. Cork, the youngest daughter and seventh child of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, barrister, and politician, and Sarah (Creagh…

Delaney, Malachy (1758?–1807), United Irishman, was from Ballitore, Co. Kildare. Little is known of his family background, but Mary Shackleton Leadbeater (qv), also of Ballitore, described him and his brother Peter as sons of a…

Finn (O'Finn), Edmund (Edward) (1767–1811), United Irishman and soldier in the French army, was born in Co. Cork, one of at least two sons of a respectable small farmer and provision merchant; no further details are known of his parents. Information on him is scattered and at times…

Fitzgerald (Foley), Lady Lucy Anne (1771–1851), radical, was born on 5 February 1771, probably in Leinster House, Dublin, the seventeenth of nineteen children of James Fitzgerald (qv), first duke of Leinster, and Lady…

Fitzgerald (Lennox), Emily (Emilia Mary) (1731–1814), duchess of Leinster , was born on 6 October 1731 and baptised at St George's church, Hanover Square, London, the second surviving daughter of Charles Lennox, second duke of Richmond, who was grandson of Charles II and his…

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…

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…

Harvey, Beauchamp Bagenal (1754?–1798), barrister, United Irishman, and insurgent leader, was born at Bargy Castle, Co. Wexford, elder son among two sons and three daughters of Francis Harvey (d. 1792), barrister, and his wife Martha (d. 1794), daughter of the Rev. James Harvey of…

Holmes, Mary Anne (Maryanne) (1773–1805), poet and writer, was born 10 October 1773 in Dublin, one of the four surviving children of Dr Robert Emmet (qv), state physician of Ireland, and Elizabeth (Mason) Emmet of Ballydowney, Co. Kerry.…

Humbert, Jean-Joseph Amable (1767–1823), French general, was born 22 August 1767 in the parish of Saint-Nabord, outside Remiremont in Lorraine, France (later in the Vosges department). He was the eldest of the six children of Jean-Joseph Humbert, a farmer and trader, and his wife,…

Kavanagh, Arthur Macmorrough (1831–89), landlord and politician, was born 25 March 1831 at Borris House, Co. Carlow, youngest of three sons and one daughter of Thomas Kavanagh (1767–1837), landowner, and his second wife, Lady …

Kelburn, Sinclare (Sinclair) (1754–1802), presbyterian minister and radical, was born in Dublin, the only son of the Rev. Ebenezer Kelburn, minister of the Plunkett St. (latterly Ormond Quay) presbyterian church in Dublin, and Martha Kelburn (née Sinclare). In November 1769 he…

Kelly, John (1773–98), insurgent leader, was born at Killann, Co. Wexford, eldest among six children of John Kelly (1737?–1797), shopkeeper and prosperous farmer, of Kilbranish, and his wife Mary (née Redmond (c.1743–1803) of Killann. He was a first cousin of Fr…

Lefroy, Thomas Langlois (1776–1869), judge and MP, was born 8 January 1776 in Limerick, eldest son of Lt.-col. Anthony Lefroy, 9th Light Dragoons, and Anne Lefroy (née Gardner). He entered TCD in November 1790 and graduated…

Lentaigne, Benjamin (1773–1813), physician, was born 14 February 1773 in Caen, Normandy, France, third son of Pierre François Lentaigne, lieutenant of dragoons, and his wife Anne Marguerite, daughter of Guillaume François Duclos. His family had strong royalist sympathies, one of his…

Long, Philip (1772?–1814), insurgent, was born in Waterford into a catholic family. Little is known of his background; he may have lived in Spain (1789–95). Long played a prominent strategic role in the conspiracy that led to the failed insurrection of…

Martin, Liam Christopher (1934–98), artist and illustrator, was born 25 February 1934 in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, the son of Ambrose Victor Martin of Kilbeggan, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née Harding). When he was aged one his family moved to Rathfarnham, Co.…

Mason, (William) St John (1773?–1857), barrister and United Irishman, was from Co. Kerry, the only son of John Mason of Kinsale, Co. Cork, and Elizabeth Mason (née Austin). He was a first cousin of Thomas Addis Emmet (qv) and…

Murphy, Arthur (1727–1805), dramatist, actor, and lawyer, was born 27 December 1727 at his mother's family home at Cloonyquin, Co. Roscommon, the fifth (and second surviving) child of Richard Murphy, a prosperous Dublin merchant, and his wife, Jane (née French) (d. 1761). Following…

O'Conor, Thomas (1770–1855), United Irishman and newspaper editor, was born 1 September 1770 in Dublin, second son of Charles O'Conor (qv) of Mount Allen, Co. Roscommon, who represented Sligo at the Catholic Convention of 1792 and died in America in 1808. His…

Patten, John (1774–1864), associate of Robert Emmet (qv) and librarian of the RDS, was born 16 August 1774, youngest among three children of the Rev. J. Patten (d. 1787) of Annerville, presbyterian…

Porter, John Grey Vesey (1817–1903), newspaper proprietor and improving landlord, was born 25 August 1817 in Kilskeery parish, Co. Fermanagh, only son of the Rev. John Grey Porter (1789–1873), non-resident prebend and rector (1813–42) of Donaghmoyne, Co. Monaghan, and…