Biographies A-Z

Labouchere, Henry (1798–1869), Baron Taunton , chief secretary for Ireland (1846–7), was born 15 August 1798, the eldest son of Pierre César Labouchère (d. 1839), a wealthy clothing merchant of Hylands, Essex, and Over Stowey, Somerset, and his wife Dorothy, third daughter of Sir…

Lacey, Denis (‘Dinny’) (1890–1923), republican soldier, was born at Attybrick, Annacarty, Co. Tipperary. Educated at the local national school, Lacey was a keen Gaelic League activist and as a teenager joined the IRB, subsequently…

Lacey, William (‘Billy’) (1889–1969), soccer player, was born in 1889 in Co. Wexford. In the 1906–7 season he made his first appearance in the Shelbourne soccer club's senior team, having played for Shelbourne Boys the previous year. Playing two seasons with Shelbourne (1906–7, 1907…

Lacy, Hugh de (c.1176–1242), earl of Ulster , magnate, second son of Hugh de Lacy (qv) (d. 1186), lord of Meath, and his first wife, Rose de Baderon (‘Rose of Monmouth’), emerged on the Irish scene in 1195 as an ally of…

Lacy, Hugh de (I) (a. 1140–1186), lord of Weobley , Herefordshire, and lord of Meath , son of Gilbert de Lacy, was a significant magnate in the Welsh marches centred on Ludlow castle, who came to Ireland with Henry II (qv) in October…

Lacy (Lasi, Lasci, Lascay), Peter Edmund (Pyotr Petrovich) (1678–1751), the ‘Prince Eugene of Muscovy’, Russian field-marshal, was born 29 September 1678 in Killeedy, Co. Limerick, son of Pierce Edmund de Lacy of Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, and his wife Maria (née Courtney). At the…

Lacy, Walter de (c.1170–1241), lord of Weobley (Herefordshire) and lord of Meath, magnate, was eldest son of Hugh de Lacy (qv) (d. 1186), lord of Meath , and his first wife Rose de Baderon (‘Rose of Monmouth’). He may still have…

Lacy, William de (p.1180–1233), son of Hugh de Lacy I (qv) and his second wife, a daughter of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (qv), king of Connacht, was originally granted lands in…

Laffan, Sir Joseph de Courcy (1786–1848), physician, was born 8 May 1786 in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the third son of Walter Laffan of Cashel and his wife Eleonora De Courcy. Initially educated for the catholic priesthood at Maynooth, he found that he had no vocation and then…

Laffan, Sir Robert Michael (1821–82), soldier and governor of Bermuda, was born 21 September 1821 in Co. Limerick, the second son of John Laffan, a supervisor of excise whose brother Dr Robert Laffan (1765–1833) was catholic archbishop of Cashel (1823–33). Educated at the college of…

Laffan, William Mackay (1848–1909), journalist, newspaper owner, and art connoisseur, was born 24 January 1848 at 41 Philipsburgh Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, eldest of six children of Michael Laffan, clerk in the Custom House, and Ellen Sarah Laffan (née Fitzgibbon). William's…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Lafranchini, Paolo (Paul). View the original entry.

Lafranchini, Paolo (Paul) (1695–1776), stuccoist, was born 17 January 1695 in Bironico near Locarno, in the ‘Svizzera Italiana’ region of Switzerland. The Lafranchinis appear to have been members of the lesser gentry; they owned an inn (which also served as their principal residence…

Lagan, Francis ('Frank') (1916–2005), policeman, was born 11 December 1916 in Lisnamuck, Maghera, Co. Londonderry, one of seven children of Francis Lagan and his wife Bridget (née O'Donnell), who were both schoolteachers; Bridget's father was a member of the…

Laichtín (d. 622) son of Toirbín, abbot of Achad Úr (Freshford, Co. Kilkenny), is a shadowy figure reputed to have been born in the sixth century. Pádraig Ó Riain has argued that he was a Christianised version of the Celtic divinity Lug, whose festival, Lugnasa, was celebrated on…

Laird, Helen (‘Honor Lavelle’) (1874–1957), actress, costumier, teacher, and feminist, was the daughter of John Laird, a protestant pharmacist, and of Marion Laird, née Seymour. She was born in Limerick on 12 April 1874. About 1899 she joined the Gaelic League and Inginidhe na hÉireann…

Laisrén (Mo-Laisse) (d. 639/41), bishop of Lethglenn (Leighlin, Co. Carlow), and saint in the Irish tradition, was according to his genealogy son of Cairell, who belonged to the Dál nImde, a population group located among the Ulaid (Ulstermen). A tract on the mothers of the…

Lake, Gerard (1744–1808), British general and MP, was born 27 July 1744, possibly in Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, second son of Launcelot Charles Lake (d. 1751), a Middlesex landowner, and Letitia Lake (née Gumley; d. 1760). Educated at Eton, he was commissioned ensign 9 May…

Lally, Mick (1945–2010), actor, was born on 10 November 1945 in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo, the eldest of seven children (two sons and five daughters) of Thomas Lally, a hill farmer with thirty acres, and his wife May (née McGing). The district was bilingual and Lally grew up as a native…

Lalor, James Fintan (1807–49), nationalist writer, activist, and agrarian reformer, was born 10 March 1807 in Tinnakill, Queen's Co. (Laois), eldest among eight sons and three daughters of Patrick Lalor, a substantial tenant farmer and middleman, of Tinnakill, Queen's Co., and his…

Lalor, Joseph (1811–1886), psychiatrist, was born in 1811 in Freshford, Co. Kilkenny, fourth and youngest son of Richard Lalor, a landowner, and Mary Lalor (née Carroll). Nothing is known of his childhood. He received a licentiate in midwifery from the Dublin Lying-In Hospital (Rotunda…

Lalor, Mother Teresa (Alice) (c.1769–1846), foundress of the Visitation nuns in the USA, was born in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. While visiting Philadelphia in 1797, she and two widows, Mrs McDermott and Mrs Sharpe co-operated with Rev. Leonard Neale…

Lalor, Patrick (‘Patt’) (1781–1856), tenant farmer and politician, was born in Tenakill, Queen's Co. (Laois), second son of Patrick Lalor (d.1813), a prosperous middleman and tenant farmer, who at the time of his death leased around 300 acres of agricultural land in the county.…

Lalor, Peter (1827–89), politician and leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion in Australia, was born 5 February 1827 at Tinnakill, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of Patrick Lalor (qv), a substantial farmer and later MP for Queen's Co. (…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Lalor, Patrick (‘Patt’). View the original entry.