Aiken, Jim
Aiken, Jim (1932–2007), music promoter and businessman, was one of seven or eight children born to Joseph Aiken and his wife Annie (née Fagan), and was raised on the family farm in Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, close to the border. After completing his secondary education, he studied…...
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Alibrandi, Gaetano
Alibrandi, Gaetano (1914–2003), papal diplomat, was born 14 January 1914 in Castiglione, Sicily, to an aristocratic family. After secondary education at the diocesan seminary in Acireale, Alibrandi attended the Pontifical Seminary, Rome, and was ordained priest on 1 November 1936; he…...
Alton, Bryan Gerard
Alton, Bryan Gerard (1919–91), physician, politician and goldsmith, was born in Dublin on 5 June 1919, the only child of Norman Bindon Alton, bank inspector, and his wife, Mary Frances (née Hayes). The family lived at 119 Morehampton Road until his father died in 1925. Bryan and his…...
Anderson, Gerry
Anderson, Gerry (1944–2014), musician, radio broadcaster and television presenter, was born Gerald Michael Anderson on 28 October 1944 in Derry, one of four children (three sons and a daughter) of John Anderson, a boiler and range-fireplace fitter who had joined the anti-treaty side…...
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’)
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’) (1901–85), revolutionary, public servant, and writer, was born 6 October 1901 at 42 Summerhill, central Dublin, elder of two sons of Christopher Andrews, of Dublin, and Mary (‘Molly’) Andrews (née Moran), daughter of a…...
Archdeacon, Matthew
Archdeacon, Matthew (1798–1853), writer and schoolmaster, was born 17 March 1798 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. He was probably the son of G. Archdeacon, recorded in 1810 as running a 'mathematical and mercantile school' in Castlebar, since from 1825 Matthew Archdeacon himself ran a '…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (1550–1620), Jesuit priest and administrator, was born at Kilkenny and belonged, it can be deduced, to a patrician family prominent in that city. To prepare for an ecclesiastical career he went (c.1564) to the Spanish Netherlands, to Louvain, a hotbed of the…...
Arkins, Thomas Michael
Arkins, Thomas Michael (1888–1913), founder of the Students' Representative Council, UCD, was born 14 September 1888 in Knockroe, Co. Clare, eldest of at least four sons and three daughters of John Arkins, farmer, and Bridget Arkins…...
Arnold, Thomas
Arnold, Thomas (1823–1900), literary scholar and teacher, was born at Laleham, Middlesex, on 30 November 1823, the third child and second son of Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), later famous as the headmaster of Rugby School, and his wife, Mary, née Penrose (1791–1873). Throughout his life…...
Ashe (Ash), Richard
Ashe (Ash), Richard (d. 1659), ecclesiastical official, was probably the son of Nicholas Ash of Newtown, Co. Meath, though he may have been the son of Henry Ashe. He is recorded as having married Alice Jones, daughter of Lewis Jones…...
Ashe, Nora (Honora)
Ashe, Nora (Honora) (1882–1970), teacher, nationalist, and Irish language enthusiast, was born 15 July 1882 in Kinard, Lispole, Co. Kerry, the third daughter in the family of ten of Gregory Ashe, a farmer, and Ellen (née Hanafin), of Tobar, Co. Kerry. Both her parents were native…...
Atkins, Henry St John
Atkins, Henry St John (1896–1987), president of UCC, was born in Cork on 19 March 1896, son of Patrick Atkins and Agnes Atkins (née Egan); he was educated at North Monastery school in Cork, and graduated…...
Avaux, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes
Avaux, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes (1640–1709), Comte d'Avaux , French ambassador to the Jacobite court in Ireland, was born into a noble Béarnais family. He became the most skilled French diplomat of his day, acting as Louis XIV's plenipotentiary at Nijmegen in 1675–8, and then as his…...
Ball, Mary Teresa (Frances)
Ball, Mary Teresa (Frances) (1794–1861), nun, educator, and founder of the Loreto order in Ireland, was born 9 January 1794 in Eccles Street, Dublin, the youngest daughter of John Ball (qv), a wealthy Dublin silk merchant, and Mabel Clare…...
Banim, John
Banim, John (1798–1842), artist, novelist, playwright, and poet, was born 3 April 1798 in Kilkenny city, the eldest son of Michael Banim (perhaps originally Bannon), farmer and shopkeeper (he sold sporting goods), and Joannah or Judith Banim (née Carroll) from near the Slieve Bloom…...
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril (1925–2003), Jesuit priest, art critic and historian, and philosopher, was born Denis Barrett in Dublin on 9 May 1925 (Cyril was his name in religion). He was the son of Denis Barrett, the last assistant commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. His…...
Barrett, Patrick
Barrett, Patrick (d. 1415), bishop of Ferns and chancellor of Ireland, was originally a canon in the Augustinian priory of Kells in Co. Kilkenny. He was provided to the see of Ferns by the pope on 10 December 1400, and consecrated by the pope in Rome. He received the…...
Barrington, Thomas Joseph
Barrington, Thomas Joseph (1916–2000), civil servant, was born 16 May 1916 in Dublin, the eldest of five children of Thomas Barrington (qv), civil servant, of Corrofin, Co. Clare, and his wife, Eileen, née Bracken, the half-sister…...
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey (1606–51), lawyer, politician, and diplomat, was eldest son of Lawrence Barron, a catholic merchant from Clonmel, and Mary Wadding of Waterford, sister of the Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding (qv). The Barrons, a…...
Barry, Billie (Lillian)
Barry, Billie (Lillian) (1921–2014), performer and stage school founder, was born on 27 January 1921 in Drumcondra, Dublin, the youngest of fifteen children to John Clarke-Barry, orchestra leader and musician, and his wife Anne (née Hughes), an amateur operatic singer. The family were…...
Barry, James
Barry, James (1741–1806), history painter, was born 11 October 1741 in a cottage in Water Lane (latterly Seminary Road), Cork, the eldest child in a family of four boys – his brothers were Patrick, Redmond, and John – and a girl, Mary Ann. Background and early training…...
Barry, Moyra Aloysius
Barry, Moyra Aloysius (1886–1960), artist, was born in Dublin, eldest of eleven children of Bernard Barry, merchant, and Jane Barry (maiden name unknown), and was called ‘Mary’ by her parents. She was educated at Loreto Convent, North Great George's St., Dublin, before studying at…...
Bathe, William
Bathe, William (1564–1614), diplomat, author, and Jesuit, was born in Drumcondra castle on Easter Sunday 1564, son of John Bathe (d. 1586), Irish solicitor general, chancellor of the exchequer, and grandson of James Bathe (qv), chief…...
Beaumont (McGavock), Máirín (Mary)
Beaumont (McGavock), Máirín (Mary) (1894–1972), teacher and nationalist, was born 7 December 1894 in Glenarm, Co. Antrim, one of the four daughters of William McGavock, a merchant, and Annie McGavock , a sister of Eoin MacNeill (qv).…...