King, Richard
King, Richard (1907–74), stained-glass artist and illustrator, was born 7 July 1907 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, elder of two sons of John J. King, sergeant in the RIC, and Margaret King (née Brereton). He was educated by the De la Salle…...
Kinnane, Michael Joseph (‘M. J.’)
Kinnane, Michael Joseph (‘M. J.’) (1889–1952), civil servant and Garda Síochána commissioner, was born 18 January 1889 in Drumcondra, Dublin, son of Martin Kinnane and Eileen Kinnane (née Carney), national school teachers. Raised in Mountbellew, Co. Galway, and educated at…...
Laffan, William Mackay
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…...
Lavery, Sir John
Lavery, Sir John (1856–1941), portrait painter, was born 20 March 1856 in Belfast, son of Henry Lavery, a poor wine-and-spirit merchant who embarked in Liverpool (1859) on the emigrant clipper Pomona with the object of establishing himself in the United States. The…...
Lawless, Matthew James
Lawless, Matthew James (1837–64), painter, was born in Dublin, son of Barry Edward Lawless, barrister, of 13 Harcourt St., Dublin, and Jane Magdelene Lawless (née Byrne). He was educated at Prior School, Bath, England, where illness affected his hearing and left him in frail health…...
Lawless, Patrick
Lawless, Patrick (fl. 1691–1718), soldier and diplomat, was the son of Walter Lawless of Talbot's Inch, near Kilkenny, and Ann Bryan, sister of James Bryan of Jenkinstown, alderman; he was the grandson of Richard Lawless (d. 1670), procurator of the supreme council of the…...
Lawlor, Dermot Colman
Lawlor, Dermot Colman (1905–87), managing director of Bord na Móna and Meath county manager, was born 14 September 1905 in Dublin, son of Patrick Lawlor, bookbinder, of 74 Bride St., Dublin, and Rosanna Lawlor (née Fagan). He was educated at Terenure College, Dublin, and…...
Le Jeune, James George
Le Jeune, James George (1910–83), painter, was born 24 May 1910 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, son of Anthony Le Jeune, musician, of French and English descent; his mother (whose name is unknown) was Irish. When he was 2 years old the family moved to Brittany, France, where…...
Lemass, Frank
Lemass, Frank (1911–74), general manager and director of CIÉ, president of the Irish Management Institute, was born 13 September 1911 in Dublin, youngest son among four sons and three daughters of John T. Lemass, hatter and outfitter, of 3 Capel St., Dublin, and Frances Lemass (…...
Lenihan, Patrick James
Lenihan, Patrick James (1902–70), civil servant, company director, and TD, was born 4 September 1902 in Lickeen, Ennistimon, Co. Clare, son of Patrick Lenihan, national school teacher, and Hannah Lenihan (née McIherney). Educated at St Joseph's College, Ballinasloe, and…...
Leydon, John
Leydon, John (1895–1979), civil servant, was born 17 January 1895, fourth child and third son of James Leydon and Kate Leydon (neé Quinn), farmers, of Arigna, Co. Roscommon. He was educated at St Mel's College, Longford, and became a seminarian at St Patrick's College, Maynooth (…...
Luke, John
Luke, John (1906–75), painter, was born 16 January 1906 at 4 Lavis St., Belfast, fourth child among seven sons and one daughter of James Luke (1874–1937), boilerman, originally from Ahoghill, Co. Antrim, and Sarah Luke (1877–1953), daughter of a weaver from near Ballymena, Co.…...
Luzio, Salvatore
Luzio, Salvatore (fl. 1897–1934), cleric and papal envoy to Ireland, was of Italian birth. He served as professor of canon law at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, from 1897 to 1910, and it was later claimed that he made the acquaintance of…...
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’)
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’) (1914–98), administrator, author, and linguist, was born 16 April 1914 in Dublin, daughter of Charles Lynam, engineer, and Margaret (‘Mai’) Lynam (née Moran), both from Co. Galway. Her father served in the first world war as an officer in the…...
Lynch, Mary Concepta
Lynch, Mary Concepta (1874–1939), artist and Dominican nun, was born Lilly Lynch in Dublin, daughter of Thomas Joseph Lynch, a renowned Dublin illuminator who had a studio in Middle Abbey St. and later at 31 Grafton St.; nothing is known of her mother. Her father was at the…...
Lynch, Patrick Neison (Neisen, Neeson, Niessen)
Lynch, Patrick Neison (Neisen, Neeson, Niessen) (1817–82), catholic bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, and confederate diplomat, was born 10 March 1817 in the townland of Kibberidogue, in the catholic parish of Clones, Co. Monaghan, the eldest son of Conlaw Peter Lynch and…...
Lynch, Stanislaus John
Lynch, Stanislaus John (1831–1915), landed estates court registrar, land commissioner, and estates commissioner, was the second son of Patrick Lynch, JP, of Tara Hall, Co. Meath, and Rathermon, Co. Sligo, and his wife, Marcella, daughter…...
Mac Cana, Somhairle (Soirle)
Mac Cana, Somhairle (Soirle) (1901–75), artist, was born Samuel Malachy McCann on 23 November 1901 in Grace Street, Belfast, son of J. P. McCann, cabinetmaker, and Mary Jane McCann (née Riddell). He was educated by the Christian Brothers and in 1915 was apprenticed as textile designer…...
MacCarthy (McCarthy), James Charles Brendan
MacCarthy (McCarthy), James Charles Brendan (1908–90), civil servant, was born 22 April 1908 in Dublin, eldest child of James Justin McCarthy, Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) constable, and Margaret Teresa McCarthy (née O'Connor). The family name appears as ‘McCarthy’ on his birth…...
MacDonnell, Angela Christina (‘Angela Antrim’) (née Sykes)
MacDonnell, Angela Christina (‘Angela Antrim’) (née Sykes) (1911–84), countess of Antrim , sculptor, cartoonist, and illustrator, was born 6 September 1911 at Eddlethorpe, near Malton, Yorkshire, youngest daughter and fifth child among three sons and three daughters of Sir Mark Sykes,…...
MacDonnell, Antony Patrick
MacDonnell, Antony Patrick (1844–1925), Baron MacDonnell of Swinford , civil servant, was born 7 March 1844 at Carracastle, near Swinford, Co. Mayo, eldest son of Mark Garvey MacDonnell, catholic landowner, and his wife, Bedelia (née O'Hara). He was educated at Summerhill College,…...
MacGonigal, Maurice Joseph
MacGonigal, Maurice Joseph (1900–79), landscape and figurative painter, was born 22 January 1900 in Ranelagh, Dublin, third eldest child and only son of Francis MacGonigal, Sligo-born painter and decorator, and Caroline MacGonigal (née Lane). After attending Synge St.…...
MacHale, Joseph Patrick
MacHale, Joseph Patrick (1922–2005), university administrator and sportsman, was born 8 January 1922 in Dublin, sixth child and younger son of J. P. MacHale, a senior official with the Hibernian Insurance Company, and his wife Grace. Educated at CBS Dún Laoghaire (1930–32) and…...
MacMahon, James
MacMahon, James (1865–1954), civil servant and under-secretary for Ireland, was born 20 April 1865 in Belfast, one of the seven sons of James MacMahon and his wife (she subsequently kept a hotel in Armagh, which was raided by British forces in 1920). Educated at Armagh…...
MacMahon, Peadar
MacMahon, Peadar (1893–1975), soldier and senior civil servant, was born 10 January 1893 in Coose townland, near Ballybay, Co. Monaghan, son of James MacMahon, farmer and mill-owner, and Sarah MacMahon (née Smith). He was a contemporary of …...