Armstrong, Florence
Armstrong, Florence (1928–2010), teacher and pioneer of multi-denominational education, was born on 26 November 1928, one of four children (three boys and a girl) of Thomas Armstrong and his wife Elizabeth (née Dunne). Both parents were from farming backgrounds. Florence (usually…...
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine)
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine) (1907–2009), nurse and health service administrator, was born 22 May 1907 in Belfast, the sixth of nine children (four boys and five girls) of Robert Baird, originally from Donegal, an RIC constable, and his wife Frances Harriet (née Hogan), from…...
Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Beere, Thekla (June)
Beere, Thekla (June) (1901–91), civil servant and first chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women, was born 20 June 1901 in Kilmore, Columbkille, near Granard, Co. Longford, one of two daughters of the Rev. Francis John Armstrong Beere, Church of Ireland vicar of Streete, Co.…...
Blachford, Theodosia
Blachford, Theodosia (1744–1817?), philanthropist and leading methodist, was born at her father's residence in Rosanna, Co. Wicklow, only daughter of William Tighe (qv), landowner and MP, and Lady Mary Tighe of Rathmore, Co. Meath,…...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel
Burrows (Dobbin), Rachel (1912–87), actress, broadcaster, and teacher, was born 29 April 1912 in Limerick, the daughter of Peter Dobbin, county surveyor for Co. Clare, and Kathleen (née Vance), his second wife. Reared in Kilkishen House, Co. Clare, she was educated at St Brandon's…...
Butler (Thompson), Elizabeth
Butler (Thompson), Elizabeth (1846–1933), Lady Butler , military painter, was born 3 November 1846 at the Villa Claremont, near Lausanne, Switzerland, the elder daughter of Thomas James Thompson and Christiana Thompson (née Weller). The Thompsons were cosmopolitan in outlook,…...
Cane, (Lucy) Mary
Cane, (Lucy) Mary (c.1866–1926), public servant, was born probably at Cahirmoyle, Co. Limerick, third child of Edward William O'Brien of Cahirmoyle and Mary Spring O'Brien, sister of the 2nd Baron Monteagle. William Smith O'…...
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
Churchill, Frances Anne Emily
This is a co-subject for the entry on Churchill, John Winston Spencer. View the original entry....
Cochrane, Jean Crawford
Cochrane, Jean Crawford (1914–2013), educator and activist for women's education, was born on 27 June 1914 in Lifford, Co. Donegal, the eldest daughter of Hugh Crawford Cochrane, a solicitor and under-sheriff for the county, and Lucy Cameron Cochrane (née Boyd). Jean attended school…...
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine)
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine) (c. 1662–1752), political hostess, landowner, and philanthropist, was the eldest child among four daughters and six sons of Sir Albert Conyngham (qv), later a Williamite general of ordnance, and…...
Conolly, Lady Louisa
Conolly, Lady Louisa (1743–1821), society woman and public benefactor, was born 5 December 1743, perhaps at Goodwood House, Sussex, fifth child of Charles Lennox , 2nd duke of Richmond, and his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan. After her parents’ deaths (1750, 1751) Lady Louisa and two…...
Coutts, Angela Georgina Burdett
Coutts, Angela Georgina Burdett- (1814–1906), Baroness Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist, was born 21 April 1814 in Piccadilly, London, the youngest of the six children of the one-time radical politician Sir Francis Burdett (1770–1844) and his wife Sophia, daughter of the London banker…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Crozier, Maurna
Crozier, (Rose Mary) Maurna (1942–2015), social anthropologist, was born in Belfast on 22 January 1942, the only surviving child of Robert Frizzell, the first general manager of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), and his wife Molly (née Rands), a rosarian and the daughter of…...
Curran, Amelia
Curran, Amelia (1775–1847), artist, was born in Redmond's Hill, Dublin, eldest child of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, lawyer, and parliamentarian, and Sarah Curran (née Creagh), both of Newmarket, Co. Cork. Her artistic…...
Currey, Frances Wilmot (‘Fanny’)
Currey, Frances Wilmot (‘Fanny’) (1848–1917), artist and horticulturalist, was born 30 May 1848 at Lismore castle, Co. Waterford, the daughter of Francis Edmund Currey and his wife, Anna. Her father, who for many years was land agent to the dukes of Devonshire, was also an early…...
De Grey, Henrietta Frances
De Grey, Henrietta Frances (1784–1848), Countess de Grey , political hostess and philanthropist, was born 22 June 1784 at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, the fifth and last daughter and youngest of the ten children of William Willoughby Cole (1736–1803), 1st earl of Enniskillen, and…...
Delany, Mary
Delany, Mary (1700–88), artist, was born 14 May 1700 in Coulston, Wiltshire, England, elder daughter and second among four children of Col. Bernard Granville and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Martin Westcomb, former consul at Cadiz. Her father, the younger brother of George…...
Delap, Kathleen Hilda (née Orpen)
Delap, Kathleen Hilda (née Orpen) (1910–2004), activist in women's organisations, was born on 27 January 1910 in the family home, Lisheens, Carrickmines, Co. Dublin, fourth child and third daughter among five daughters and one son of Charles St George Orpen (1864–1939) and Cerise…...
Denny (Fitzmaurice), Lady Arabella
Denny (Fitzmaurice), Lady Arabella (1707–92), philanthropist, was the second daughter of Thomas Fitzmaurice (d. 1741) of Lixnaw castle, Tralee, Co. Kerry, 21st lord of Kerry, created 1st earl of Kerry in 1722, and Anne Fitzmaurice (née Petty; d. 1737), only daughter of the…...
Dering, Henrietta
Dering, Henrietta (c.1674–1729), portrait painter, was born in France, the only daughter among two children of Francis and Suzanne de Branlieu , a huguenot family who came to England in 1687. The will of her daughter, Mary Dering, dated 23 April 1746 and proved 13 June…...
Dickie, Marie Louise
Dickie, Marie Louise (1871–1947), public servant, was born 13 October 1871 at 8 Wodehouse Terrace, North Circular Road, Dublin, the eldest and only surviving child of Thomas Frankfort Coyle , a wine merchant, and his wife Maria Elizabeth (née Hilles; 1842?–1931), the youngest daughter…...