O'Sullivan, Maureen Paula
O'Sullivan, Maureen Paula (1911–98), actress, was born 17 May 1911 at Boyle, Co. Roscommon, one of the five children of Major Charles Joseph O'Sullivan of the Connaught Rangers, and his wife, Mary Lovatt (née Fraser). Educated briefly at a convent in Dublin, she also attended the…...
O'Sullivan, Seán
O'Sullivan, Seán (1906–64), artist, was born John O'Sullivan on 20 June 1906 in 44 St Joseph's Terrace, Dublin, son of John O'Sullivan, carpenter, and Mary O'Sullivan (née Taylor). Educated at Synge Street Christian Brothers' School and Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he was…...
Pearse, James
Pearse, James (1839–1900), sculptor, was born on 8 December 1839 at 24 Plumtree Street, Bloomsbury, London, the second of three sons of James Pearse, frame-maker, and his first wife Mary Ann (née Thompson). The family was impoverished and moved to Birmingham (c.1847), where…...
Pearse, William (‘Willie’)
Pearse, William (‘Willie’) (1881–1916), revolutionary and sculptor, was born 15 November 1881 at 27 Great Brunswick St. (Pearse St.), Dublin, second son among two sons and two daughters of James Pearse, a monumental sculptor originally from London, and his second wife,…...
Peyton, Patrick Joseph
Peyton, Patrick Joseph (1909–1992), Holy Cross priest and radio and television evangelist (‘the Rosary Priest’), was born 9 January 1909 in Carracastle, near Ballina, Co. Mayo, sixth of the nine children of John Peyton (1868–1934), county road repair worker, and Mary Gillard Peyton (…...
Pilkington, Ellice
Pilkington, Ellice (1869–1936), women's activist and artist, was born 1 September 1869 as Louisa Ellice Esmonde , second daughter of Sir John Esmonde, MP and lieutenant-colonel of Waterford artillery militia, of Ballynastragh, Gorey, Co. Wexford, and Louisa Esmonde (née Grattan),…...
Pinkerton, John
Pinkerton, John (1845–1908), tenant farmer, magistrate, and MP, was the son of John Pinkerton of Seacon, near Ballymoney, north Antrim, and his wife Nancy (née Pinkerton). John Pinkerton senior was a unitarian tenant farmer and linen merchant who died young after falling from his…...
Pollen, John Hungerford
Pollen, John Hungerford (1820–1902), architect, artist, and author, was born 19 November 1820 in London, second son of Richard Pollen, barrister, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Pepys Cockerell. Educated at Durham House (1829–33) and Eton (1833–8), in May 1838 he…...
Potter, Maureen
Potter, Maureen (1925–2004), variety artiste, comedian, and actress, was born Maria Philomena Potter (the baptising priest supposedly refused to countenance 'Maureen' as an acceptable Christian name) on 3 January 1925 at 7 St Joseph's Terrace, Philipsburg Avenue, Fairview, Dublin, the…...
Power, Albert George
Power, Albert George (1881–1945), sculptor, was born 16 November 1881 at Barrack Street (now Benburb Street), Dublin, second of two sons and one younger daughter of Henry Power, watchmaker, and Mary Power (née Atkins), embroideress. He was educated at the Christian Brothers national…...
Purcell, Noel
Purcell, Noel (1900–85), actor, was born Patrick Joseph Noel Purcell on 23 December 1900 at 11a Lower Mercer Street, Dublin, the elder of the two children of Pierce Purcell, auctioneer, and his second wife, Catherine Purcell (née Hoban), antique dealer. Educated at the Synge…...
Purcell, Seamus
Purcell, Seamus (1923–2003), businessman , was born James Purcell in the family home in Cumberland Street (later Emmet Street), Birr, Co. Offaly, on 3 January 1923, the third of eight sons and two daughters of Patrick Purcell (d. 1961), cattle and sheep dealer, and his wife Florence (…...
Quigley, Godfrey
Quigley, Godfrey (1923–94), actor, theatre manager and director, was born 5 May 1923 in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate, the son of Eugene Patrick Quigley, a military official from Co. Sligo, and his American born wife Lillian (née Broderick). His father had been awarded the MC during the…...
Rákóczi, Basil
Rákóczi, Basil (1908–79), painter and psychoanalyst, was born 31 May 1908 in Chelsea, London, son of Ivan Rákóczi, Hungarian composer, violinist, and artist, and Charlotte May Dobbey, who went by the name ‘Dolly Wilce’ and was an artist's model from Co. Cork. His parents, who were…...
Rea, Joe
Rea, Joe (1938–2007), farm leader, was born 2 May 1938 in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, eldest of two sons and a daughter of Michael Rea, farmer of Farmlee House, Ballyea, near Cahir, and his wife Catherine (‘Kathleen’, née O’Keeffe), originally from Co. Wexford. A voracious reader from early…...
Redmond, Mary
Redmond, Mary (1863–1930), sculptor, was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, daughter of a quarry worker, and moved at a young age with her family to Ardclough, near Straffan, Co. Meath, where her father was employed in the local limestone quarries, the chief source of wealth in the…...
Reid, Nano
Reid, Nano (1900–81), painter, was born Anne Margaret Reid on 1 March 1900 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, eldest among four children of Thomas Reid, publican, and Anne Reid (née Downey). The family lived above their pub on the corner of Peter St. and Fair St., and enjoyed a prosperous…...
Rivers, Elizabeth Joyce
Rivers, Elizabeth Joyce (1903–64), artist, was born 5 August 1903 in the family home, Bonks Hill House in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England, the daughter of Thomas Alfred Rivers, nurseryman, and his wife Mabel (née Hall). Her family had run a renowned nursery plant operation from…...
Roche, Laurence
Roche, Laurence (1927–99), forester, was born 20 October 1927 in Wexford town, second son and second child among five sons and four daughters of William Roche, shopkeeper, of 9 Monument Place, Wexford, and Bridget Roche (née Banville), from a well known literary family. Having…...
Ryan, John
Ryan, John (1925–92), editor, painter, and broadcaster, was born 19 February 1925 in Camden St., Dublin, the third among eight children of Seamus Ryan, businessman, and Agnes Ryan (née Harding), both of Co. Tipperary. His father was the founder of Monument Creameries in Dublin,…...
Ryan, Kathleen
Ryan, Kathleen (1922–85), actress, was born on 8 September 1922 above her parents' shop on Camden Street, Dublin, the first of eight children of James (Seamus) Ryan (qv) and his wife Agnes Ryan (qv) (née Harding).…...
Ryan, Phyllis Carmel
Ryan, Phyllis Carmel (1920–2011), actress and theatre producer, was born on 28 July 1920 at 79 Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin, the younger of two daughters of Thomas J. Ryan, who served in the British army and was subsequently a civil servant, and his wife May (or 'Maisie') (née…...
Rynne, Stephen
Rynne, Stephen (1901–80), farmer, writer, and broadcaster, was born in Hampshire, second son of wealthy Irish parents, Dr Michael Rynne and Mary Rynne (née O'Mara). The family moved (1907) to Limerick, where Stephen attended Sacred Heart College, the Crescent, till he went to Clongowes…...
Sadleir, John
Sadleir, John (1813–56), banker, politician, speculator, and swindler, was born 17 November 1813 at Shronell House in the parish of Shronell near Tipperary town, fifth of seven children born to Clement William Sadleir, a protestant farmer and middleman, whose earliest known…...
Scully, James
Scully, James (1737–1816), grazier, banker, and diarist, was born 9 November 1737, a son in the family of two daughters and seven surviving sons of Roger Scully (1713–83) of Ballysheehan and later Dualla, townlands near Cashel, Co. Tipperary (to which district the Scullys had…...