Clear, Thomas
Clear, Thomas (1911–94), forester, was born on 22 December 1911 at 50 Main Street, Portlaoise, the son of Thomas Clear, a carpenter, and Lizzie Clear (née Scott). Educated at a local secondary school in Portlaoise, he obtained a county council scholarship in 1930 to study agriculture at…...
Clerke, Agnes Mary
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842–1907), historian of astronomy and scientific writer, was born 10 February 1842 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, second child and younger daughter of John William Clerke, manager of the Provincial Bank, Bridge St., and his wife Catherine Mary, youngest sister of the…...
Clinton, Mark
Clinton, Mark (1915–2001), government minister and farmer, was born in Walterstown, Moynalty, near Kells, Co. Meath, on 7 February 1915, the fourth son of Tom Clinton, farmer of 160 acres at Walterstown, and his wife Margaret (née Kearney). His father was elected to Meath County Council…...
Cloney, Seán
Cloney, Seán (1926–99), farmer, central figure of the Fethard-on-Sea controversy, and historian, was born 5 September 1926 in Co. Wexford, the only child of Michael Cloney (1866–1934), steward of Dungulph estate, and his second wife, Ellen (née Cavanagh), of Templederry, Gorey, Co.…...
Clotworthy, Pauline (Cecily Elizabeth)
Clotworthy, Pauline (Cecily Elizabeth) (née Keohler , later Keller ) (1912–2004), teacher of fashion design, was born 17 May 1912 in Dublin. She was the daughter of Robert Nesbitt Keohler, a solicitor, and his second wife, Ethel M. Keohler (née Thompson), the daughter of William…...
Clyn, John
Clyn, John (d. 1349?), Franciscan friar and annalist, appears to have come from a minor gentry family of north Co. Kilkenny. Much of our evidence for his life is circumstantial and comes from internal evidence in his annals, ‘Annalium Hiberniae chronicon, ad annum MCCCXLIX’. ‘Clyn’ is…...
Coakley, Denis
Coakley, Denis (1922–87), businessman and farmer, was born 15 October 1922 at Bunkilla, Donoughmore, Co. Cork, the son of farmers Jeremiah Coakley and Katy (née Buckley) Coakley. Educated at Presentation College, Cork, and UCC, he…...
Cochrane, Robert
Cochrane, Robert (1844–1916), engineer, architect, and antiquarian, was born 21 July 1844 in Co. Down, eldest son of Hugh W. Cochrane, of an ancient Scottish-Danish family that came to Ireland in the seventeenth century. He graduated in engineering from…...
Cockburn, Patricia Evangeline Anne
Cockburn, Patricia Evangeline Anne (1914–89), author and artist, was born 17 March 1914 at Derry House, Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, youngest among six children of Maj. John Bernard Arbuthnot , and his wife Olive, daughter of Sir Henry…...
Cockburn, Sir George
Cockburn, Sir George (1764–1847), soldier, traveller, writer, and antiquary, was born 18 February 1764 in Dublin, only child of George Cockburn (d. 1775), a Scottish businessman who settled in Ireland in 1739 and married Ann (d. 1769), second of two children of Charles Caldwell,…...
Coffey, George
Coffey, George (1857–1916), archaeologist and nationalist, was born 2 July 1857 in Dublin, the third and youngest son of James Charles Coffey (d. 1880), county court judge for Londonderry, and his wife, Anna Maria Coffey (formerly Lee Trafford, née Wilkinson). Educated at…...
Coffey, Hugh Diarmid James
Coffey, Hugh Diarmid James (1888–1964), author and public servant, was born 24 December 1888 in Dublin, the only child of George Coffey (qv) (d. 1916) and his wife Jane Sophia Frances (d. 1921), daughter of Sir George Burdett L'Estrange. The…...
Cogan, Anthony
Cogan, Anthony (1824/5–72), catholic priest and diocesan historian, was born at Slane, Co. Meath, the first of the six sons of Thomas Cogan, a baker, and his wife Anne (née Sillary). Anne Cogan, whose family owned land at Nobber and Platten, was a protestant until her marriage.…...
Cogitosus
Cogitosus (fl. c.650), grandson of Aéd, was author of a Latin Life of St Brigit (qv) of Kildare written not much later than 650, possibly the earliest extant specimen of Irish hagiography. In the epilogue…...
Cole, Richard Lee
Cole, Richard Lee (1878–1963), methodist minister and historian, was born 24 January 1878 in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, second of five sons of the Rev. Richard Cole (1847–1925), methodist minister and editor of the Irish Christian Advocate, and Margaret Anne Cole (née Lee). He…...
Colgan, John
Colgan, John (1592?–1658), Franciscan friar and hagiographer, was born in Priestown in the parish of Donagh, Inishowen, Co. Donegal. Little is known for certain of his early years or family circumstances. He was a member of a well-established Donegal clerical family, the Mac Colgans of…...
Collie, George Joseph
Collie, George Joseph (1904–75), artist and teacher, was born 14 April 1904 at Greaghdrummit, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, the second child of George Collie, an Aberdeen-born chef, and Ellen Collie (née Donovan) of Carrickmacross. Brought up in Dublin, he was educated at St Kevin's…...
Collins, Patrick
Collins, Patrick (1910–94), painter, was born 6 November 1910 at Dromore West, Co. Sligo, second of four children of William Collins, RIC constable, and Mary Collins (née McLaughlin), daughter of a businessman from Dowra, Co. Cavan.…...
Collis, Maurice Stewart
Collis, Maurice Stewart (1889–1973), author, artist, and civil servant, was born 10 January 1889 in Eglinton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, the eldest son of William Stewart Collis, a solicitor in the firm of Collis & Ward, and Edith Lilla Collis (née Barton);…...
Collis, Peter
Collis, Peter (1929–2012), artist, was born in London on 16 November 1929, the son of Herbert Collis, an architect, and Phyllis Collis (née Clark). Growing up in Guildford, Surrey, and later at Esher, Surrey, he received a formal academic training in oil painting at Epsom College (…...
Comerford, John
Comerford, John (c.1770–1832), miniaturist and portrait painter, was born in Kilkenny city, son of a local flax-dresser who lived and worked opposite the Tholsel. He acquired his early artistic knowledge from copying paintings in Kilkenny Castle, Carrick-on-Suir, and other…...
Concannon, Helena
Concannon, Helena (1878–1952), historian and politician, was born 28 October 1878 in Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, one of two daughters of Louis Walsh, hotel owner in Maghera, Co. Londonderry, and Elizabeth Walsh (née Donnelly); there were also three sons. Louis Walsh had been a…...
Connellan, Owen
Connellan, Owen (1797–1871), Gaelic scholar, royal historiographer, and scribe, was born in Tireragh, Co. Sligo, son of a farmer. He claimed descent from the kings of Ireland through the chieftains of Bunnyconnellan in Mayo, and was most likely related to another nineteenth-century…...
Connell, Kenneth Hugh
Connell, Kenneth Hugh (1917–73), historian, was born at Southampton of what he called ‘Irish peasant stock’ and was educated there at Taunton's School. After graduating at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1941 he taught history at Aberystwyth, Liverpool, and the LSE, moving…...
Connolly, Sybil Veronica
Connolly, Sybil Veronica (1921–98), fashion designer, was born 24 January 1921 at Clanllienwen Road, Morriston, Swansea, Wales, elder of two daughters of John Connolly, insurance salesman, from Waterford, Ireland, and Evelyn Connolly (née Reynolds) from Wales. On the death of the…...