Browne, Kathleen Anne
Browne, Kathleen Anne (1878–1943), agriculturist, writer, and politician, was born 1 October 1878 in Wexford, eldest among five children of Michael Browne, farmer, shopkeeper, and local politician, of Rathronan Castle, Bridgetown, Co. Wexford, and his wife (and cousin) Mary…...
Burke, Joan
Burke, Joan (1929–2016), nurse, politician and farmer, was named Hanna Teresa at her birth on 8 February 1928, at Roughgrove House, Bandon, Co. Cork, the last of four children, and the only daughter, of Denis Crowley and Bridgid (‘Cissie’) (née Russell). The family farmed at Roughgrove…...
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…...
Deirdre (Derdriu)
Deirdre (Derdriu) , mythological figure, beautiful and cursed, is a tragic protagonist of the early medieval Ulster cycle. She first emerged into literature in the eighth or ninth century and, over the course of nearly a thousand years, was defined and refined till she found a…...
Étaín (Éadaoin, Aideen)
Étaín (Éadaoin, Aideen) , mythological figure, a beautiful woman, both human and otherworldly, is the protagonist of one of the most famous of all Old Irish sagas, ‘Tochmarc Étaíne’ (‘The wooing of Étaín’). She was simultaneously feared and revered – revered as a dispenser of…...
Franks, (Gertrude) Lucy
Franks, (Gertrude) Lucy (1878–1964), president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, was born 27 February 1878 in Westfield, Queen's Co. (Laois), daughter of Matthew Henry Franks, landowner, JP and DL…...
Gallagher, Eileen Helen Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gallagher, Redmond. View the original entry....
Gráinne
Gráinne was a legendary daughter of the equally legendary pre-Christian king of Tara, Cormac (qv) son of Art. The story of her love for the tragic hero Diarmait grandson of Duibne is one of the most famous tales of the Fenian Cycle, a tale…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis')
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis') (1743?–1833), American frontierswoman, was born aboard the ship William and Mary, when her parents, Thomas Jemison and his wife Jane (née Erwin), (both of protestant Scotch-Irish heritage) were emigrating to colonial Pennsylvania, departing from…...
Kane, Katherine Sophia
Kane, Katherine Sophia (1811–86), botanist and horticulturist, was born 11 March 1811, the only child of Henry Baily , who came from Berkshire, England, to Limerick as a distiller, and Bridget Baily (née O'Kelly). Katherine's uncle Francis Baily was an eminent astronomer and vice-…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...
Macha
Macha , tutelary goddess, gave her name to one of the most important of all Irish royal sites, Emain Macha (‘the twins of Macha’) in Co. Armagh, now known as Navan Fort. While Emain Macha was a prehistoric site of great religious significance, it was remembered by the early medieval…...
Medb Chruachna
Medb Chruachna (‘of Cruacha’), queen of Connacht and traditionally believed to have flourished around the time of the birth of Christ, is one of the most prominent figures in the Ulster Cycle of heroic tales. Whether she is in any sense to be considered historical depends on the extent…...
O'Donohue, Maura
O'Donohue, Maura (1933–2015), missionary doctor and public health campaigner, was born on 2 March 1933 at Likeen, her family home in Kilfenora, Co. Clare, the second of four children (two girls and two boys) of Andrew O’Donohue, a farmer, and his wife Kate (née O’Brien). Mary Brigid, as…...
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’)
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner, is thought to have been born in Co. Kerry into a tenant farming family between 1740 and 1750. The location of her birth and names of her parents are not known, and available details of her life are largely anecdotal or…...
Talbot, Rose Maud
Talbot, Rose Maud (1915–2009), chatelaine, farmer and philanthropist, was born 14 September 1915 at Hartham Park, Wiltshire, England, the younger of two children of Milo George Talbot (1854–1931), a soldier, and his wife Eva (née Joicey) (d. 1951), a native of Northumberland. Her…...
Verschoyle, Barbara
Verschoyle, Barbara (1750/53–1837), land agent and philanthropist, was born in Dublin, the sixth of eight daughters of Bryan Fagan (d. 1761), land agent for the Fitzwilliam estate in Dublin and brewer, and Elizabeth Fagan (d. 1788), both of Dublin. Bryan Fagan's brewery was on…...
Walsh, Sr Patricia
Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse, was born Anna Maria Catherine Walsh on 23 September 1942 in Portlick, Glasson, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of three girls and a boy, to Michael Walsh, a fisherman, and his wife Bridget (née Nolan). Having attended Glasson primary school (…...
White, Henrietta Margaret
White, Henrietta Margaret (1856–1936), principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, horticulturist, and social activist, was eldest child among three daughters and one son of Henry Charles White (1818–1903), of Charleville, Queen's Co. (Laois), JP…...