Connolly, Joe
Connolly, Joe (1922–2008), community activist and politician, was born 11 March 1922 at 5 Tolka Avenue, North Dock ward, Dublin, son of John Connolly, an engine driver, and his wife Esther (née McNally). Growing up in Lusk, Co. Dublin, and later in the East Wall area of the north-…...
Connolly, Patrick J.
Connolly, Patrick J. (1875–1951), Jesuit priest and journal editor, was born 23 November 1875 at Killomoran, near Gort, Co. Galway, a son of Patrick Connolly, an illiterate farmer, and his wife, Mary (née Connors). He was educated at Mungret College, Limerick. After entering the…...
Connolly, Peter Romauld
Connolly, Peter Romauld (1927–87), catholic priest and literary critic, was born 25 February 1927 at Rathlagan, Drumconrath, Co. Meath, eldest of five children (three sons and two daughters) of Peter Paul Connolly, farmer, and Susan Connolly (née Slattery), schoolteacher. He was…...
Conny (Mac Giolla Coinne), Brian
Conny (Mac Giolla Coinne), Brian (c.1580?–1663?), Franciscan scholar and missionary, was born in Connacht; his name was also latinised as ‘Bernardus Conn(e)ius’ and anglicised as ‘Brien Kilkenny’. Nothing is known of his early life. He entered the Franciscan order (1621)…...
Conroy, George Michael
Conroy, George Michael (1831–78), catholic bishop of Ardagh, was born into ‘a Levitical family’ (Monahan), son of Nicholas Conroy, on 30 December 1831 in Park St., Dundalk, Co. Louth, and educated at a primary school at Dromiskeen, a classical school at Dundalk, the diocesan…...
Conry, Florence
Conry, Florence (Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire) (c.1560–1629), catholic archbishop of Tuam and Franciscan minister provincial of the Irish province, was born at Cluain na hOíche near Elphin, Co. Roscommon, the son of Fíthil and Onóra Ó Maolchonaire. He belonged…...
Conway, Dominic
Conway, Dominic (1918–96), missionary, catholic bishop of Elphin, and historian, was born in rural Co. Longford on 1 January 1918, in the parish of Templemichael and Ballymacormack in the diocese of Ardagh, second child of Dominic Conway, family grocer, and Mary (née Hoare). The…...
Conway, Honoria (Sister Mary Vincent)
Conway, Honoria (Sister Mary Vincent) (1815–92), Sister of Charity, foundress, and educator, was born 18 June 1815 in Dover Castle, Isle of Wight, England, youngest of three children (one son and two daughters) of Sgt Michael Conway of the Galway Militia, Galway, and Eleanor…...
Conway, John Basil (Fr Ambrose)
Conway, John Basil (Fr Ambrose) (1906–86), Cistercian monk, was born 13 March 1906 in Ennis, Co. Clare, one of three children of Jeremiah Francis Conway, a member of the RIC, and Alice Conway (née O'Shea). Conway was educated at…...
Conway, Richard
Conway, Richard (1572–1626), Jesuit, was born in New Ross, Co. Tipperary, son of Patrick Conway; nothing is known of his mother. In 1590 he travelled to Lisbon and studied humanities at the Irish college there. On 22 July 1592 he was received into the Jesuit noviciate at Coimbra.…...
Conway, William John
Conway, William John (1913–77), cardinal, was born 22 January 1913 in Belfast, eldest of four sons and five daughters of Patrick Conway and Annie Conway (née Donnelly). The family home at that time was at Dover St., which linked the Falls and Shankhill Roads. His father, a self-…...
Cooke, Robert Francis
Cooke, Robert Francis (1821–82), catholic priest and author, was born 14 February 1821 in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, son of a businessman; no other details of his family are known. He was educated locally and subsequently studied medicine in Dublin, before becoming an assistant…...
Coppinger, William
Coppinger, William (1753–1831), catholic bishop of Cloyne and Ross, was born 20 May 1753 in St Finbar's parish, Co. Cork, son of Stephen William Coppinger and Joanna Coppinger, a cousin. He was educated in France, where he briefly considered a military career and even applied for…...
Corcoran, Timothy
Corcoran, Timothy (1872–1943), priest and educationist, was born 17 January 1872 at Honeymount, Dunkerrin, Co. Tipperary, eldest son of Thomas Corcoran, a large farmer, and Alice Corcoran (née Gleeson). His father was locally prominent in the Land League and Gaelic Athletic Association…...
Corish, Patrick Joseph
Corish, Patrick Joseph (1921–2013), priest and historian, was born on 17 March 1921 in Ballytarsna near Ballycullane, Co. Wexford, the son of Peter William Corish, a schoolteacher, and his wife Brigid (née O’Shaughnessy). Patrick had five brothers and one sister, and remained close to…...
Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick)
Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick) (1863–1900), pioneer nurse in Rhodesia, educationist, and Dominican prioress, was born 22 May 1863 in Summerhill, Co. Meath, one of four children of a member of the Irish Constabulary, who came from Ballysilla, near Oulart Hill, Co. Wexford. Her…...
Coulter, William Alexander
Coulter, William Alexander (1849–1936), painter, was born on 7 March 1849 in Glenariff, Co. Antrim, the son of James Coulter, a coastguard, originally from Co. Down, and his wife Sarah, an Irish-speaker from the glens of Antrim. He grew up in a catholic family along the east Antrim…...
Courtney, Michael Aidan
Courtney, Michael Aidan (1945–2003), catholic archbishop and Vatican diplomat, was born 5 February 1945 in Nenagh general hospital, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, youngest child among four sons and three daughters of Aloysius Daniel 'Louis' Courtney (see below), medical doctor, of 23 Summerhill…...
Cowley, Jane (Sister Mary Teresa)
Cowley, Jane (Sister Mary Teresa) (1857–1914), Sister of Mercy, Boer war nurse, and educator, was born in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, daughter of John Cowley and Margaret Cowley (née Loughran). She entered the Convent of Mercy, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, on 2 February 1877, taking the…...
Coyle, Anthony
Coyle, Anthony (1728–1801), catholic bishop of Raphoe, poet, and antiquarian, was born in Listack, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, son of a farmer. Educated at the Irish college in Paris, he was expelled in his fourth year for various mischiefs, including writing a pamphlet…...
Coyne, Edward Joseph
Coyne, Edward Joseph (1896–1958), Jesuit priest, was born 20 June 1896 in Dublin, eldest of five children of William P. Coyne (qv), head of the statistical section of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, and…...
Creagh, John
Creagh, John (1870–1947), Redemptorist priest, was born 19 August 1870 in Thomondgate, Limerick, son of John Creagh, clerk, and Mary Creagh (née Tyrsonnon). Initially educated by the Christian Brothers, he joined the Redemptorist order at 14. In 1887 he was sent to Liverpool, where he…...
Creagh, Peter (‘Piers Crevens’)
Creagh, Peter (‘Piers Crevens’) (c.1640–1705), catholic archbishop of Dublin, was born into a highly reputable Limerick family. He was the great-nephew of Richard Creagh (qv), archbishop of Armagh, and the nephew of Dr John…...
Creagh, Richard
Creagh, Richard (c.1523–c.1588), catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Limerick, one of at least three children of Nicholas Creagh, merchant, and his wife, Joan White, both of Limerick. Having been apprenticed to a merchant there, he traded in his own right until…...
Crean, Thomas Joseph
Crean, Thomas Joseph (1873–1923), rugby player, military doctor, and VC holder, was born 19 April 1873 in Morrison's Hotel, Dawson Street, Dublin, the second son and fifth of the eight children of Michael Theobald Crean, barrister of the Irish land commission, and his wife, Emma,…...