Abbán
Abbán (d. 520?), saint in the Irish tradition, although primarily associated with the churches of Mag Arnaide (‘Moyarney’/Adamstown, near New Ross, Co. Wexford) and Cell Abbáin (Killabban, Co. Laois), is also linked to other parts of the country, most notably Ballyvourney, Muskerry, Co…...
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill
Abbott, Thomas Kingsmill (1829–1913), scholar and clergyman, was born 26 March 1829 in Dublin, son of Joseph Abbott, clerk of the peace, and his wife Jane Kingsmill. Thomas entered TCD 9 June 1846 as a sizar (his father being dead),…...
Abercrombie, Sir (Leslie) Patrick
Abercrombie, Sir (Leslie) Patrick (1879–1957), architect and town planner, was one of the most influential figures in the development of town planning in early twentieth-century Ireland. He was born on 6 June 1879 at Ashton upon Mersey in Cheshire, England, seventh of nine children…...
Adomnán
Adomnán (c.624–704), son of Rónán, was 9th abbot of Iona (679–704), biographer of Colum Cille, and saint in the Irish tradition. According to the genealogies, he was son of Rónán son of Tinne, one of the Cenél Conaill branch of the Uí Néill, and a kinsman of…...
Áed
Áed (982/3–1056), son of Cróngille Ua Foirréid and bishop and scholar at Armagh, belonged, like many bishops of Armagh, to the Cenél nÉogain, the most powerful of the dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill. He is best known as the subject of the poem ‘Uasal epscop Éirenn Áed’: here the…...
Áedán (Aidan)
Áedán (Aidan) (d. 651), founder and first bishop of Lindisfarne, was effectively ruler of the church of Northumbria from c.635 till his death. The mission of Paulinus from Canterbury (begun in 625) was superficially successful, culminating in the establishment of an…...
Affraic
Affraic (d. 743) was abbess of Kildare 733–43. Her rare personal name, a borrowing of the Latin Africa, was also borne by a later abbess of Kildare who died in 834 and by an obscure minor saint, daughter of one Cumlachtach, associated with Imlech Tuascirt (LL…...
Ailbe
Ailbe (d. 527?), patron of the church of Imlech Ibair (Emly, on the Limerick/Tipperary border), Munster's most important church till it was superseded by Cashel in the early twelfth century, was Munster's premier saint, whence the saying Mumu uili . . . iar cúl Ailbe, ‘…...
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens)
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens) (d. 665), fer léigind (lector or chief scholar) of the monastery of Clonard, Co. Meath, died in the great cholera or plague, termed the Buide Conaill (AU 665). His obit is given as 29 December in the Martyrology of Tallaght and in the…...
Allberry, Harry
Allberry, Harry (1872–1952), architect, was born 8 December 1872 in Everton, Liverpool, son of Richard Allberry, mercantile clerk, and Elizabeth Allberry (née Downes); he had two younger sisters. His father abandoned the family c.1875. Harry was brought up by his…...
Alton, Ernest Henry
Alton, Ernest Henry (1873–1952), classical scholar and public representative, was born 21 September 1873 at Marlinstown, near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, eldest son of James Poë Alton, banker, of Limerick and Marguerite Alton (née Keely). His abiding passion for classical literature was…...
Anderson, Charles Frederick
Anderson, Charles Frederick (1802–1869), architect, was possibly born in Bedford, England. He was educated at Fermoy College, Co. Cork (c.1816–c.1818). From 1820 to 1824 he was apprenticed to the English architect Thomas Harrison (1744–1829), and to the Irish…...
Anderson, Emily
Anderson, Emily (1891–1962), academic, civil servant, and translator, was born 17 March 1891 at Taylor's Hill, Galway, second daughter of Alexander Anderson (qv), professor of natural philosophy and later president of…...
Andrew (Andreas)
Andrew (Andreas) (fl. 9th cent.), Irish pilgrim saint and archdeacon of the cathedral of Fiesole, accompanied the more famous and better documented Donatus (qv) (d. 876), scholar and bishop of Fiesole, on pilgrimage to the holy…...
Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Armstrong, Robert Williams
Armstrong, Robert Williams (1824–84), architect, civil engineer, and co-founder of Belleek Pottery, was born in Co. Longford, son of Francis Armstrong, architect and builder. Despite an early aptitude for pottery, he trained as an architect and civil engineer, exhibiting designs at…...
Ashlin, George Coppinger
Ashlin, George Coppinger (1837–1921), architect, was born 28 May 1837 at Carrigrenane House, Co. Cork, third and youngest son of four children of John Musson Ashlin, a Corkman established as a corn merchant in London, and Dorinda Maria Ashlin (née Coppinger), from an old Co. Cork…...
Ashworth, Charles Herbert
Ashworth, Charles Herbert (1862–1926), architect, was born 18 May 1862 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, son of Alfred Ashworth, and educated at Chester and Liverpool, where he served his articles. He settled in Dublin c.1885, was engaged by Thomas N.…...
Assicus (T'Assach)
Assicus (T'Assach) (d. c.508), an artisan – i.e. coppersmith – of supposed Gaulish origin, came to Ireland at some stage during the mission of St Patrick (qv) and was later consecrated a bishop by him.…...
Aston, Ernest Albert
Aston, Ernest Albert (1873–1949), journalist and urban planner, was born 6 October 1873 in Dublin, eldest of at least three sons and a daughter of Thomas J. Aston, book-keeper, and Jane Hawkshaw Aston (née Bennett). After education at Wesley College and training as an engineer, he…...
Aston, William George
Aston, William George (1841–1911), Japanese scholar and diplomat, was born 9 April 1841, near Derry, the son of George Robert Aston, a Unitarian minister. In the early 1850s the family moved to Saintfield, Co. Down, where his father established a school in which Aston himself taught…...
Atkinson, Robert
Atkinson, Robert (1839–1908), philologist, was born 6 April 1839 near Gateshead, Co. Durham, the only child of John and Ann Atkinson. He attended Anchorage Grammar School, and entered Trinity College Dublin (TCD) (1856), but spent 1857–8 at Liège, Belgium, and worked as a schoolmaster…...
Attracht (Adrochta, Attracta)
Attracht (Adrochta, Attracta) (7th century?), saint in the Irish tradition and founder and first abbess of Cell Sáile, was according to the genealogies of the saints a daughter of Tigernach (probably to be identifed with Tigernach son of Muiredach, an early representative of the…...
Augustinus (Pseudo-)
Augustinus (Pseudo-) (fl. mid 7th cent.) was author of the tract ‘De mirabilibus sacrae [or ‘sanctae’] scripturae’, internally datable to 655. It deals in an unusually rationalistic fashion – for the medieval period – with the ‘wonders’ or miracles related in Scripture.…...