De Valera, Éamon (‘Dev’)
De Valera, Éamon (‘Dev’) (1882–1975), teacher, revolutionary, taoiseach, and president of Ireland, was born 14 October 1882 in the Nursery and Child's Hospital, Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York, the only child of Juan Vivion de Valera and Catherine (‘Kate’) Coll (1856–1932); he was…...
De Valera, Máirín
De Valera, Máirín (1912–84), phycologist, was born 12 April 1912 in Dublin, the eldest daughter and second eldest child of seven children (five boys and two girls) of Éamon de Valera (qv) and…...
De Valera, Sinéad
De Valera, Sinéad (1875–1975), teacher, folklorist, and writer, was born Jane Flanagan , 1 June 1875, in Ballbriggan, Co. Dublin, one of three daughters and four children of Laurence Flanagan, a carpenter, and Margaret Flanagan (née Byrne). When she was seven the family moved to Munster…...
Devane, Andrew (‘Andy’)
Devane, Andrew (‘Andy’) (1917–2000), architect, was born 3 November 1917 at 1 Upper Hartstonge St. in the heart of Limerick city, the eldest of four sons of John Francis Devane, medical doctor, and his wife Vera (née Keogh). He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, from which he…...
Dillon, Brian Francis (Father Matthew)
Dillon, Brian Francis (Father Matthew) (1905–79), Benedictine monk and headmaster, was born in Dublin on 13 March 1905, the fifth and youngest son of John Dillon (qv) and his wife, Elizabeth…...
Dillon, Thomas Patrick
Dillon, Thomas Patrick (1884–1971), nationalist and chemist, was born 15 January 1884 in Enniscrone, Co. Sligo, first child among four sons and a daughter of John Dillon, engineer, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Kirby…...
Doherty, John
Doherty, John (c.1798–1854), trade union pioneer, radical activist, journalist, and factory reformer, was born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal; nothing is known of his parents. His birth place and date are uncertain. A son said it was ‘Buncrana, Inishowel’ (sic) in…...
Donnelly, John
Donnelly, John (1934–1991), chemist, was born 8 August 1934 in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, second son among three sons and two daughters of Michael Donnelly, garda sergeant, originally from Dublin, and Maureen Donnelly (née Carroll) from Tipperary. He spent his early life in Nenagh,…...
Donovan, Robert
Donovan, Robert (1862–1934), journalist and professor, was born 24 May 1862 in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, son of Thomas Donovan. (Some obituaries state he was an only son, but the Irish Independent says a brother was parish priest of Kill, Co. Kildare.) Educated at St…...
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim')
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim') (1922–2010), academic and politician, was born on 30 July 1922 in Grange Road West, Birkenhead, near Liverpool, the only son of Denis Dooge, marine engineer, and his wife Veronica (née Carroll). The Dooges were a family of engineers, most notably…...
Drumm, James Joseph
Drumm, James Joseph (1896–1974), chemist, industrial technologist, and inventor, was born 25 January 1896 in Dundrum, Co. Down, one of three sons of John Drumm (or Drum), RIC constable, and his wife Bridget (née Connolly). The family…...
Duff, Thomas
Duff, Thomas (c.1792–1848), architect, was born in Newry, Co. Down. Nothing is known of his parentage and early life, except that he was a catholic. It is possible that he was the ‘Thomas Duffe’ who won a prize at the Dublin Society (1805) for an architectural design. It…...
Duffy, Louise Gavan
Duffy, Louise Gavan (1884–1969), educator, nationalist and Irish language enthusiast, was born 17 July 1884 in Cimiez, near Nice, the only daughter among four children of the marriage of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (qv), journalist and…...
Dunican, Laurence Kieran (‘L. Kieran’)
Dunican, Laurence Kieran (‘L. Kieran’) (1935–98), microbiologist, was born 29 January 1935 at 92 Marlborough Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, eldest among three sons and two daughters of James Joseph Dunican, teacher and dairy farmer of Horseleap, Co. Westmeath, and Mary Lucy Dunican (…...
Dunlevy, Margaret ('Pearl')
Dunlevy, Margaret ('Pearl') (1909–2002), physician and epidemiologist, was born Bridget Margaret Mary Dunlevy on 13 August 1909 at Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, the fifth of six children (four boys and two girls) of George Dunlevy, shopkeeper and merchant, and Maggie Dunlevy (née Doherty…...
Dunne, Seán
Dunne, Seán (1919–69), republican and labour activist, was born in Waterford city, youngest of three children of Michael Dunne, member of the RIC, and Brigid Dunne, and was educated at the CBS…...
English, Adeline (‘Ada’)
English, Adeline (‘Ada’) (1875–1944), doctor, academic, and nationalist, was born 10 January 1875 in Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, younger daughter of Patrick English, pharmaceutical chemist, and Nora English (née McCardle). She was reared in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, though her father may…...
Everett, James
Everett, James (1890–1967), Labour politician and trade unionist, was born 14 February 1890 in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, a son of Robert Everett, a small farmer and waiter, and Margaret Everett (née Doyle). He had one brother and a sister and attended the local national school in…...
Finlay, Peter
This is a co-subject for the entry on Finlay, Thomas Aloysius. View the original entry....
FitzGerald, Desmond
FitzGerald, Desmond (1911–87), architect, was born 5 November 1911 at Saint-Jean-du-Doigt (Finisterre) in Brittany, France, eldest of four sons of Desmond FitzGerald (qv), writer and future minister for external affairs in…...
Flannery, Martin Raymond
Flannery, Martin Raymond (1941–2013), theoretical physicist, was born on 8 January 1941 in Claudy, Co. Londonderry, one of the younger children in a family of seven of James Flannery and Bridget Flannery (née Lohan). His parents were the two teachers in the primary school at Altahoney,…...
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly')
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly') (1882–1967), pianist and teacher, was born 2 April 1882 at 14 Dyke Parade, Cork, the second of nine children of German immigrants, Hans Conrad Swertz and his wife Walburga (née Rössler). Her early musical education was largely overseen…...
Flood, Finbarr
Flood, Finbarr (1938–2016), soccer player, managing director of Guinness brewery and chairman of the Labour Court, was born on 1 December 1938 in Kilmainham, Dublin, one of three children (and only son) to Jack Flood, a worker in Guinness, and his wife Eva Flood (née…...
Flood, Peter
Flood, Peter (c.1742–1803), priest and president of Maynooth College, was born in Co. Longford; there are no details of his early life. He went to France, where he studied for the priesthood. After ordination, he entered the Irish Collège des Lombards, Paris, in 1772,…...
Folens, Albert Joseph Marcel
Folens, Albert Joseph Marcel (1916–2003) Flemish nationalist and educational publisher, was born 15 October 1916 in Bissegem, west Flanders (latterly part of the municipality of Kortrijk, formerly Courtrai) to a devoutly catholic Flemish‐speaking family. (Folens recalled saying many…...