Comber, Patrick Forstall
Comber, Patrick Forstall (1831–1909), civil engineer, was born 30 April 1831 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, eldest son of Thomas Comber, architect and builder, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Edward Gannon, all from Kilmena, Co. Mayo. He was educated by private tutors and by the…...
Comyn, David
Comyn, David (1854–1907), Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 May 1854 in Henry Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare, only child of John Comyn and Mary Comyn (née Hassett). On leaving school, he joined the National Bank as a clerk and was based, for the most part, in College Green, Dublin.…...
Comyn, Michael (Micheál Coimín)
Comyn, Michael (Micheál Coimín) (c.1680–1760), prose writer and poet in Irish, was son of Patrick Óg Comyn, farmer of Kilcorcoran, Co. Clare, and Joanna Comyn (née Fitzgerald). Michael's grandfather lost a substantial freehold in five townlands of Kimacrehy parish during…...
Conan, Walter
Conan, Walter (1860–1936), inventor and tailor, was born at the family house, Roseneath, Sandymount Avenue, Dublin, one of four sons and six daughters of Joseph Conan, a wealthy merchant tailor, of Dawson St., Dublin, and his wife Agnes, daughter of a Scottish clockmaker, David…...
Coneys, Thomas de Vere
Coneys, Thomas de Vere (1804?–51), Church of Ireland clergyman and first professor of Irish at TCD, was born in Galway, the first son of John Coneys, barrister, of Streamstown, Co. Galway. He was educated at the school of a Mr Whiteley and in October 1819 (aged fifteen) entered…...
Conneff, Thomas Patrick
Conneff, Thomas Patrick (1866–1912), athlete and soldier, was born in Kilmurry, Clane, Co. Kildare, the son of James Conneff and his wife Marcella (née Rourke). The Conneff family were blacksmiths plying their trade in the neighbourhood of Clane, in the shadow of the Jesuit college at…...
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…...
Connellan, Thaddeus (‘Thady’)
Connellan, Thaddeus (‘Thady’) (Tadhg Ó Coinnialláin) (c.1780–1854), Irish-language scholar and scribe, was born at Corkhill, Templeboy, Co. Sligo. Little is known of his education except that he received instruction in the classics at a hedge school in Co. Clare. He…...
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, John
Connolly, John (1858–96), champion flat-racing jockey, was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, nephew of the famous jockey Pat Connolly. His uncle was champion in Ireland, and in England, where he won all the English classics in 1834, and the Epsom Derby twice. John was of slight build, and…...
Conolly, Thurloe
Conolly, Thurloe (1918–2016), artist, was born in Cork city on 21 July 1918, the younger of two sons to William Joseph Conolly, a structural engineer, and his wife Constance Elizabeth Conolly (née Jeffares). According to family lore, the Conollys were descended from the eighteenth-…...
Conway, Frederick William
Conway, Frederick William (1781/2–1853), journalist and book collector, was the son of Luke Conway, printer of the Connaught Gazette, a pro-government newspaper published at Loughrea, Co. Galway, for some months in 1797. From 1806 to 1812 he was a major contributor to the…...
Cooley, Thomas
Cooley, Thomas (1742–84), architect, was baptised 11 July 1742 in the church of St Katherine Coleman, London, the son of William Cooley, master mason, and his wife Mary. On 3 August 1756 he was apprenticed to George Wright, a carpenter. He served some of his apprenticeship with, or…...
Coote, Nina Edith
Coote, Nina Edith (1883–1945), croquet champion, was born 23 September 1883 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, only child of Orlando Robert Coote (1855–1927), land agent, and his wife Edith Mary (née Hume) (1858/9–1920). Her father was the third son of Rev. Sir Algernon Coote (1817–99…...
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’)
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’) (1865–1949), boxing promoter, was born 14 May 1865 at Masbrough, Rotherham, England, to Jonas Roddis, fishmonger, and his wife Mary Roddis. Clara was the sixth of their nine children. She married Joseph Copley of Leeds on 22 November 1886 at Darfield, Yorkshire.…...
Coppin, William
Coppin, William (1805–95), sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor, was born 9 October 1805 in Kinsale, Co. Cork; no details of his parents are known. From his childhood he displayed a strong affinity to the sea, and at the age of 15 was involved in the rescue of six customs men from a…...
Corbett, William Edward
Corbett, William Edward (1824–1904), engineer and architect, was born 19 April 1824 in Limerick city, son of Patrick Corbett, a member of an old Limerick family. Nothing is known of his mother. He is described as a civil engineer on his death certificate and obituaries, but there…...
Corcoran, Peter
Corcoran, Peter (c.1749–c.1781), bare-knuckle boxer and heavyweight champion of England, was born in Athy, Co. Kildare. A strong man, 5 ft 11 in. (1.8 m) tall, he had a violent temper that often caused trouble. He quickly won a reputation as a strong and powerful…...
Cordner, Joseph (James)
Cordner, Joseph (James) (1875–1963), pioneer aviator, was born 11 February 1875 in Derryinver, Co. Armagh, twin brother of Edward Cordner and son of Ussiagh Cordner, farm labourer, and Anne Cordner. Educated locally, Joseph (who may also have been known as ‘James’) and Edward opened…...
Corkery, Daniel
Corkery, Daniel (1883–1961), revolutionist and politician, was born 20 September 1883 into small farming stock in Clondrohid parish, near Macroom, Co. Cork, youngest of two sons and one daughter of James Corkery and Johanna Corkery (née Buckley). Educated at Macroom national school…...
Corkery, Daniel
Corkery, Daniel (Ó Corcora, Domhnall ) (1878–1964), writer, cultural philosopher, and literary critic, was born 14 February 1878 at Gardiner's Hill, Cork city, one of five children of William Corkery and Mary Corkery (née Barron). The Corkerys were of carpentering stock for four or five…...
Corneille, Rudolph
Corneille, Rudolph (fl. 1690–1717), engineer and architect, was born at Medemblik, Holland, son of Rudolphe Gideon Corneille and Anne Corneille, probably French huguenot refugees. He went to Ireland c.1690 as an engineer in …...
Corry, Daniel
Corry, Daniel (1902–90), army officer and showjumper, was born 30 August 1902 in Loughrea, Co. Galway, the second of five children of Daniel Corry, shopkeeper, and Ellen Corry (née Morrissey); he was educated locally and as a boarder at St Joseph's College, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.…...
Corry, John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Corry, Sir James Porter White. View the original entry....
Costello, Thomas Bodkin
Costello, Thomas Bodkin (1864–1956), medical doctor and antiquary, was born 4 February 1864 in Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Michael Costello, a shopkeeper, and his wife, Sarah Bodkin. His mother was a descendent of the Kilcloony branch of the Bodkin family, one of the original…...